Whether a regular army is to be raised, and to what extent, must depend on the information so shortly expected. In the meantime, I have called on the States for quotas of militia, to be in readiness for present defence; and have, moreover, encouraged the acceptance of volunteers; and I am happy to inform you that these have offered themselves with great alacrity in every part of the Union. They are ordered to be organized, and ready at a moment's warning to proceed on any service to which they may be called, and every preparation within the executive powers has been made to insure us the benefit of early exertions.
I informed Congress at their last session of the enterprises against the public peace, which were believed to be in preparation by Aaron Burr and his associates, of the measures taken to defeat them, and to bring the offenders to justice. Their enterprises were happily defeated by the patriotic exertions of the militia wherever called into action, by the fidelity of the army, and energy of the commander-in-chief in promptly arranging the difficulties presenting themselves on the Sabine, repairing to meet those arising on the Mississippi, and dissipating, before their explosion, plots engendering there. I shall think it my duty to lay before you the proceedings and the evidence publicly exhibited on the arraignment of the principal offenders before the circuit court of Virginia. You will be enabled to judge whether the defeat was in the testimony, in the law, or in the administration of the law; and wherever it shall be found, the legislature alone can apply or originate the remedy. The framers of our constitution certainly supposed they had guarded, as well their government against destruction by treason, as their citizens against oppression, under pretence of it; and if these ends are not attained, it is of importance to inquire by what means, more effectual, they may be secured.
The accounts of the receipts of revenue, during the year ending on the thirtieth day of September last, being not yet made up, a correct statement will be hereafter transmitted from the treasury. In the meantime, it is ascertained that the receipts have amounted to near sixteen millions of dollars, which, with the five millions and a half in the treasury at the beginning of the year, have enabled us, after meeting the current demands and interest incurred, to pay more than four millions of the principal of our funded debt. These payments, with those of the preceding five and a half years, have extinguished of the funded debt twenty-five millions and a half of dollars, being the whole which could be paid or purchased within the limits of the law and of our contracts, and have left us in the treasury eight millions and a half of dollars. A portion of this sum may be considered as a commencement of accumulation of the surpluses of revenue, which, after paying the instalments of debts as they shall become payable, will remain without any specific object. It may partly, indeed, be applied toward completing the defence of the exposed points of our country, on such a scale as shall be adapted to our principles and circumstances. This object is doubtless among the first entitled to attention, in such a state of our finances, and it is one which, whether we have peace or war, will provide security where it is due. Whether what shall remain of this, with the future surpluses, may be usefully applied to purposes already authorized, or more usefully to others requiring new authorities, or how otherwise they shall be disposed of, are questions calling for the notice of Congress, unless indeed they shall be superseded by a change in our public relations now awaiting the determination of others. Whatever be that determination, it is a great consolation that it will become known at a moment when the supreme council of the nation is assembled at its post, and ready to give the aids of its wisdom and authority to whatever course the good of our country shall then call us to pursue.
Matters of minor importance will be the subjects of future communications; and nothing shall be wanting on my part which may give information or despatch to the proceedings of the legislature in the exercise of their high duties, and at a moment so interesting to the public welfare.
SPECIAL MESSAGE.—November 23, 1807.
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:—
Agreeably to the assurance in my message at the opening of the present session of Congress, I now lay before you a copy of the proceedings, and of the evidence exhibited on the arraignment of Aaron Burr, and others, before the circuit court of the United States, held in Virginia, in the course of the present year, in as authentic form as their several parts have admitted.
SPECIAL MESSAGE.—December 18, 1807.
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:—
The communications now made, showing the great and increasing dangers with which our vessels, our seamen, and merchandise, are threatened on the high seas and elsewhere, from the belligerent powers of Europe, and it being of great importance to keep in safety these essential resources, I deem it my duty to recommend the subject to the consideration of Congress, who will doubtless perceive all the advantages which may be expected from an inhibition of the departure of our vessels from the ports of the United States.
Their wisdom will also see the necessity of making every preparation for whatever events may grow out of the present crisis.
SPECIAL MESSAGE.—January 20, 1808.
To the House of Representatives of the United States:—
Some days previous to your resolution of the 13th instant, a court of inquiry had been instituted at the request of General Wilkinson, charged to make the inquiry into his conduct which the first resolution desires, and had commenced their proceedings. To the judge-advocate of that court the papers and information on that subject, transmitted to me by the House of Representatives, have been delivered, to be used according to the rules and powers of that court.
The request of a communication of any information, which may have been received at any time since the establishment of the present government, touching combinations with foreign nations for dismembering the Union, or the corrupt receipt of money by any officer of the United States from the agents of foreign governments, can be complied with but in a partial degree.
It is well understood that, in the first or second year of the presidency of General Washington, information was given to him relating to certain combinations with the agents of a foreign government for the dismemberment of the Union; which combinations had taken place before the establishment of the present federal government. This information, however, is believed never to have been deposited in any public office, or left in that of the president's secretary, these having been duly examined, but to have been considered as personally confidential, and, therefore, retained among his private papers. A communication from the governor of Virginia to General Washington, is found in the office of the president's secretary, which, although not strictly within the terms of the request of the House of Representatives, is communicated, inasmuch as it may throw some light on the subjects of the correspondence of that time, between certain foreign agents and citizens of the United States.
In the first or second year of the administration of President Adams, Andrew Ellicott, then employed in designating, in conjunction with the Spanish authorities, the boundaries between the territories of the United States and Spain, under the treaty with that nation, communicated to the executive of the United States papers and information respecting the subjects of the present inquiry, which were deposited in the office of State. Copies of these are now transmitted to the House of Representatives, except of a single letter and a reference from the said Andrew Ellicott, which being expressly desired to be kept secret, is therefore not communicated, but its contents can be obtained from himself in a more legal form, and directions have been given to summon him to appear as a witness before the court of inquiry.
A paper "on the commerce of Louisiana," bearing date of the 18th of April, 1798, is found in the office of State, supposed to have been communicated by Mr. Daniel Clark, of New Orleans, then a subject of Spain, and now of the House of Representatives of the United States, stating certain commercial transactions of General Wilkinson, in New Orleans; an extract from this is now communicated, because it contains facts which may have some bearing on the questions relating to him.
The destruction of the war-office, by fire, in the close of 1800, involved all information it contained at that date.
The papers already described, therefore, constitute the whole information on the subjects, deposited in the public offices, during the preceding administrations, as far as has yet been found; but it cannot be affirmed that there may be no others, because, the papers of the office being filed, for the most part, alphabetically, unless aided by the suggestion of any particular name which may have given such information, nothing short of a careful examination of the papers in the offices generally, could authorize such affirmation.
About a twelvemonth after I came to the administration of the government, Mr. Clark gave some verbal information to myself, as well as to the Secretary of State, relating to the same combinations for the dismemberment of the Union. He was listened to freely, and he then delivered the letter of Governor Gagoso, addressed to himself, of which a copy is now communicated. After his return to New Orleans, he forwarded to the Secretary of State other papers, with a request that, after perusal, they should be burned. This, however, was not done, and he was so informed by the Secretary of State, and that they would be held subject to his order. These papers have not yet been found in the office. A letter, therefore, has been addressed to the former chief clerk, who may, perhaps, give information respecting them. As far as our memories enables us to say, they related only to the combinations before spoken of, and not at all to the corrupt receipt of money by any officer of the United States; consequently, they respected what was considered as a dead matter, known to the preceding administrations, and offering nothing new to call for investigations, which those nearest the dates of the transactions had not thought proper to institute.
In the course of the communications made to me on the subject of the conspiracy of Aaron Burr, I sometimes received letters, some of them anonymous, some under names true or false, expressing suspicions and insinuations against General Wilkinson. But one only of them, and that anonymous, specified any particular fact, and that fact was one of those which had already been communicated to a former administration.
No other information within the purview of the request of the house is known to have been received by any department of the government from the establishment of the present federal government. That which has recently been communicated to the House of Representatives, and by them to me, is the first direct testimony ever made known to me, charging General Wilkinson with the corrupt receipt of money; and the House of Representatives may be assured that the duties which this information devolves on me shall be exercised with rigorous impartiality. Should any want of power in the court to compel the rendering of testimony, obstruct that full and impartial inquiry, which alone can establish guilt or innocence, and satisfy justice, the legislative authority only will be competent to the remedy.
SPECIAL MESSAGE.—January 30, 1808.
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:—
The Choctaws being indebted to their merchants beyond what could be discharged by the ordinary proceeds of their huntings, and pressed for payment, proposed to the United States to cede lands to the amount of their debts, and designated them in two different portions of their country. These designations not at all suiting us, were declined. Still, urged by their creditors, as well as their own desire to be liberated from debt, they at length proposed to make a cession which should be to our convenience. By a treaty signed at Pooshapakonuk, on the 16th November, 1805, they accordingly ceded all their lands south of a line to be run from their and our boundary at the Omochita, eastwardly to their boundary with the Creeks on the ridge between the Tombigbee and Alabama, as is more particularly described in the treaty, containing about five millions of acres, as is supposed, and uniting our possessions there from Adams to Washington county.
The location contemplated in the instructions to the commissioners was on the Mississippi. That in the treaty being entirely different, I was, at that time, disinclined to its ratification, and have suffered it to be unacted on. But progressive difficulties in our foreign relations have brought into view considerations others than those which then prevailed. It is perhaps now as interesting to obtain footing for a strong settlement of militia along our southern frontier, eastward of the Mississippi, as on the west of that river, and more so than higher up the river itself. The consolidation of the Mississippi territory, and the establishment of a barrier of separation between the Indians and our southern neighbors, are also important objects; and the Choctaws and their creditors being still anxious that the sale should be made, I submitted the treaty to the Senate, who have advised and consented to its ratification. I, therefore, now lay it before both houses of Congress for the exercise of their constitutional powers as to the means of fulfilling it.
SPECIAL MESSAGE.—January 30, 1808.
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:—
The posts of Detroit and Mackinac, having been originally intended by the governments which established and held them, as mere depôts for the commerce with the Indians, very small cessions of land around were obtained or asked from the native proprietors, and these posts depended for protection on the strength of their garrisons. The principle of our government leading us to the employment of such moderate garrisons in time of peace, as may merely take care of the post, and to a reliance on the neighboring militia for its support in the first moments of war, I have thought it would be important to obtain from the Indians such a cession of the neighborhood of these posts as might maintain a militia proportioned to this object; and I have particularly contemplated, with this view, the acquisition of the eastern moiety of the peninsula between the lakes Huron, Michigan, and Erie, extending it to the Connecticut reserve, so soon as it could be effected with the perfect good will of the natives.
By a treaty concluded at Detroit, on the 17th of November last, with the Ottawas, Chippewas, Wyandots, and Pottawatomies, so much of this country has been obtained as extends from about Saguina bay southwardly to the Miami of the lakes, supposed to contain upward of five millions of acres, with a prospect of obtaining, for the present, a breadth of two miles for a communication from the Miami to the Connecticut reserve.
The Senate having advised and consented to the ratification of this treaty, I now lay it before both houses of Congress for the exercise of their constitutional powers as to the means of fulfilling it.
SPECIAL MESSAGE.—February 2, 1808.
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:—
Having received an official communication of certain orders of the British government against the maritime rights of neutrals, bearing date of the 11th of November, 1807, I transmitted to Congress, as a further proof of the increasing dangers to our navigation and commerce which led to the provident measures of the present session, laying an embargo on our own vessels.
SPECIAL MESSAGE.—February 4, 1808.
To the House of Representatives of the United States:—
In my message, January 20th, I stated that some papers forwarded by Mr. Daniel Clark, of New Orleans, to the Secretary of State, in 1803, had not then been found in the office of State; and that a letter had been addressed to the former chief clerk, in the hope that he might advise where they should be sought for. By indications received from him they are now found. Among them are two letters from the Baron de Carondelet to an officer serving under him at a separate post, in which his views of a dismemberment of our Union are expressed. Extracts of so much of these letters as are within the scope of the resolutions of the house, are now communicated. With these were found the letters from Mr. Clark, to the Secretary of State, in 1803. A part of one only of these relates to this subject, and is extracted and enclosed for the information of the house. In no part of the papers communicated by Mr. Clark, which are voluminous, and in different languages, nor in his letters, have we found any intimation of the corrupt receipt of money by any officer of the United States from any foreign nation. As to the combinations with foreign agents for the dismemberment of the Union, these papers and letters offer nothing which was not probably known to my predecessors, or which could call anew for inquiries, which they had not thought necessary to institute, when the facts were recent and could be better proved. They probably believed it best to let pass into oblivion transactions, which, however culpable, had commenced before this government existed, and had been finally extinguished by the treaty of 1795.
SPECIAL MESSAGE.—February 9, 1808.
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:—
I communicate to Congress, for their information, a letter from the person acting in the absence of our consul at Naples, giving reason to believe, on the affidavit of a Captain Sheffield of the American schooner Mary Ann, that the dey of Algiers had commenced war against the United States. For this no just cause has been given on our part within my knowledge. We may daily expect more authentic and particular information on the subject from Mr. Lear, who was residing as our consul at Algiers.
SPECIAL MESSAGE.—February 15, 1808.
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:—
I communicate for the information of Congress a letter from the consul of the United States at Malaga, to the Secretary of State, covering one from Mr. Lear, our consul at Algiers, which gives information, that the rupture threatened on the part of the dey of Algiers has been amicably settled, and the vessels seized by him are liberated.
SPECIAL MESSAGE.—February 19, 1808.
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:—
The States of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, having, by their several acts, consented that the road from Cumberland to the State of Ohio, authorized by the act of Congress of the 29th March, 1806, should pass through those States, and the report of the commissioners communicated to Congress with my message of the 31st January, 1807, having been duly considered, I have approved of the route therein proposed for the said road, as far as Brownsville, with a single deviation since located, which carries it through Uniontown.
From thence the course of the Ohio, and the point within the legal limits at which it shall strike that river, is still to be decided. In forming this decision, I shall pay material regard to the interests and wishes of the populous part of the State of Ohio, and to a future and convenient connection with the road which is to lead from the Indian boundary near Cincinnati, by Vincennes to the Mississippi, at St. Louis, under authority of the act, 21st April, 1806. In this way we may accomplish a continued and advantageous line of communication from the seat of the general government to St. Louis, passing through several very interesting points of the western country.
I have thought it advisable also to secure from obliteration the trace of the road so far as it has been approved, which has been executed at such considerable expense, by opening one half of its breadth through its whole length.
The report of the commissioners, herewith transmitted, will give particular information of their proceedings, under the act of the 29th March, 1806, since the date of my message of the 31st January, 1807, and will enable Congress to adopt further measures relative thereto, as they may deem proper under existing circumstances.
SPECIAL MESSAGE.—February 25, 1808.
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:—
The dangers of our country, arising from the contests of other nations and the urgency of making preparation for whatever events might affect our relations with them, have been intimated in preceding messages to Congress. To secure ourselves by due precautions, an augmentation of our military force, as well regular as of volunteer militia, seems to be expedient. The precise extent of that augmentation cannot as yet be satisfactorily suggested, but that no time may be lost, and especially at a season deemed favorable to the object, I submit to the wisdom of the legislature whether they will authorize a commencement of this precautionary work by a present provision for raising and organizing some additional force; reserving to themselves to decide its ultimate extent on such views of our situation as I may be enabled to present at a future day of the session.
If an increase of force be now approved, I submit to their consideration the outlines of a plan proposed in the enclosed letter from the Secretary of War.
I recommend, also, to the attention of Congress, the term at which the act of April 18th, 1806, concerning the militia, will expire, and the effect of that expiration.
SPECIAL MESSAGE.—March 7, 1808.
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:—
In the city of New Orleans, and adjacent to it, are sundry parcels of ground, some of them with buildings and other improvements on them, which it is my duty to present to the attention of the legislature. The title to those grounds appear to have been retained in the former sovereigns of the province of Louisiana, as public fiduciaries, and for the purposes of the province. Some of them were used for the residence of the governor, for public offices, hospitals, barracks, magazines, fortifications, levees, &c., others for the townhouse, schools, markets, landings, and other purposes of the city of New Orleans; some were held by religious corporations or persons; others seem to have been reserved for future disposition. To these must be added a parcel called the Batture, which requires more particular description. It is understood to have been a shoal or elevation of the bottom of the river, adjacent to the bank of the suburbs of St. Mary, produced by the successive depositions of mud during the annual inundations of the river, and covered with water only during those inundations. At all other seasons it has been used by the city, immemorially to furnish earth for raising their streets and courtyards, for mortar, and other necessary purposes, and as a landing or quay for unlading firewood, lumber, and other articles brought by water. This having been lately claimed by a private individual, the city opposed the claim on a supposed legal title in itself; but it has been adjudged that the legal title was not in the city. It is, however, alleged that that title, originally in the former sovereigns, was never parted with by them, but was retained in them for the uses of the city and province, and consequently has now passed over to the United States. Until this question can be decided under legislative authority, measures have been taken, according to law, to prevent any change in the state of things, and to keep the grounds clear of intruders. The settlement of this title, the appropriations of the grounds and improvements formerly occupied for provincial purposes to the same or such other objects as may be better suited to present circumstances; the confirmation of the uses in other parcels to such bodies, corporate or private, as may of right, or other reasonable considerations, expect them, are matters now submitted to the legislature.
The papers and plans now transmitted, will give them such information on the subject as I possess, and being mostly originals, I must request that they may be communicated from the one to the other house to answer the purposes of both.
SPECIAL MESSAGE.—March 17, 1808.
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:—
I have heretofore communicated to Congress the decrees of the government of France, of November 21st, 1806, and of Spain, February 19th, 1807, with the orders of the British government, of January and November, 1807.
I now transmit a decree of the Emperor of France, of December 17th, 1807, and a similar decree of the 3d January last, by his Catholic Majesty. Although the decree of France has not been received by official communication, yet the different channels of promulgation through which the public are possessed of it, with the formal testimony furnished by the government of Spain, in their decree, leave us without a doubt that such a one has been issued. These decrees and orders, taken together, want little of amounting to a declaration that every neutral vessel found on the high seas, whatsoever be her cargo, and whatsoever foreign port be that of her departure or destination, shall be deemed lawful prize; and they prove, more and more, the expediency of retaining our vessels, our seamen, and property, within our own harbors, until the dangers to which they are exposed can be removed or lessened.
SPECIAL MESSAGE.—March 18, 1808.
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:
The scale on which the military academy at West Point was originally established, is become too limited to furnish the number of well-instructed subjects in the different branches of artillery and engineering which the public service calls for. The want of such characters is already sensibly felt, and will be increased with the enlargement of our plans of military preparation. The chief engineer having been instructed to consider the subject, and to propose an augmentation which might render the establishment commensurate with the present circumstances of our country, has made the report I now transmit for the consideration of Congress.
The idea suggested by him of removing the institution to this place, is also worthy of attention. Beside the advantage of placing it under the immediate eye of the government, it may render its benefits common to the naval department, and will furnish opportunities of selecting on better information, the characters most qualified to fulfil the duties which the public service may call for.
SPECIAL MESSAGE.—March 22, 1808.
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:—
At the opening of the present session I informed the legislature that the measures which had been taken with the government of Great Britain for the settlement of our neutral and national rights, and of the conditions of commercial intercourse with that nation, had resulted in articles of a treaty which could not be acceded to on our part; that instructions had consequently been sent to our ministers there to resume the negotiations, and to endeavor to obtain certain alterations; and that this was interrupted by the transaction which took place between the frigates Leopard and Chesapeake. The call on that government for reparation of this wrong produced, as Congress have already been informed, the mission of a special minister to this country, and the occasion is now arrived when the public interest permits and requires that the whole of these proceedings should be made known to you.
I therefore now communicate the instructions given to our minister resident at London, and his communications to that government on the subject of the Chesapeake, with the correspondence which has taken place here between the Secretary of State and Mr. Rose, the special minister charged with the adjustment of that difference; the instructions to our ministers for the formation of a treaty; their correspondence with the British commissioners and with their own government on that subject; the treaty itself, and written declaration of the British commissioners accompanying it, and the instructions given by us for resuming the negotiations, with the proceedings and correspondence subsequent thereto. To these I have added a letter lately addressed to the Secretary of State from one of our late ministers, which, though not strictly written in an official character, I think it my duty to communicate, in order that his views of the proposed treaty and its several articles may be fairly presented and understood.
Although I have heretofore and from time to time made such communications to Congress as to keep them possessed of a general and just view of the proceedings and dispositions of the government of France toward this country, yet, in our present critical situation, when we find no conduct on our part, however impartial and friendly, has been sufficient to insure from either belligerent a just respect for our rights, I am desirous that nothing shall be omitted on my part which may add to your information on this subject, or contribute to the correctness of the views which should be formed. The papers which for these reasons I now lay before you embrace all the communications, official or verbal, from the French government, respecting the general relations between the two countries which have been transmitted through our minister there, or through any other accredited channel, since the last session of Congress, to which time all information of the same kind had from time to time been given them. Some of these papers have already been submitted to Congress; but it is thought better to offer them again, in order that the chain of communications, of which they make a part, may be presented unbroken.
When, on the 26th of February, I communicated to both houses the letter of General Armstrong to M. Champagny, I desired it might not be published, because of the tendency of that practice to restrain injuriously the freedom of our foreign correspondence. But perceiving that this caution, proceeding purely from a regard for the public good, has furnished occasion for disseminating unfounded suspicions and insinuations, I am induced to believe that the good which will now result from its publication, by confirming the confidence and union of our fellow citizens, will more than countervail the ordinary objection to such publications. It is my wish, therefore, that it may be now published.
EIGHTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.—November 8, 1808.
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:—
It would have been a source, fellow citizens, of much gratification, if our last communications from Europe had enabled me to inform you that the belligerent nations, whose disregard of neutral rights has been so destructive to our commerce, had become awakened to the duty and true policy of revoking their unrighteous edicts. That no means might be omitted to produce this salutary effect, I lost no time in availing myself of the act authorizing a suspension, in whole or in part, of the several embargo laws. Our ministers at London and Paris were instructed to explain to the respective governments there, our disposition to exercise the authority in such manner as would withdraw the pretext on which the aggressions were originally founded, and open the way for a renewal of that commercial intercourse which it was alleged on all sides had been reluctantly obstructed. As each of those governments had pledged its readiness to concur in renouncing a measure which reached its adversary through the incontestable rights of neutrals only, and as the measure had been assumed by each as a retaliation for an asserted acquiescence in the aggressions of the other, it was reasonably expected that the occasion would have been seized by both for evincing the sincerity of their profession, and for restoring to the commerce of the United States its legitimate freedom. The instructions to our ministers with respect to the different belligerents were necessarily modified with reference to their different circumstances, and to the condition annexed by law to the executive power of suspension, requiring a degree of security to our commerce which would not result from a repeal of the decrees of France. Instead of a pledge, therefore, of a suspension of the embargo as to her in case of such a repeal, it was presumed that a sufficient inducement might be found in other considerations, and particularly in the change produced by a compliance with our just demands by one belligerent, and a refusal by the other, in the relations between the other and the United States. To Great Britain, whose power on the ocean is so ascendant, it was deemed not inconsistent with that condition to state explicitly, that on her rescinding her orders in relation to the United States their trade would be opened with her, and remain shut to her enemy, in case of his failure to rescind his decrees also. From France no answer has been received, nor any indication that the requisite change in her decrees is contemplated. The favorable reception of the proposition to Great Britain was the less to be doubted, as her orders of council had not only been referred for their vindication to an acquiescence on the part of the United States no longer to be pretended, but as the arrangement proposed, while it resisted the illegal decrees of France, involved, moreover, substantially, the precise advantages professedly aimed at by the British orders. The arrangement has nevertheless been rejected.
This candid and liberal experiment having thus failed, and no other event having occurred on which a suspension of the embargo by the executive was authorized, it necessarily remains in the extent originally given to it. We have the satisfaction, however, to reflect, that in return for the privations by the measure, and which our fellow citizens in general have borne with patriotism, it has had the important effects of saving our mariners and our vast mercantile property, as well as of affording time for prosecuting the defensive and provisional measures called for by the occasion. It has demonstrated to foreign nations the moderation and firmness which govern our councils, and to our citizens the necessity of uniting in support of the laws and the rights of their country, and has thus long frustrated those usurpations and spoliations which, if resisted, involve war; if submitted to, sacrificed a vital principle of our national independence.
Under a continuance of the belligerent measures which, in defiance of laws which consecrate the rights of neutrals, overspread the ocean with danger, it will rest with the wisdom of Congress to decide on the course best adapted to such a state of things; and bringing with them, as they do, from every part of the Union, the sentiments of our constituents, my confidence is strengthened, that in forming this decision they will, with an unerring regard to the essential rights and interests of the nation, weigh and compare the painful alternatives out of which a choice is to be made. Nor should I do justice to the virtues which on other occasions have marked the character of our fellow citizens, if I did not cherish an equal confidence that the alternative chosen, whatever it may be, will be maintained with all the fortitude and patriotism which the crisis ought to inspire.
The documents containing the correspondences on the subject of the foreign edicts against our commerce, with the instructions given to our ministers at London and Paris, are now laid before you.
The communications made to Congress at their last session explained the posture in which the close of the discussion relating to the attack by a British ship of war on the frigate Chesapeake left a subject on which the nation had manifested so honorable a sensibility. Every view of what had passed authorized a belief that immediate steps would be taken by the British government for redressing a wrong, which, the more it was investigated, appeared the more clearly to require what had not been provided for in the special mission. It is found that no steps have been taken for the purpose. On the contrary, it will be seen, in the documents laid before you, that the inadmissible preliminary which obstructed the adjustment is still adhered to; and, moreover, that it is now brought into connection with the distinct and irrelative case of the orders in council. The instructions which had been given to our ministers at London with a view to facilitate, if necessary, the reparation claimed by the United States, are included in the documents communicated.
Our relations with the other powers of Europe have undergone no material changes since your last session. The important negotiations with Spain, which had been alternately suspended and resumed, necessarily experience a pause under the extraordinary and interesting crisis which distinguished her internal situation.
With the Barbary powers we continue in harmony, with the exception of an unjustifiable proceeding of the dey of Algiers toward our consul to that regency. Its character and circumstances are now laid before you, and will enable you to decide how far it may, either now or hereafter, call for any measures not within the limits of the executive authority.
With our Indian neighbors the public peace has been steadily maintained. Some instances of individual wrong have, as at other times, taken place, but in nowise implicating the will of the nation. Beyond the Mississippi, the Iowas, the Sacs, and the Alabamas, have delivered up for trial and punishment individuals from among themselves accused of murdering citizens of the United States. On this side of the Mississippi, the Creeks are exerting themselves to arrest offenders of the same kind; and the Choctaws have manifested their readiness and desire for amicable and just arrangements respecting depredations committed by disorderly persons of their tribe. And, generally, from a conviction that we consider them as part of ourselves, and cherish with sincerity their rights and interests, the attachment of the Indian tribes is gaining strength daily—is extending from the nearer to the more remote, and will amply requite us for the justice and friendship practised towards them. Husbandry and household manufacture are advancing among them, more rapidly with the southern than the northern tribes, from circumstances of soil and climate; and one of the two great divisions of the Cherokee nation have now under consideration to solicit the citizenship of the United States, and to be identified with us in laws and government, in such progressive manner as we shall think best.
In consequence of the appropriations of the last session of Congress for the security of our seaport towns and harbors, such works of defence have been erected as seemed to be called for by the situation of the several places, their relative importance, and the scale of expense indicated by the amount of the appropriation. These works will chiefly be finished in the course of the present season, except at New York and New Orleans, where most was to be done; and although a great proportion of the last appropriation has been expended on the former place, yet some further views will be submitted to Congress for rendering its security entirely adequate against naval enterprise. A view of what has been done at the several places, and of what is proposed to be done, shall be communicated as soon as the several reports are received.
Of the gun-boats authorized by the act of December last, it has been thought necessary to build only one hundred and three in the present year. These, with those before possessed, are sufficient for the harbors and waters exposed, and the residue will require little time for their construction when it is deemed necessary.
Under the act of the last session for raising an additional military force, so many officers were immediately appointed as were necessary for carrying on the business of recruiting, and in proportion as it advanced, others have been added. We have reason to believe their success has been satisfactory, although such returns have not yet been received as enable me to present to you a statement of the numbers engaged.
I have not thought it necessary in the course of the last season to call for any general detachments of militia or volunteers under the law passed for that purpose. For the ensuing season, however, they will require to be in readiness should their services be wanted. Some small and special detachments have been necessary to maintain the laws of embargo on that portion of our northern frontier which offered peculiar facilities for evasion, but these were replaced as soon as it could be done by bodies of new recruits. By the aid of these, and of the armed vessels called into actual service in other quarters, the spirit of disobedience and abuse which manifested itself early, and with sensible effect while we were unprepared to meet it, has been considerably repressed.
Considering the extraordinary character of the times in which we live, our attention should unremittingly be fixed on the safety of our country. For a people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well-organized and armed militia is their best security. It is, therefore, incumbent on us, at every meeting, to revise the condition of the militia, and to ask ourselves if it is prepared to repel a powerful enemy at every point of our territories exposed to invasion. Some of the States have paid a laudable attention to this object; but every degree of neglect is to be found among others. Congress alone have power to produce a uniform state of preparation in this great organ of defence; the interests which they so deeply feel in their own and their country's security will present this as among the most important objects of their deliberation.
Under the acts of March 11th and April 23d, respecting arms, the difficulty of procuring them from abroad, during the present situation and dispositions of Europe, induced us to direct our whole efforts to the means of internal supply. The public factories have, therefore, been enlarged, additional machineries erected, and in proportion as artificers can be found or formed, their effect, already more than doubled, may be increased so as to keep pace with the yearly increase of the militia. The annual sums appropriated by the latter act, have been directed to the encouragement of private factories of arms, and contracts have been entered into with individual undertakers to nearly the amount of the first year's appropriation.
The suspension of our foreign commerce, produced by the injustice of the belligerent powers, and the consequent losses and sacrifices of our citizens, are subjects of just concern. The situation into which we have thus been forced, has impelled us to apply a portion of our industry and capital to internal manufactures and improvements. The extent of this conversion is daily increasing, and little doubt remains that the establishments formed and forming will—under the auspices of cheaper materials and subsistence, the freedom of labor from taxation with us, and of protecting duties and prohibitions—become permanent. The commerce with the Indians, too, within our own boundaries, is likely to receive abundant aliment from the same internal source, and will secure to them peace and the progress of civilization, undisturbed by practices hostile to both.
The accounts of the receipts and expenditures during the year ending on the 30th day of September last, being not yet made up, a correct statement will hereafter be transmitted from the Treasury. In the meantime, it is ascertained that the receipts have amounted to near eighteen millions of dollars, which, with the eight millions and a half in the treasury at the beginning of the year, have enabled us, after meeting the current demands and interest incurred, to pay two millions three hundred thousand dollars of the principal of our funded debt, and left us in the treasury, on that day, near fourteen millions of dollars. Of these, five millions three hundred and fifty thousand dollars will be necessary to pay what will be due on the first day of January next, which will complete the reimbursement of the eight per cent. stock. These payments, with those made in the six years and a half preceding, will have extinguished thirty-three millions five hundred and eighty thousand dollars of the principal of the funded debt, being the whole which could be paid or purchased within the limits of the law and our contracts; and the amount of principal thus discharged will have liberated the revenue from about two millions of dollars of interest, and added that sum annually to the disposable surplus. The probable accumulation of the surpluses of revenue beyond what can be applied to the payment of the public debt, whenever the freedom and safety of our commerce shall be restored, merits the consideration of Congress. Shall it lie unproductive in the public vaults? Shall the revenue be reduced? Or shall it rather be appropriated to the improvements of roads, canals, rivers, education, and other great foundations of prosperity and union, under the powers which Congress may already possess, or such amendment of the constitution as may be approved by the States? While uncertain of the course of things, the time may be advantageously employed in obtaining the powers necessary for a system of improvement, should that be thought best.
Availing myself of this the last occasion which will occur of addressing the two houses of the legislature at their meeting, I cannot omit the expression of my sincere gratitude for the repeated proofs of confidence manifested to me by themselves and their predecessors since my call to the administration, and the many indulgences experienced at their hands. The same grateful acknowledgments are due to my fellow citizens generally, whose support has been my great encouragement under all embarrassments. In the transaction of their business I cannot have escaped error. It is incident to our imperfect nature. But I may say with truth, my errors have been of the understanding, not of intention; and that the advancement of their rights and interests has been the constant motive for every measure. On these considerations I solicit their indulgence. Looking forward with anxiety to their future destinies, I trust that, in their steady character unshaken by difficulties, in their love of liberty, obedience to law, and support of the public authorities, I see a sure guaranty of the permanence of our republic; and retiring from the charge of their affairs, I carry with me the consolation of a firm persuasion that Heaven has in store for our beloved country long ages to come of prosperity and happiness.
SPECIAL MESSAGE.—December 30, 1808.
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:—
I lay before the legislature a letter from Governor Claiborne, on the subject of a small tribe of Alabama Indians, on the western side of the Mississippi, consisting of about a dozen families. Like other erratic tribes in that country, it is understood that they have hitherto moved from place to place, according to their convenience, without appropriating to themselves exclusively any particular territory. But having now become habituated to some of the occupations of civilized life, they wish for a fixed residence. I suppose it will be the interest of the United States to encourage the wandering tribes of that country to reduce themselves to fixed habitations, whenever they are so disposed. The establishment of towns, and growing attachment to them, will furnish, in some degree, pledges of their peaceable and friendly conduct. The case of this particular tribe is now submitted to the consideration of Congress.
SPECIAL MESSAGE.—January 6, 1809.
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:—
I now lay before Congress a statement of the works of defence which it has been thought necessary to provide in the first instance, for the security of our seaports, towns, and harbors, and of the progress toward their completion; their extent has been adapted to the scale of the appropriation, and to the circumstances of the several places.
The works undertaken at New York are calculated to annoy and endanger any naval force which shall enter the harbor, and, still more, one which should attempt to lie before the city. To prevent altogether the entrance of large vessels, a line of blocks across the harbor has been contemplated, and would, as is believed, with the auxiliary means already provided, render that city safe against naval enterprise. The expense, as well as the importance of the work, renders it a subject proper for the special consideration of Congress.
At New Orleans, two separate systems of defence are necessary; the one for the river, the other for the lake, which, at present, can give no aid to one another. The canal now leading from the lake, if continued into the river, would enable the armed vessels in both stations to unite, and to meet in conjunction an attack from either side; half the aggregate force would then have the same effect as the whole; or the same force double the effect of what either can have. It would also enable the vessels stationed in the lake, when attacked by superior force, to retire to a safer position in the river. The same considerations of expense and importance renders this also a question for the special decision of Congress.
Circumstances, fellow citizens, which seriously threatened the peace of our country, have made it a duty to convene you at an earlier period than usual. The love of peace, so much cherished in the bosoms of our citizens, which has so long guided the proceedings of the public councils, and induced forbearance under so many wrongs, may not insure our continuance in the quiet
PART III.
REPLIES TO PUBLIC ADDRESSES.
MESSRS. NEHEMIAH DODGE, EPHRAIM ROBBINS, AND STEPHEN S. NELSON, A COMMITTEE OF THE DANBURY BAPTIST ASSOCIATION, IN THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT.
January 1, 1802.
Gentlemen,—The affectionate sentiments of esteem and approbation which you are so good as to express towards me, on behalf of the Danbury Baptist Association, give me the highest satisfaction. My duties dictate a faithful and zealous pursuit of the interests of my constituents, and in proportion as they are persuaded of my fidelity to those duties, the discharge of them becomes more and more pleasing.
Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between church and State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.
I reciprocate your kind prayers for the protection and blessing of the common Father and Creator of man, and tender you for yourselves and your religious association, assurances of my high respect and esteem.
TO WILLIAM JUDD, ESQUIRE, CHAIRMAN.
Washington, November 15, 1802.
Expressions of confidence from the respectable description of my fellow citizens, in whose name you have been pleased to address me, are received with that cordial satisfaction which kindred principles and sentiments naturally inspire.
The proceedings which they approve were sincerely intended for the general good; and if, as we hope, they should in event produce it, they will be indebted for it to the wisdom of our legislative councils, and of those distinguished fellow laborers whom the laws have permitted me to associate in the general administration.
Exercising that discretion which the constitution has confided to me in the choice of public agents, I have been sensible, on the one hand, of the justice done to those who have been systematically excluded from the service of their country, and attentive, on the other, to restore justice in such a way as might least affect the sympathies and the tranquillity of the public mind. Deaths, resignations, delinquencies, malignant and active opposition to the order of things established by the will of the nation, will, it is believed, within a moderate space of time, make room for a just participation in the management of the public affairs; and that being once effected, future changes at the helm will be viewed with tranquillity by those in subordinate station.
Every wish of my heart will be completely gratified when that portion of my fellow citizens which has been misled as to the character of our measures and principles, shall, by their salutary effects, be corrected in their opinions, and joining with good will the great mass of their fellow citizens, consolidate an union which cannot be too much cherished.
I pray you, Sir, to accept for yourself, and for the general meeting of the Republicans of the State of Connecticut at New Haven, whose sentiments you have been so good as to convey to me, assurances of my high consideration and respect.
TO THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE.
December 24, 1803.
Amidst the anxieties which are felt for the favorable issue of measures adopted for promoting the public good, it is a consolation to meet the approbation of those on whose behalf they are instituted. I shall certainly endeavor to merit a continuance of the good opinion which the legislature of Tennessee have been pleased to express in their address of the 8th November, by a zealous attention to the interests of my constituents; and shall count on a candid indulgence whenever untoward events may happen to disappoint well-founded expectations.
In availing our western brethren of those circumstances which occur for promoting their interests, we only perform that duty which we owe to every portion of the Union, under occurrences equally favorable; and, impressed with the inconveniences to which the citizens of Tennessee are subjected by a want of contiguity in the portions composing their State, I shall be ready to do for their relief, whatever the general legislature may authorize, and justice to our neighbors permit.
The acquisition of Louisiana, although more immediately beneficial to the western States, by securing for their produce a certain market, not subject to interruption by officers over whom we have no control, yet is also deeply interesting to the maritime portion of our country, inasmuch as by giving the exclusive navigation of the Mississippi, it avoids the burthens and sufferings of a war, which conflicting interests on that river would inevitably have produced at no distant period. It opens, too, a fertile region for the future establishments in the progress of that multiplication so rapidly taking place in all parts.
I have seen with great satisfaction the promptitude with which the first portions of your militia repaired to the standard of their country. It was deemed best to provide a force equal to any event which might arise out of the transaction, and especially to the preservation of order, among our newly-associated brethren, in the first moments of their transition from one authority to another. I tender to the legislature of Tennessee assurances of my high respect and consideration.
TO THE TWO BRANCHES OF THE LEGISLATURE OF MASSACHUSETTS.
February 14, 1807.
It is with sincere pleasure that I receive, from the two branches of the legislature of Massachusetts, an address, expressive of their satisfaction with the administration of our government. The approbation of my constituents is truly the most valued reward for any services it has fallen to my lot to render them—their confidence and esteem, the greatest consolation of my life. The measures which you have been pleased particularly to note, I have believed to have been for the best interests of our country. But far from assuming their merit to myself, they belong first, to a wise and patriotic legislature, which has given them the form and sanction of law, and next, to my faithful and able fellow-laborers in the Executive administration.
The progression of sentiment in the great body of our fellow citizens of Massachusetts, and the increasing support of their opinion, I have seen with satisfaction, and was ever confident I should see; persuaded that an enlightened people, whenever they should view impartially the course we have pursued, could never wish that our measures should have been reversed; could never desire that the expenses of the government should have been increased, taxes multiplied, debt accumulated, wars undertaken, and the tomahawk and scalping knife left in the hands of our neighbors, rather than the hoe and plough. In whatever tended to strengthen the republican features of our constitution, we could not fail to expect from Massachusetts, the cradle of our revolutionary principles, an ultimate concurrence; and cultivating the peace of nations, with justice and prudence, we yet were always confident that, whenever our rights would be to be vindicated against the aggression of foreign foes, or the machinations of internal conspirators, the people of Massachusetts, so prominent in the military achievements which placed our country in the right of self-government, would never be found wanting in their duty to the calls of their country, or the requisitions of their government.
During the term, which yet remains, of my continuance in the station assigned me, your confidence shall not be disappointed, so far as faithful endeavors for your service can merit it.
I feel with particular sensibility your kind expressions towards myself personally; and I pray that that Providence in whose hand are the nations of the earth, may continue towards ours his fostering care, and bestow on yourselves the blessings of His protection and favor.
TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE, AND SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF MASSACHUSETTS.
Washington, February 14, 1807.
Gentlemen,—I acknowledge, in the first moment it has been in my power, the receipt of your joint letter of January 26th, with the address of the two branches of legislature of Massachusetts, expressing their approbation of the proceedings of our government. This declaration cannot fail to give particular and general satisfaction to our fellow citizens, and to produce wholesome effects at home and abroad. The remarkable union of sentiment which pervaded nearly the whole of the States and territories composing our nation, was such, indeed, as to inspire a just confidence in the course we had to pursue. Yet something was sensibly wanting to fill up the measure of our happiness, while a member so important, so esteemed as Massachusetts, had not yet declared its participation in the common sentiment. That it is now done, will be a subject of mutual congratulation.
I am sensible that the terms in which you have been pleased to make this communication, are not merely those of official duty. I feel how much I am indebted to the kind and friendly disposition they manifest; and I cherish them as proofs of an esteem highly valued.
Permit me, through you, to return to the two branches of the legislature the enclosed answer, and accept the assurances of my esteem and high consideration.
TO MESSRS. THOMAS, ELLICOT, AND OTHERS.
November 13, 1807.
Friends and Fellow Citizens,—I thank you for the address you have kindly presented me, on behalf of that portion of the Society of Friends of which you are the representatives, and I learn with satisfaction their approbation of the principles which have influenced the councils of the general government in their decisions on several important subjects confided to them.
The desire to preserve our country from the calamities and ravages of war, by cultivating a disposition, and pursuing a conduct, conciliatory and friendly to all nations, has been sincerely entertained and faithfully followed. It was dictated by the principles of humanity, the precepts of the gospel, and the general wish of our country, and it was not to be doubted that the Society of Friends, with whom it is a religious principle, would sanction it by their support.
The same philanthropic motives have directed the public endeavors to ameliorate the condition of the Indian natives, by introducing among them a knowledge of agriculture and some of the mechanic arts, by encouraging them to resort to these as more certain, and less laborious resources for subsistence than the chase; and by withholding from them the pernicious supplies of ardent spirits. They are our brethren, our neighbors; they may be valuable friends, and troublesome enemies. Both duty and interest then enjoin, that we should extend to them the blessings of civilized life, and prepare their minds for becoming useful members of the American family. In this important work I owe to your society an acknowledgment that we have felt the benefits of their zealous co-operation, and approved its judicious direction towards producing among those people habits of industry, comfortable subsistence, and civilized usages, as preparatory to religious instruction and the cultivation of letters.
Whatever may have been the circumstances which influenced our forefathers to permit the introduction of personal bondage into any part of these States, and to participate in the wrongs committed on an unoffending quarter of the globe, we may rejoice that such circumstances, and such a sense of them, exist no longer. It is honorable to the nation at large that their legislature availed themselves of the first practicable moment for arresting the progress of this great moral and political error; and I sincerely pray with you, my friends, that all the members of the human family may, in the time prescribed by the Father of us all, find themselves securely established in the enjoyment of life, liberty, and happiness.