lences committed on them, in consequence of the same edicts; and from the same peaceable conduct, cause may be assumed to suppose that the United States will not do what is in their power to do to obtain satisfaction for injuries received, and to prevent in future the operation of the edicts. If it be asked, how is the sovereignty of the United States violated by the edicts? It is answered, by the Constitution of the United States the Congress have power to establish an uniform rule of naturalization; that several persons, emigrants from the British dominions, have, since the Treaty of Peace with Great Britain, arrived in the United States, and in pursuance of laws of naturalization enacted by Congress have become citizens of the United States; notwithstanding which, by a late proclamation of the King of the United Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, all such emigrants are required to return to the dominions of the said King; which requisition, so far as it can, goes to make void and of no effect the naturalization and citizenship of the same persons, and to contravene and repeal the laws in virtue whereof they became citizens, and to supersede and overthrow the Constitution, and Government, and sovereignty of the United States. If the edicts of Great Britain and France are submitted to, what rights of the United States will be sacrificed? The neutral rights of the United States will be destroyed, and the right of navigating on the ocean, consistent with the rules of public reason, will be annihilated, and their commerce will be subservient to the rules, regulations, and laws of foreign Powers. in The United States, by the ever to be remembered Declaration of Independence, took high ground among the nations of the earth. The great men who, on behalf of this nation, signed their names to that declaration-their successors and followers, and citizens of every rank, who carried on the mighty work of Revolution, and any manner assisted therein, persevered against all opposition, and finally succeeded in the establishment of this nation on the high ground which had been taken and manifested to all the world, in the same Declaration of Independence. A submission to the edicts will be descending from the high stand taken by the Declaration of Independence, and a sacrifice of the honor of the United States. Mr. R. said, let the members of this House read the Declaration of Independence-let them read the last paragraph of that declaration let every citizen of the United States read it-and then let every one lay his hand on his breast and ask himself, am I prepared to depart and descend from the state and situation which the great and good men who effected the Revolution placed me on? If there be any one who will openly say and avow, that he is willing and prepared to descend from that state of national honor, let him say so-let him speak out, that he may be known. If the edicts are submitted to, how or in what manner will the independence of the United 10th CoN. 2d SESS.-19 H. OF R. States be sacrificed? Wherever supreme legislative power is, there dwells sovereignty. Whatever nation has power to impose laws on another, is sovereign to that other. If the edicts are submitted to by the United States, the United States will be bound by the Proclamations, Orders of Council, acts of Parliament, decrees and decisions of Courts of Admiralty of foreign Powers, in making, enacting, and ordaining, whereof they, the United States, had no voice. Where this state of national existence begins, national sovereignty ends, and a species of colonial or territorial, or tributary existence commences. This proposition, said Mr. R., is a resolution properly, that is a determination; and, when agreed to, will be an expression of the will of this nation-a firm, immoveable, irrevocable determination not to submit to the late edicts of Great Britain and France. Mr. R. said he had no design to offer any amendment to the first resolution reported by the committee, but for argument or illustration would suppose a motion made to amend it, by striking out the syllable "not," in the word "cannot," in the first line of the resolution, so that it might then read-"Resolved, That the United States can, without a sacrifice of their rights, honor, and independence, submit to the late edicts of Great Britain and France." And suppose that amendment was agreed to, and this resolution so amended, should, together with the report, go out to the sovereign people of this nation for their inspection and approbation; what would they think? What would they say? What would they do? What would they not do? What would they not inflict on us, their Representatives, for agreeing on their behalf to such a dishonorable resolution? They would, and justly too, hurl vengeance on our devoted heads for sacrificing their rights, their honor, and their independence. Let us beware; the never-sleeping eye of the mighty spirit of this injured nation is watching and observing us, is marking and noting down all our conduct. This first resolution, Mr. R. said, is a complete text-every word of it is expressive-it is expressive of all the injuries, outrages, and oppressions, that these United States have, for many years past, endured from unjust and overbearing force and power. To add to or subtract from this resolution would destroy it; and every proposed amendment must have that object in whole or in part in view. Mr. R. said he had not been able to please himself in doing justice to the merits of the resolution; that he had stated only some of its great outlines, and must submit a further elucidation of it to any gentleman better prepared who may think proper to do it. He said he considered the resolution under consideration all important— at this particular time more peculiarly so-and that it would have his support. Mr. R. said he did not wish to make a text of any observation of any gentleman; but as the word tribute had been mentioned, and some gentleman had said that that word ought to be discarded and dismissed from the debate, it was not his inclination to dismiss or discard that word. He thought the term appropriate that the word tribute was nearly synonymous with the word tax or toll-that if a man is authorized by law to fix a turnpike on a highway or great road, and to collect from travellers a certain sum of money, that is called tax or toll. If a man is possessed of force and power sufficient to enable him arbitrarily or despotically to establish a turnpike gate on a highway, and to compel every passenger to pay to him a sum of money, say one dollar, for liberty to travel on the road to pass through the gate, that dollar in that case may properly be called tribute. NOVEMBER, 1808. knowledge that some gentlemen had already left the House from indisposition, and others would soon follow their example, unless the Committee would indulge them by rising. The motion was carried, ayes 71, and the House immediately adjourned. WEDNESDAY, November 30, On motion of Mr. HOLMES, Ordered, That the Message of the President of the United States, of the sixth of February, one thousand eight hundred and seven, and a report of the Secretary of State of the fourteenth of December last, relative to a claim of the legal repreferred to the Committee of Claims. resentatives of the late Caron de Beaumarchais, with the documents accompanying the same, be Mr. D. R. WILLIAMS. after a few prefatory observations, offered the following resolutions, the first of which was referred to the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures, but not acted on, last session: "Resolved, That the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures be instructed to inquire into the expedited States from any port or place, to which a vessel of ency of prohibiting the entry of any vessel into the Unithe United States is not admitted by permanent regulations of the Government owning such port or place, or by treaty. "Resolved, That the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures be instructed to inquire into the expedi ency of prohibiting the masters, commanders, and owners of vessels of the United States from receiving British licenses, and of enforcing the return of all vessels of the United States now without the same." These resolutions were agreed to without opposition. Mr. R. said, he contended that the ocean was instance Great Britain, was possessed of maritime a highway of nations, and if any one nation, for power and force sufficient to compel any other nation engaged in commerce to land its produce and pay tax or duty for it, to have liberty to convey it on the ocean to any third nation, that tax or duty may be properly denominated tribute; because the nation paying it is by superior force and power compelled to pay it to that nation who, by force, has arbitrarily and despotically, and contrary to public reason, erected an imaginary turnpike on the ocean to the complete destruction of all neutral commerce, and to effect and establish a perfect system of universal commercial monopoly. Mr. R. said he admitted that the maritime power of Great Britain was superior, that it extended over the ocean from the rising to the setting sun, and from the frozen ocean in the South to the frozen ocean in the North; but that notwithstanding this, he never would agree that the United States shall submit to the edicts of Great Britain. He said he also admitted that the power of France on the Continent of Europe was superior; notwithstanding that, he would never agree that the United States shall submit to the edicts of France. He said it was his opinion, and he firmly believed, that the sovereignty and independence of the United States were placed on a firm and immoveable foundation, and could not be overturned, and that they would be rising in virtue, honor, in greatness, in power, and in national happiness and felicity, when some of the nations who now oppress them would be sinking into corruption, mouldering into ruin, and blotted out, ex-persons are combined or combining and confederating cept in remembrance. Nations, in respect to existence, he said, are as trees in the forest; the loftiest, proudest oak, that has stood firm against the storms of ages, originating from an acorn, vegetating to greatness, and lifting its high head to the heavens, at length attains its utmost-decay begins, corruption progresses, it tumbles down from its height, and lays prostrate on parent earth, there it dissolves and returns to its pristine indiscriminate condition. When Mr. R. had concluded, Mr. Cook moved that the Committee rise and report progress-negatived, 55 to 50. Mr. RANDOLPH begged leave to renew the motion that the Committee now rise, report progress, and ask leave to sit again He did this from a The following Message, was received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To the House of Representatives of the United States: According to the request of the House of Representatives, expressed in their resolution of the twenty-fifth instant, I now lay before them a copy of my Proclamation of the nineteenth of April last. Nov. 30, 1808. TH. JEFFERSON. By the President of the United States. A PROCLAMATION. Whereas information has been received that sundry together on Lake Champlain, and in the country thereto adjacent, for the purpose of forming insurrections against the authority of the laws of the United States, for opthat such combinations are too powerful to be suppressed posing the same and obstructing their execution, and by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the power vested in the Marshals by the laws of the United States: Now, therefore, to the end that the authority of the laws may be maintained, and that those concerned directly or indirectly in any insurrection or combination against the same may be duly warned, I have issued this my Proclamation, hereby commanding such insur. gents, and all concerned in such combinations, instantly and without delay to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes. And I do hereby further require and command all officers having authority, civil or military, and all other persons, civil and military, who shall be found within the vicinage of such insurrections or combinations, to be aiding and assisting, by all the means in their power, by force of arms or other wise, to quell and subdue such insurrections or combinations, to seize upon all those therein concerned, who shall not instantly and without delay disperse and retire to their respective abodes, and to deliver them over to the civil authority of the place, to be proceeded against according to law. In testimony whereof, I have caused the seal of the United States to be affixed to these presents, and signed the same with my hand. Given at the City of Washington, the 19th day of April, 1808, and in the sovereignty and independence of the United States the thirty-second. T. JEFFERSON. By the President: FOREIGN RELATIONS. The House again resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the report of the Committee of Foreign Relations; the first resolution reported by the committee still under consideration, as follows: H. OF R. Without Cabinet towards the United States, we refer to a I am more than astonished to see this House therefore inundated by every mail with publications from the East, declaring that we have no cause of complaint against Great Britain; that we should rescind the proclamation of interdict against British armed vessels; that we should repeal the non-importation law; that the embargo should be taken off as to Great Britain; that we should go to war with France; that punctilio prevents a settlement of our differences with Great Britain; inviting the people to violate and disregard the embargo, to put the laws and the Constitution at defiance, and rise in rebellion. Resolved, That the United States cannot, without a sacrifice of their rights, honor, and independence, submit to the late edicts of Great Britain and France." Mr. JOHNSON said, that in discussing this subject he should consider the whole subject of foreign relations before the Committee. The first resolution he considered of primary importance, as containing a solemn declaration that the edicts of the two mighty belligerents of Europe were violations of our honor, our independence, and our sovereignty. An unanimous expression of this sentiment, said he, would give us confidence in each other; it will be a sacred pledge of all parties to resist these degrading encroachments; difference of opinion would then be manifested but as the means of saving this nation from the impending calamity. The whole nation would understand this declaration, that he who is not for us is against us-no neutrals. There can be no middle ground. The line should be drawn, that the friends and enemies of this country should be known; that the persecuted foreigner who left his native home to escape the iron yoke of despotism, may be distinguished from foreign agents and emissaries settled among us for the purposes of disaffection; and that American newspapers differing only as to the means of national security may be known from the seditious hire-zens. lings of foreign gold, whose daily avocation is the abuse of our Government, and the justification of foreign aggression. These considerations induced me to examine this matter, and to prove to every honest American, what we all believe in this place, that the object of one Power is to destroy our neutrality and involve us in the convulsing wars of Europe; and the object of the other, a monopoly of our commerce, and the destruction of our freedom and independence. Let evidence as conclusive as holy writ put the enemies of this insulted country to shame. We are informed by our Minister in London, (Mr. Monroe,) in a communication dated August, 1807, that a war party of powerful combination and influence existed in Great Britain, who wanted to extend their ravages to this country; that we could not make calculations upon the justice of Great Britain; that in her many assumptions of power and principle she would yield but from the absolute necessity. Who is this war party? The British navy, to whom we have opened our ports, and extended all the hospitalities of a generous nation; while in the enjoyment of which that very navy waged war against our unoffending citiThe ship owners, the East and West India merchants, and what cause have they for war? The enterprising citizens of the United States have been their rivals and superiors in a lawful To prove the great design of the French Em- and profitable commerce; and, lastly, political peror, we refer to the execution of the Berlin de-characters of high consideration. These comcree-unfriendly vexations of our trade in the Mediterranean and the English channel; the destruction of our merchant vessels upon the high seas by fire; the Milan and Bayonne decrees, under which our vessels have been detained and their cargoes confiscated. Το prove the deliberate hostility of the British pose this war party. In January, 1804, in an official communication of Mr. Madison, Mr. Monroe is charged with the suppression of impressment as his primary object; 2d, the definition of blockade; 3d, the reduction of the list of contraband; 4th, the enlargement of our trade with hostile colonies. The negotiation opens H. OF R. Foreign Relations. NOVEMBER, 1808. hostility, let us attend a little to the Administration of Mr. Fox. He came into office about the 1st of February. On the 31st of May, information was received in London of the extra mission of Mr. Pinkney. Mr. Monroe, therefore, had an to settle our differences, without any interruption, not even the ideal one which has been suggested, as giving a temporary stay to the negotiation, viz: the waiting the arrival of Mr. Pinkney. The United States had a right to expect something like justice from this able Minister, because he entertained a sincere desire to conciliate the friendship of this nation by acts of justice. But in this just expectation we were disappointed. The hostility of other members of the Cabinet with whom he was associated, was the real cause of difficulty, joined perhaps with his sudden indisposition and death. Mr. Fox acknowledged our right to the colonial trade; he promised to stop the capture and condemnation of our merchant vessels; but when pressed to answer our complaints in writing, he promised, but broke that promise, and ultimately refused to give any orders with respect to the capture and condemnation of our vessels. Thus the golden apple was presented to our grasp, and then snatched forever from our sight. and what is done? With industry and exertion our Minister was unable to bring the British Cabinet to any amicable arrangement. Lords Hawkesbury, Harrowby, Mulgrave, and Mr. Fox, succeeded each other. and every attempt to negotiate was in vain. Each of them brings expres-opportunity of about four months with Mr. Fox sions of good will and good disposition towards the United States, and a wish for amicable arrangement. But these professions and dispositions evaporate in invitations to the country and the city-in promises and procrastinations. Today we are amused with a conversation at the foreign office, which animates with a lively hope-to-morrow hope is swallowed up in despair-and the third day announces some new injury. Affairs on the Continent now call the attention of the British Ministry, and with every disposition of good will there must be a pause. In this amicable pause business required that our Minister should go to Old Spain; but upon his return to England, what astonishment seized his mind at the sad spectacle the changing scenes presented. Under the old rule of '56, and other interpolations upon public law, our merchant vessels are swept from the bosom of the ocean without notice, by British cruisers, and carried into British ports for condemnation. But why this change? A coalition had been formed in the North against France. British gold effected it. Russia and Austria had combined against France, and here the hopes of England rested. Now let the Committee attend to the chapter of negotiation, which produced the rejected treaty. First, the subject of blockade is proposed, and a definition demanded. We denied the doctrine of paper breast works, spurious and illegitimate blockades, to be executed in every sea by the British Navy, of which our neutral rights were the victims. Such as the blockade of the coast of Europe from the Elbe to Brest, of the Elbe, the Weiser and Ems. The whole coast of Old Spain, of the Dardanelles, and Smyrna, and of Curracoa. Upon this subject, Great Britain would yield nothing. 2. No duty can be laid upon American exports, but Great Britain imposes a duty of four per cent. upon her exports to the United States, under the name of a convoy duty; by which duty the citizens of the United States pay to Great Britain an annual amount of $1,300,000; but upon this unfriendly discrimination she will yield nothing. 3. Upon the search of merchant vessels she would yield nothing. But we all know her hopes were blasted. This is the reason why the blow was aimed, and your commerce sacrificed. The remonstrances of our Minister could not keep pace with new aggressions. This temporizing policy of England, and the destruction of our commerce, buried party spirit in America for the moment, and produced an indignant protest against her conduct from the great commercial cities in the Union, in which their lives and their property were pledged to support the Government in measures of just retaliation. And on this occasion the merchants of Boston requested the President to send a special Envoy to England, to give a greater solemnity to our claims of indemnity and future security. The cause of the merchants became a common cause, and the non-importation law was enacted, and Mr. Pinkney sent as a special Minister, agreeably to request. Let the commercial interest cease to complain. It is for them principally that we now suffer. These deeply-inflicted wounds upon the commerce of America, engulphed for a moment the consideration of the primary object of Mr. Monroe's mission-the impressment of seamen-and it would seem, that when our Minister pressed one great subject of complaint, 5. Upon the West India trade she would yield some greater outrage was committed to draw our nothing, and upon the East India trade she imattention from the former injury. Thus the un-posed new restrictions. availing exertions of our Minister for upwards of 6. Upon the impressment of seamen, the subject two years at the Court of St. James, eventuated was too delicate; she was fighting for her existin an extraordinary mission, and the non-impor-ence; she would yield nothing. tation law; a measure of retaliation, and which 7. Upon the mutual navigation of the St. Lawrendered us less dependent upon a foreign Gov-rence, so important to the Northern States, they ernment for such articles as can be manufactured would yield nothing; but would demand a moat home. To bring further evidence of Britishnopoly of the fur trade, and influence over the 4. Upon the colonial trade she imposed new restrictions. She would yield nothing; a trade which produced the United States revenue to the amount of $1,300,000 per annum; and furnished exports from the United States of $50,000,000 annually. Indians within our own limits. Thus ended the chapter of negotiation. I turn with indignation from this to a new species of injury, involving the events connected with and preceding the President's proclamation interdicting the armed vessels of Great Britain from our waters. I allude to the conduct of the officers of the British navy, and the evident connivance of the British Government. I will only mention three prominent cases. 1st. The Cambrian, and other British cruisers, commanded by Captain Bradley, who entered the port of New York, and in defiance of the Government arrested a merchant vessel, and impressed into the ships of war a number of seamen and passengers, refused to surrender them upon demand, and resisted the officers, served with regular process of law, for the purpose of arresting the offenders. 2d. The case of the Leander, Captain Whitby, with other British armed vessels, hovering about New York, vexing the trade of that port, arresting a coasting vessel of the United States by firing a cannon, which entered the vessel and killed John Pierce. The murder of Pierce, a fact so notorious, could not be proved in a sham trial in England, though the most unexceptionable characters are sent as witnesses from the United States; and not even an explanation is made to satisfy this country for the murder of a citizen. Call upon the citizens of New York, who saw the body of their slaughtered countryman; ask the mourning relatives of the murdered Pierce, whether he was slain or not! But from this tragic scene we must turn to one of a deeper hue. The attack upon the Chesapeake. This vessel had just left the shores of Virginia, leaving the British ship of war, the Leopard, enjoying the hospitalities of our laws. The Chesapeake was bound to the Mediterranean in defence of our rights. One hundred and seventy American tars were on board, who had undertaken this honorable enterprise. Unsuspicious of harm, while their rough cheeks were bedewed with tears in parting from their friends and country, their powderhorns empty, rods mislaid, wads too large, guns not primed-all was confusion. In this unhappy moment the messenger of death comes. The unfortunate Barron refuses to permit his men to be mustered by any but an American officer. His Government had given the command. This is the provocation. The vessel is attacked, and, without resistance, eight are wounded, three are killed, and four taken and carried into British service, one of whom has been hung as a malefactor in Nova Scotia. It has been said, that the Goddess of Liberty was born of the ocean. At this solemn crisis, when the blood of these American seamen mingled with the waves, then this sea nymph arose indignant from the angry billows, and, like a redeeming spirit, kindled in every bosom indignation and resentment. A nation of patriots have expressed their resentment, and the sound has reached the utmost bounds of the habitable world. Let a reasoning world judge whether the President's proclamation was too strong H. OF R. for this state of things, and whether it should be rescinded without atonement. Do the wrongs of this nation end with this outrage? No. Clouds thicken upon us; our wrongs are still increased; during the sensibility of this nation, and without atonement for the attack upon the Chesapeake, on the 16th October, 1807, a proclamation issues from the British Cabinet respecting sea-faring persons, enlarging the principles of former encroachments upon the practice of impressment. This proclamation makes it the indispensable duty of her naval officers to enter the unarmed merchant vessels of the United States, and impress as many of the crew as a petty and interested naval officer may without trial point out as British subjects. The pretension is not confined to the search after deserters, but extended to masters, carpenters, and naturalized citizens of the United States-thus extending their municipal laws to our merchant vessels and this country, and denying us the right of making laws upon the subject of naturalization. The partners of British and Scotch merchants can cover their property and their merchandise from other nations under the neutral flag of the United States to Leghorn, Amsterdam, Hamburg, &c. But the patriotic Irishman or Englishman who has sought this protecting asylum of liberty, are not secured by our flag from the ruthless fangs of a British press gang. And at this very moment our native citizens and adopted brethren, to a considerable number, are doomed to the most intolerable thraldom in the British navy by this degrading practice. There the freedom of our citizens depends upon the mercy of naval officers of Great Britain; and, upon this subject, every proposition for arrangement is trampled down by these unjust pretensions. Information was just received of the execution of the Berlin Decree, when the papers from every quarter announced the existence of the British Orders in Council, making a sweeping dash at our rightful commerce. Something must be done. The events which have been retraced, all pressed upon us. The treatment of our Minister, and his unavailing exertions; the result of the negotiation which gave birth to the rejected treaty; the memorials of the merchants; the outrageous conduct of the British naval officers upon our seaboard; the connivance at their conduct by the British Government; the proclamation of October 16, 1807; the execution of the Berlin Decree, and the Orders in Council. These considerations required the arm of Government, and at this inauspicious period, when the clouds which had so long threatened and darkened our political horizon gathered to a thick and horrible tempest, which now seemed about to burst upon our devoted nation, the embargo snatched our property from the storm, and deprived the thunderbolt of its real calamities. The effects of this measure at home and abroad, notwithstanding its inconveniences, will best attest the wisdom of the measure, which will be increased in its efficacy by a total non importation law. As a measure of coercion upon other nations, I not only have the strongest hopes, but |