Kitabı oku: «Abridgement of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856 (4 of 16 vol.)», sayfa 120
Tuesday, January 26
Honors to Hull. Decatur, Jones, and Elliott
The amendment to the joint resolution relative to the brilliant achievements of Captains Hull, Decatur, and Jones, having been reported by the committee correctly engrossed, the resolution was read a third time as amended; and the title thereof was amended, to read as follows: "A resolution relative to the brilliant achievements of Captains Hull, Decatur, Jones, and Lieutenant Elliott."
Resolved, That this resolution pass with amendments.
Friday February 5
James Brown, appointed a Senator by the State of Louisiana, in the place of John Noel Detrehan, resigned, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the Senate.
Tuesday, February 9
The credentials of Chauncey Goodrich, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of Connecticut for the term of six years, commencing on the 4th day of March next, were read, and laid on file.
Wednesday, February 10
Counting Electoral Votes
A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that the House agree to the report of the joint committee appointed to ascertain and report a mode of examining the votes for President and Vice President of the United States, and of notifying the persons elected of their election, and have appointed Messrs. Macon and Tallmadge, tellers, on their part.
Ordered, That Mr. Franklin be appointed a teller of the ballots for President and Vice President of the United States, on the part of the Senate, in place of Mr. Gaillard, absent from indisposition.
A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that the House is now ready to attend the Senate in opening the certificates and counting the votes of the Electors of the several States, in the choice of a President and Vice President of the United States, in pursuance of the resolution of the two Houses of Congress; and that the President of the Senate will be introduced to the Speaker's Chair, by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The two Houses of Congress, agreeably to the joint resolution, assembled in the Representatives' Chamber, and the certificates of the Electors of the several States were, by the President of the Senate, opened and delivered to the tellers appointed for the purpose, who, having examined and ascertained the number of votes, presented a list thereof to the President of the Senate, which was read, as follows:
The whole number of votes being 217, of which 109 makes a majority; James Madison had for President of the United States 128 votes, and Elbridge Gerry had for Vice President of the United States 131 votes:
Whereupon, the President of the Senate declared James Madison elected President of the United States, for four years, commencing with the fourth day of March next, and Elbridge Gerry, Vice President of the United States, for four years, commencing on the fourth day of March next.
The votes of the Electors were then delivered to the Secretary of the Senate; the two Houses of Congress separated, and the Senate returned to their own Chamber; and, on motion, adjourned.
Thursday, February 11
Vice President Elect
On motion, by Mr. Franklin,
Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to cause to be transmitted to Elbridge Gerry, Esq., of Massachusetts, Vice President elect of the United States, notification of his election to that office, and that the President of the Senate do make and sign a certificate in the words following, to wit:
"Be it enacted, That the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, being convened at the city of Washington, on the second Wednesday of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirteen, the underwritten President of the Senate, pro tempore, did, in the presence of the said Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and count all the votes of the Electors for a President and Vice President of the United States; whereupon it appeared that James Madison, of Virginia, had a majority of the votes of the Electors as President, and Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts, had a majority of the votes of the Electors as Vice President; by all which it appears that James Madison, of Virginia, has been duly elected President, and Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts, has been duly elected Vice President of the United States, agreeably to the constitution.
"In witness whereof, I have herewith set my hand and caused the seal of the Senate to be affixed, this – day of February, 1813."
And that the President of the Senate do cause the certificates aforesaid to be laid before the President of the United States, with this resolution.
Monday, February 22
Capture and Destruction of the Java
The following Message was received from the President of the United States:
To the Senate and House of
Representatives of the United States:
I lay before Congress a letter, with accompanying documents, from Captain Bainbridge, now commanding the United States' frigate, the Constitution, reporting his capture and destruction of the British frigate, the Java. The circumstances and the issue of this combat, afford another example of the professional skill and heroic spirit which prevail in our naval service. The signal display of both, by Captain Bainbridge, his officers, and crew, command the highest praise.
This being a second instance in which the condition of the captured ship, by rendering it impossible to get her into port, has barred a contemplated reward of successful valor, I recommend to the consideration of Congress the equity and propriety of a general provision, allowing, in such cases, both past and future, a fair proportion of the value which would accrue to the captors, on the safe arrival and sale of the prize.
JAMES MADISON.
February 22, 1813.
The Message and accompanying documents were read, and referred to the committee appointed the 9th of November, who have under consideration the naval affairs of the United States, to consider and report thereon.
Tuesday, February 23
Naturalized Citizens Claiming Protection
Mr. Leib presented the memorial of a number of inhabitants of the city and liberties of Philadelphia, stating that they are natives of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and citizens of the United States by adoption; and that, by a late proclamation, issued by the Prince Regent of said Kingdom, the penalty of death is denounced against such of the natural born subjects thereof as shall adhere or give aid to the United States, thereby subjecting them to the punishment for treason against said Kingdom whenever the United States shall call upon them to take part in the existing war, and praying such provision for their protection as the wisdom of Congress may dictate; and the memorial was read.
Wednesday, March 3
Six o'clock in the evening
Adjournment
The Senate proceeded to consider the resolution from the House of Representatives, for the appointment of a joint committee to wait on the President of the United States, and notify him of the intended recess, and concurred therein; and Messrs. Varnum and Gaillard were appointed the committee on the part of the Senate.
Mr. Varnum reported, from the committee, that they had waited on the President of the United States, who informed them that he had no further communications to make to the two Houses of Congress. Whereupon, the President adjourned the Senate to meet on the fourth Monday in May next.
INAUGURAL SPEECH
From the National Intelligencer of March 5, 1813
Yesterday being the day on which commenced the second term of Mr. Madison's re-election to the Presidency, he took the oath to support the Constitution of the United States, administered to him by Chief Justice Marshall, in the presence of many members of Congress, the Judges of the Supreme Court, the foreign Ministers, and a great concourse of ladies and gentlemen. The President was escorted to the Capitol by the cavalry of the District, and received, on his approach to it, by the several volunteer corps of this city, Georgetown, and Alexandria, drawn up in line for the purpose. Previous to taking the oath in the Chamber of the House of Representatives, the President delivered the following
SPEECH:
About to add the solemnity of an oath to the obligations imposed by a second call to the station in which my country heretofore placed me, I find, in the presence of this respectable assembly, an opportunity of publicly repeating my profound sense of so distinguished a confidence, and of the responsibility united with it. The impressions on me are strengthened by such an evidence, that my faithful endeavors to discharge my arduous duties have been favorably estimated; and by a consideration of the momentous period at which the trust has been renewed. From the weight and magnitude now belonging to it, I should be compelled to shrink, if I had less reliance on the support of an enlightened and generous people, and felt less deeply a conviction, that the war with a powerful nation, which forms so prominent a feature in our situation, is stamped with that justice, which invites the smiles of Heaven on the means of conducting it to a successful termination.
May we not cherish this sentiment, without presumption, when we reflect on the characters by which this war was distinguished?
It was not declared on the part of the United States, until it had been long made on them, in reality though not in name; until arguments and expostulations had been exhausted; until a positive declaration had been received, that the wrongs provoking it would not be discontinued; nor until this last appeal could no longer be delayed without breaking down the spirit of the nation, destroying all confidence in itself and in its political institutions, and either perpetuating a state of disgraceful suffering, or regaining, by more costly sacrifices and more severe struggles, our lost rank and respect among independent powers.
On the issue of the war are staked our national sovereignty on the high seas, and the security of an important class of citizens, whose occupations give the proper value to those of every other class. Not to contend for such a stake, is to surrender our equality with other powers on the element common to all, and to violate the sacred title which every member of the society has to its protection. I need not call into view the unlawfulness of the practice by which our mariners are forced, at the will of every cruising officer, from their own vessels into foreign ones, nor paint the outrages inseparable from it. The proofs are in the records of each successive administration of our Government; and the cruel sufferings of that portion of the American people have found their way to every bosom not dead to the sympathies of human nature.
As the war was just in its origin, and necessary and noble in its objects, we can reflect with a proud satisfaction, that, in carrying it on, no principle of justice or honor, no usage of civilized nations, no precept of courtesy or humanity have been infringed. The war has been waged on our part with scrupulous regard to all these obligations, and in a spirit of liberality which was never surpassed.
How little has been the effect of this example on the conduct of the enemy!
They have retained as prisoners of war citizens of the United States, not liable to be so considered under the usages of war.
They have refused to consider as prisoners of war, and threatened to punish as traitors and deserters, persons emigrating, without restraint, to the United States; incorporated, by naturalization into our political family, and fighting under the authority of their adopted country, in open and honorable war, for the maintenance of its rights and safety. Such is the avowed purpose of a Government which is in the practice of naturalizing, by thousands, citizens of other countries, and not only of permitting, but compelling, them to fight its battles against their native country.
They have not, it is true, taken into their own hands the hatchet and the knife, devoted to indiscriminate massacre; but they have let loose the savages, armed with these cruel instruments; have allured them into their service, and carried them to battle by their sides, eager to glut their savage thirst with the blood of the vanquished, and to finish the work of torture and death on maimed and defenceless captives: and, what was never before seen, British commanders have extorted victory over the unconquerable valor of our troops, by presenting to the sympathy of their chief awaiting massacre from their savage associates.
And now we find them, in further contempt of the modes of honorable warfare, supplying the place of a conquering force, by attempts to disorganize our political society, to dismember our confederated Republic. Happily, like others, these will recoil on the authors; but they mark the degenerate counsels from which they emanate; and if they did not belong to a series of unexampled inconsistencies, might excite the greater wonder, as proceeding from a Government which founded the very war in which it has been so long engaged, on a charge against the disorganizing and insurrectional policy of its adversary.
To render the justice of the war on our part the more conspicuous, the reluctance to commence it was followed by the earliest and strongest manifestations of a disposition to arrest its progress. The sword was scarcely out of the scabbard, before the enemy was apprised of the reasonable terms on which it would be resheathed. Still more precise advances were repeated, and have been received in a spirit forbidding every reliance not placed on the military resources of the nation.
These resources are amply sufficient to bring the war to an honorable issue. Our nation is, in number, more than half that of the British isles. It is composed of a brave, a free, a virtuous, and an intelligent people. Our country abounds in the necessaries, the arts, and the comforts of life. A general prosperity is visible in the public countenance. The means employed by the British Cabinet to undermine it, have recoiled on themselves; have given to our national faculties a more rapid development; and draining or diverting the precious metals from British circulation and British vaults, have poured them into those of the United States. It is a propitious consideration, that an unavoidable war should have found this seasonable facility for the contributions required to support it. When the public voice called for war, all knew and still know, that without them it could not be carried on through the period which it might last; and the patriotism, the good sense, and the manly spirit of our fellow-citizens, are pledges for the cheerfulness with which they will bear each his share of the common burden. To render the war short, and its success sure, animated, and systematic exertions alone are necessary; and the success of our arms now may long preserve our country from the necessity of another resort to them. Already have the gallant exploits of our naval heroes proved to the world our inherent capacity to maintain our rights on one element. If the reputation of our arms has been thrown under clouds on the other, presaging flashes of heroic enterprise assure us that nothing is wanting to correspondent triumphs there also, but the discipline and habits which are in daily progress.
TWELFTH CONGRESS. – SECOND SESSION.
PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES
IN
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, November 2, 1812
This being the day appointed by law for the meeting of Congress, the following members of the House of Representatives appeared, and took their seats, to wit:
From New Hampshire– Samuel Dinsmoor, Obed Hall, and John A. Harper.
From Massachusetts– Abijah Bigelow, Elijah Brigham, Richard Cutts, Wm. Ely, Isaiah L. Green, Ebenezer Seaver, William M. Richardson, Charles Turner, jr., Laban Wheaton, Leonard White, Wm. Widgery.
From Rhode Island– Richard Jackson, jr.
From Connecticut– Epaphroditus Champion, John Davenport, jr., Lyman Law, and Jonathan O. Mosely.
From Vermont– Martin Chittenden, Wm. Strong.
From New York– Daniel Avery, Harmanus Bleecker, James Emott, Asa Fitch, Sam. L. Mitchill, Benjamin Pond, Thomas Sammons, Pierre Van Cortlandt, jr.
From New Jersey– Adam Boyd, Lewis Condict, Jacob Hufty, and Thomas Newbold.
From Pennsylvania– Wm. Anderson, David Bard, Robert Brown, William Crawford, William Findlay, Abner Lacock, Aaron Lyle, Jonathan Roberts, Wm. Rodman, Adam Seybert, John Smilie, Geo. Smith, and Robert Whitehill.
From Maryland– Stevenson Archer, Charles Goldsborough, Joseph Kent, Philip B. Key, Peter Little, Alexander McKim, Samuel Ringgold, Philip Stuart, and Robert Wright.
From Virginia– John Baker, Burwell Bassett, Matthew Clay, John Dawson, Thomas Gholson, Peterson Goodwyn, Aylett Hawes, Joseph Lewis, jr., William McCoy, Hugh Nelson, Thomas Newton, James Pleasants, jr., and John Roane.
From North Carolina– Willis Alston, jr., William Blackledge, Meshack Franklin, Nathaniel Macon, Archibald McBryde, and Joseph Pearson.
From South Carolina– William Butler, John C. Calhoun, Elias Earle, William Lowndes, Thos. Moore, and Richard Wynn.
From Georgia– William W. Bibb, Geo. M. Troup.
From Kentucky– Henry Clay, Speaker, Joseph Desha, and Stephen Ormsby.
From Tennessee– Felix Grundy, John Rhea, and John Sevier.
From Ohio– Jeremiah Morrow.
From Indiana Territory– Jona. Jennings, Delegate.
A quorum, consisting of a majority of the whole House, being present, it was ordered that the Clerk do acquaint the Senate therewith.
On motion of Mr. Dawson, a committee was appointed on the part of the House, jointly with such committee as may be appointed on the part of the Senate, to wait on the President of the United States, and inform him that a quorum of the two Houses is assembled, and ready to receive any communication he may be pleased to make to them.
Mr. Dawson and Mr. Bleecker were appointed the committee on the part of the House.
Tuesday, November 3
Several other members, to wit: From Massachusetts, Francis Carr; from Connecticut, Timothy Pitkin, jr.; from Vermont, Samuel Shaw; from New York, Arunah Metcalf, Silas Stow, and Uri Tracy; from Pennsylvania, John M. Hyneman; from Virginia, John Smith, and Thomas Wilson; from North Carolina, Richard Stanford; from S. Carolina, Langdon Cheves, and David R. Williams; and, from Kentucky, Richard M. Johnson, appeared, and took their seats.
A message from the Senate informed the House that a quorum of the Senate is assembled, and ready to proceed to business. They have appointed a committee on their part, jointly with the committee on the part of this House, to inform the President of the United States that a quorum of the two Houses is assembled, and ready to receive any communications he may be pleased to make to them.
Mr. Dawson, from the joint committee appointed to wait on the President of the United States, reported that the committee had performed the service assigned to them, and that the President answered that he would make a communication to the two Houses of Congress to-morrow at 12 o'clock.
And then the House adjourned.
Wednesday, November 4
Several other members, to wit: From Vermont, James Fisk; from North Carolina, Wm. R. King and Israel Pickens; from Georgia, Bolling Hall; and from Kentucky, Anthony New, appeared, and took their seats.
A Message was received from the President of the United States. [For which, see Senate proceedings of this date, ante, page 567.]
The Message having been read was referred, with the documents accompanying it, to the Committee of the whole House on the state of the Union.
Thursday, November 5
Constitution and the Guerriere
Mr. Dawson rose and said: – Mr. Speaker, I take this early moment to present to you a resolution which I feel pleasure and pride in believing will meet the general approbation, not only of this House, but of the nation.
The President of the United States, in his Message, which was read on yesterday, has, in terms eloquent and appropriate, made mention of an engagement which has taken place between an American frigate and one of His Britannic Majesty's, which has rendered to the officers and crew of our frigate that justice which they so justly merited; an engagement in which American tars have proven to the world, that when commanded by officers of skill, valor, and fidelity, they are capable of contending with, and of vanquishing, those of any nation on the earth, upon any element – even on that element where British skill has so justly acquired so much celebrity, and that the American flag, when authorized by the constituted authorities of our country, will command respect on the high road of nations. Far, very far be it from me to boast – it ill becomes an individual or a nation, and is never the concomitant of true courage; but on the present occasion it seems to me proper that we should express our sentiments – our feelings, and thereby the feelings of the nation. I shall, therefore, without further comment, offer you the following resolution, observing that the facts stated have been ascertained at the proper department, and the proofs are on my table:
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, requested to present, in the name of Congress, to Captain Isaac Hull, a gold medal, with suitable emblems and devices; and that the sum of – thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby, appropriated, to be distributed as prize money to the officers and crew of the United States' frigate the Constitution, of forty-four guns, according to the provisions of the act for the better government of the Navy of the United States; in testimony of the high sense entertained by Congress of the gallantry, good conduct, and services of Captain Hull, the officers, and crew, of the said frigate Constitution, in attacking, vanquishing, and capturing the British frigate the Guerriere, mounting fifty-four carriage guns, thereby exhibiting an example highly honorable to the American character, and instructive to our rising Navy.
Some conversation passed on the proper mode of disposing of this subject, in the course of which
Mr. Seybert suggested the propriety of also giving some distinctive or medals to the crew of the Constitution, who he thought were too generally overlooked in such cases.
Mr. Wright approved the spirit of the resolution, but hoped the other officers would receive swords, and the men suitable rewards; and confidently hoped a gold medal would be voted to the nearest relative of Lieutenant William Bush of the marines, a young gentleman from his district, who fell gallantly fighting in that action, covered with wounds and glory; he, therefore, for that purpose, moved that the resolution be referred to a select committee.
The resolution was eventually ordered to lie on the table till a committee should be appointed to whom it should be referred.
