Franklin, Giles, Gilman, Gregg, Hillhouse, Howland, Kitchel, Leib, Lloyd, Mathewson, Meigs, Milledge, Mitchill, Moore, Parker, Pickering, Reed, Smith, of Maryland, Smith, of New York, Smith, of Tennessee, Sumpter, Thruston, Tiffin, and Turner. So it was Resolved, (two-thirds of the Senators present concurring therein,) That the Senate do advise and consent to the ratification of the treaty between the United States and the Chippewa, Ottawa, Wyandot, Potawattamie and Shawneese nations of Indians, made at Brownstown, in the Territory of Michigan, November 15, 1808. Ordered, That the Secretary lay this resolution before the President of the United States. The Senate resumed the consideration of the message nominating William Short to be Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. Petersburgh. The following motion was submitted by Mr. Bradley: Resolved, That any intercourse between the United States and the Emperor of Russia, expedient or necessary at this time, in the opinion of the Senate, may be carried on with equal facility and effect, by other public agents of the United States, without the expense of a permanent Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. Petersburgh. And in case of any probability of sudden negotiations for peace among the belligerents in Europe, the permanent Minister at any of the Courts thereof may be instructed to attend on the same; and that such an appointment as Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. Petersburgh, is, at present, inexpedient and unnecessary. And it was agreed that this motion, together with the message, be postponed to Monday next. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1809. On motion, Mr. Bradley had leave to withdraw his motion submitted on the 25th instant. The Senate resumed the consideration of the message nominating William Short to be Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. Petersburgh. And, on the question, Will the Senate advise and consent to the appointment agreeably to the nomination? It was determined unanimously in the negative: Nays, 31. On motion by Mr. Bayard, The yeas and nays being required by one-fifth of the Senators present, Those who voted, are-Messrs. Anderson, Bayard, Bradley, Crawford, Franklin, Gaillard, Giles, Gilman, Goodrich, Gregg, Hillhouse, Howland, Kitchel, Leib, Lloyd, Meigs, Milledge, Mitchill, Moore, Parker, Pickering, Pope, Reed, Smith, of Maryland, Smith, of New York, Smith, of Tennessee, Sumpter, Thruston, Tiffin, Turner, and White. Ordered, That the Secretary acquaint the President of the United States, that the Senate do not advise and consent to this appointment. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 1809. The following written message was received from the President of the United States, by Mr. Coles, his Secretary: To the Senate of the United States: I nominate Nicholas Harwood, Robert D.Thorne, and John Brown, now Surgeon's Mates; and VOL. II. 15 Samuel R. Trevett, Jun. of Massachusetts, Stephen C. Blyden, of Massachusetts, Samuel Shaw, of Vermont, to be Surgeons in the Navy of the United States. Gustavus R. Brown, of Maryland, Grafton D. Hanson, of Maryland, Thomas Lawson, Jun. of Virginia, Henry Tackler, of Pennsylvania, Jesse Hand, of Pennsylvania, J. H. Hampton, of New Jersey, Joseph Trevett, of Massachusetts, Theodorus C. Van Wyck, of New York, James R. Owens, of New York, John A. Kearney, of District of Columbia, to be Surgeon's Mates in the Navy of the United States. TH: JEFFERSON. March 1st, 1809. The message was read. Ordered, That it lie for consideration. THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 1809. The Senate resumed the consideration of the message from the President of the United States, of March 1st. Ordered, That the nominations therein contained, be referred to Mr. Mitchill, Mr. Bradley, and Mr. Condit, to consider and report thereon. FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 1809. The Senate resumed the consideration of the message nominating Surgeons in the Navy; and Mr. Mitchill, from the committee, made report thereon. Whereupon, Resolved, That the Senate advise and consent to the appointments, agreeably to the nominations respectively; except to those of Samuel Shaw, postponed, and Jesse Hand, misnamed. Ordered, That the Secretary lay this resolution before the President of the United States. Attest: SAM: A. OTIS, Secretary. END OF THE TWENTY-EIGHTH SESSION. EXECUTIVE JOURNAL. [TWENTY-NINTH SESSION.] The proceedings of a Session specially called, on Saturday, March 4th, 1809. The President of the United States to Senator for the State of -. Certain matters, touching the public good, requiring that the Senate shall be convened on Saturday, the fourth day of March next, you are desired to attend at the Senate Chamber, in the City of Washington, on that day; then and there to receive and deliberate on such communications as shall be made to you. WASHINGTON, December 30th, 1808. TH: JEFFERSON. In conformity with the summons from the President of the United States, the Senate assembled in the Chamber of the House of Representatives. PRESENT: The Honorable John Milledge, from the State of Georgia, President, pro tempore. New Hampshire, Rhode Island, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, From the State of The Hon. Nicholas Gilman, and The Hon. Timothy Pickering. The Hon. Thomas Sumpter, and The Hon. William H. Crawford. The Hon. Daniel Smith. The Hon. Edward Tiffin. The Hon. John Lambert, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of New Jersey, for six years, and the Hon. Samuel Smith, appointed a Senator by the Executive of the State of Maryland, attended, and their credentials were read. The Honorable James Lloyd, Jun. appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of Massachusetts, attended, stating that he was elected, but not in possession of his credentials. The Honorable Joseph Anderson, from the State of Tennessee; the Honorable Richard Brent, from the State of Virginia; the Honorable James Hillhouse, from the State of Connecticut; the Honorable Michael Leib, from the State of Pennsylvania; the Honorable Return J. Meigs, from the State of Ohio; the Honorable Jonathan Robinson, from the State of Vermont; the Honorable Samuel White, from the State of Delaware, severally attended. The oath, required by law, was administered to the Senators above-mentioned, in the six years class, respectively, except to Mr. Brent. The President of the United States attended, and communicated the following address: "Gentlemen of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives: "Unwilling to depart from examples of the most revered authority, L avail myself of the occasion now presented, to express the profound impression made on me, by the call of my country, to the station, to the duties of which I am about to pledge myself, by the most solemn of sanctions. So distinguished a mark of confidence, proceeding from the deliberate and tranquil suffrage of a free and virtuous nation, would, under any circumstances, have commanded my gratitude and devotion, as well as filled me with an awful sense of the trust to be assumed. Under the various circumstances which give peculiar solemnity to the existing period, I feel that both the honor and the responsibility allotted to me, are inexpressibly enhanced. The present situation of the world is, indeed, without a parallel; and that of our country full of difficulties. The pressure of these two, is the more severely felt, because they have fallen upon us at a moment when national prosperity, being at a height not before attained, the contrast resulting from this change has been rendered the more striking. Under the benign influence of our republican institutions, and the maintenance of peace with all nations, whilst so many of them were engaged in bloody and wasteful wars, the fruits of a just policy were enjoyed in an unrivalled growth of our faculties and resources. Proofs of this were seen in the improvements of agriculture; in the successful enterprises of commerce; in the progress of manufactures and useful arts; in the increase of the public revenue, and the use made of it in reducing the public debt; and in the valuable works and establishments every where multiplying over the face of our land. It is a precious reflection, that the transition from this prosperous condition of our country, to the scene which has for some time been distressing us, is not chargeable on any unwarrantable views, nor, as I trust, on any involuntary errors in the public councils. Indulging no passions which trespass on the rights or the respose of other nations, it has been the true glory of the United States to cultivate peace, by observing justice, and to entitle themselves to the repect of the nations at war, by fulfilling their neutral obligations, with the most scrupulous impartiality. If there be can dor in the world, the truth of these assertions will not be questioned. Posterity, at least, will do justice to them. "This unexceptionable course could not avail against the injustice and violence of the belligerent powers. In their rage against each other, or impelled by more direct motives, principles of retaliation have been introduced, equally contrary to universal reason and acknowledged law. How long their arbitrary edicts will be continued, in spite of the demonstrations that not even a pretext for them has been given by the United States, and of the fair and liberal attempts to induce a revocation of them, cannot be anticipated. Assuring myself that, under every vicissitude, the determined spirit and united councils of the nation will be safeguards to its honor and its essential interests, I repair to the post assigned me, with no other discouragement than what springs from my own inadequacy to its high duties. If I do not sink under the weight of this deep conviction, it is because I find some support in a consciousness of the purposes, and a confidence in the principles which I bring with me into this arduous service. "To cherish peace and friendly intercourse with all nations, having correspondent dispositions; to maintain sincere neutrality towards belligerent nations; to prefer, in all cases, amicable discussion and reasonable accommodation of differences, to a decision of them by an appeal to arms; to exclude foreign intrigues and foreign partialities, so degrading to all countries, and so baneful to free ones; to foster a spirit of independence; too just to invade the rights of others; too proud to surrender our own; too liberal to indulge unworthy prejudices ourselves; and too elevated not to look down upon them in others; to hold the union of the States as the basis of their peace and happiness; to support the constitution, which is the cement of the Union, as well in its limitations as in its authorities; to respect the rights and authorities reserved to the States and to the people, as equally incorporated with, and essential to the success of the general system; to avoid the slightest interference with the rights of conscience, or the functions of religion, so wisely exempted from civil jurisdiction; to preserve, to their full energy, the other salutary provisions in behalf of private and personal rights, and of the freedom of the press; to observe economy in public expenditures; to liberate the public resources by an honorable discharge of the public debts; to keep within the requisite limits a standing military force, always remembering, that an armed and trained militia is the firmest bulwark of republics; that without standing armies their liberty can never be in danger, nor, with large ones, safe; to promote, by authorized means, improvements friendly to agriculture, to manufactures, and to external as well as internal commerce; to favor, in like manner, the advancement of science and the diffusion of information, as the best aliment to true liberty; to carry on the benevolent plans which have been so meritoriously applied to the conversion of our aboriginal neighbors, from the degradation and wretchedness of savage life, to a participation of the improvements of which the human mind and manners are susceptible in a civilized state: As far as sentiments and intentions such as these, can aid the fulfilment of my duty, they will be a resource which cannot fail me. "It is my good fortune, moreover, to have the path in which I am to tread, lighted by examples of illustrious services, successfully rendered in the most trying difficulties, by those who have marched before me. Of those of my immediate predecessor, it might least become me here to speak-I may, |