*tat* Sp Ittia*tolitast Samtn• VOL. 6--NO. 37.] ESI I)EN'I"S MESSAGE. at aua as av Front the PEENIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES IO both HOLMES Or CoNDar. ,, s at the First Session of the Twenty• Fourth Congress, delivered last Tuesday: Fellow- Cilisens qf (he Senate and House of Representatives: In the discharge of my official duty, the task agaitl devolvos upon me of commtitii cal tug with it new Cenoress. The reflec tion that the representation uf•thr Union ha• been recently renewed, and that the conssti• tutional term of its service will expire with my own.hei tens the solicitude with which I shell inteimit to lay betimi it the state of our national concei its; and the devout hope which I cherish, that its labors to improve them may let crilwned with success. You ale assembled at a period of profound interest to the American patriot. The un exampled growth arid prosperity of our COW). try having given us a rank in the scale of nations which removes all apprehension of danger to our integrity and independence I rum external foes, the career of freedom is before us, with an earnest from the past, t luit,il true to ourselves,t here Can he no fur• rnidable obstacle in the future to its pence MI rind uninterrupted pursuit. Yet in pro portion to the disappearance of those appro. hensions which attended our weakness, as one contrasted with the power ofsorne of the states of the old world, should we now he solicitous as to those which belong to the conviction that it is to our own conduct we must look for the preservation of those causes on which depend the excellence and the duration of our happy system of govern ment. In the example of other systems, founded on the will of the People, we trace to inter nal dissension the influence which have so (Alen blasted the hopes of the friendsof free dom. The social elements, which• were strong and successful when united against external danger, failed in the more difficult task of properly adjusting their own inter nal organization, and thus gave way the great principle of self-government. Let us trust that the admonition•will never be for gotten by the Government or the People of the United States: and that the testimony which our experience thus far holds out to the great human family, of the practicabili. ty and the blessings of free government will be confirmed in all time to come. We have but to look at the state of our agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, and the unexampled increase of our popula tion, to feel the magnitude of the trust com mitted to us, Never, in any former period dour history, have we had greater reason than we now have, to be thankful to Divine Providence for the blessings of health and general prosperity. Every branch nfhibor we see crowned with the most abundant re wards: in every element of national i esour ces and wealth, and of individual comfort, we witness the most rapid and solid improve. merits. With no interruptions to this pleas ing prospect at home, which will not yield to the spirit of harmony and good will that so strikingly pervades the mass of the Peo ple in every quarter, amidst all the diversity of interest and pursuits to which they are attached: and with no cause ofsolicitude to regard to our external affiirs,which will not, it is hoped,disappear before the principles of simple justice and the forbearance that mark our intercourse with foreign powers —we have every reason to feel proud of our beloved country. The general state of our Foreign Rela tions has not materially changed since my last Annual Message. In the settlement of the question of the Northeastern Boundary little prog ress has been made. Great Britain declined acced ing to the proposition of the U, States, pre• sewed in accordance with the resolution of the Senate, unless cot tam preliminary con ditions were admitted, wide!) 1 deemed in compatible with a satisfactory and rightful adjustment of the controversy. Waiting for some distinct proposal from the Govern ment of Great Britain, which has been in vited, I can only repeat the expression of my confidence that with the strong mutual disposition which 1 believe exists, to make a just arrangement,this perplexing question can be settled with a due regard to the well founded pretensions and pacific policy of all the parties to it. Events are frequently ec• curving on the Northeastern frontier, of a character to impress upon all the necessity of a speedy and definitive termination of the dispute. This consideration, added to the desire common to both, to relieve the fiber- nl and friendly relations so happily existing between the two countries, from all ember- rassmenis, will no doubt have its just influ. cocci upon both. - Our diplomatic intercourse with Portugal hes been renewed,and it is expected that the claims of our citmens,partially paid,will be folly satisfied as soon as the condition of the Queen's Government will permit the proper attention to the subject of them.-- That Government has,l am happy to inform you, manifested a determination to act upon the liberal principles which have marked our commercial policy; the happiegt effects upon the future trade between the United States and Portugal, are anticipated from it,and the time is not thought to be remote when a system of perfect reciprocity will be established. The instalments due tinder the Conven tion with the King of the Two Sicilies have been paid with that scrupulous fidelity by which his whole conduct has been charee. terized, and the hope is indulged that the adjustment of the vexed, question of our claims will be followed by n more extended and mutually beneficial intercourse between the two coutitries. The internal contest still continues in Spain. Distinguished as phis struggle has unhappily been by incidents of the most san• guinary character, the obligations of the late treaty of indemnification with us have been, nevertheless, 1;6001111y executed by the Spanish Government. No provisions having been made at the last session of Congress tor the ascertain ment of the Clnims to be paid, and the ap portionment of the fundsomder the Conven• lion made with Spain, I invite your early attention to the subject. The public evi dences of the debt have, according to the terms of the convention, and in the forms prescribed by it, been placed in the posses sion of the U. States; and the interest, as it fell due,haa been re l ularly paid upon them. Our commerchd interconse with Cuba stands as,re-ulated by the art of Congress. No recent information has been received as to the disposition of the Government of NI ail rid on this subject, and the lamented death of our recently appointed Miniter, on his way to Spain,with the pressure of their affairs at home, render it scarcely probable that any change is to be looked for during the com ing, year. Further portions of the Florida Archives have been sent to the U. States, I although the death of one of the commis sioners,at that ctiti nl moment,embarrassed the progress of the delivery of thorn. The higher officers of the local Goverment have recently shown an anxious desire,in compli ance with the orders from the parent gov• erdment,to facilitate the selection and deliv• cry of all we have a right to claim. Negotiations have been opened at Ma drid for , the establishment of a lasting peace between Spain and such of the Spanish A• merican Governments of this hemisphere,as have availed themselves of the intimation, giver. to all of them, of the disposition of Spain to trent upon the basis of their en tire independence. It is to be regretted that simultaneous appointments, by all, of Minis ters to negotiate with Spain, had not been made; the negotiation itself would have been simplified, and this long standing dispute, spreading over a large portion of the world, would have been brought to a more speedy conclusion. Our political and commercial relations with A ustria,Pi ussia,Sweeden and Denmark stand on the usual favorable bases. One of the articles of our treaty with Russia,in re lation to the trade on the Northwest coast of A me rica,having expired,instructions have been given to our Minister at St. Petersburg to negotiate a renewal of it. The long and unbroken amoy between the two Govern ments,given every reason for supposing the article will be renewed, &stronger motives do not exist to prevent it,than,with our view of the subject,can be anticipated here. I ask your attention to the message of my predecessor at the opening attic second session of the nineteenth Congress, relative •to our commercial intercourse with Hol land, and to the documents connected with that subject. communicated to the House of Representatives on the 10th of January, 1825,and 18th January, 1827. Coinciding in the opinion of my predecessor, that Hol land is not,under the regulations of her pre sent system,entitled to have her vessels and their cargoes received into the U. States on the footing of American vessels and car goes, as regards duties of tonnage and inn post,a respect for his reference of it to the Legislature, tins alone prevented me from acting on the subject. I should still have waited, without comment, for the action of Congress, but recently a claim has been made by Belgian subjects to admission into our ports,firr their ships and cargoes, on the same footing as American, with the allega tion we could nut dispute, that our vessels received in their ports the identical treat ment shown to tl,em in the ports of Holland upon whose vessels no discrimination is made in the ports of the U. States. Giving the same privileges, the Belgians expected t he same benefits—benefits that were in fact enjoyed when Belgium and Holland were united under one Government. Satisfied with the justice of their pretension to be placed on the same footing with Holland, I could not,nevertheless,without disregard to the principle of oor laws, admit their claim to be treated as Americans, and at the same time, a respect for Congress, to whom the subject had long since been referred, has prevented me from producing a just equali ty by taking from the vessels of Holland, privileges conditionally granted by acts of Congress,alt hough (ho condition upon which the grant was made, bus, in my judgment, failed since 1822. I recommend,thererefore, n review of the act of 1824, and such a mo dification of it as will produce an equality, on such terms as Congress shall think best comports with our settled policy, and the obligations of just ice to two friendly powers. With the Sublime Porte,and all the Gov ernments on the coact , of Barbary, our rela tions continue to be friendly. The proper steps have been taken to renew our treaty with Morocco. The Argentine Republic has again pro. mised to send, within the current year, a Minister to the United States. A Convention with Mexico for extending the time for the nppointment ofcommisston. ers to run the boundary line kis been con• cluded, , and will be submitted to the Senate. Recent events in thnt country linve awn ken- ed the liveliest solicitude in the U. States. Aware of the strong temptations existing, and powerful inducements held nut,to tun- 'tens of the U. states to mingle in the dis nonmr,T WHITE MIDDLETON, EDITOR, ruszaczEn, .AND rztorramiroz. "I WISH NO OTHER HERALD, NO OTHER SPEAKER OF MY LIVING . ACTIONS, TO KEEP MINE HONOR FROM CORRUPTION."-SHAHS. V2(l l U l lraLOW :4 4:aa9 Q.9.(10 jaa:WMCitkrts) WM( I /24.12a32M 3.028,4 From our diplomatic agents in Brazil, Chile, Peru, Central America, Venezuela, and New Granada, constant assurances are received of the continued good understand ing with the Governments to which they are severally accredited. With those Govern mews upon which our citizens him valid and accumulating claims, scarcely an ad vance towards a settlement of them is made, owing, mainly, to their distracted state, or to the pressure of inoperative domestic ques tions. Oar patience has been, and will probably he still further, severely tried; but our fellow citizens whose interests arc in• volved, may confide in the determination ofd the Government, to obtain for them eventu ally, ample retribution. Unfortunately, many of the nations of this 1 hemisphere are still self tormented by do. mestic dissensions. Revolution succeeds revolution, injuries are committed upon for. signers engaged in lawful pursuits, much time elapses iefore a Government sufficient ly stable is erected to justify expectation of redress. Ministers are sent and received, and before the discussions of past injuries are fairly begun, fresh troubles arise; but too frequently new injuries are added to the old, to be discussed together, with the exist ing Government, after it has proved its abili ty to sustain the assaults made npon it, or with its successor, if overthrown. If this unhappy condition of things continues much longer, other nations will be under the pain. ful necessity of deciding whether jnstice to their suffering citizens does not require a prompt redress of injuries, by their own power, without waiting for the establishment of a Government competent and enduring enough to discuss and to make satisfaction for them. Since the last session of Congress, the validity of our claims upon France, as liqui dated by the treaty of 1831, has been ac knowledged by both branches of her Legis lature, and the money has been' appropria ted for their discharge, but the payment 1 regret to inform you, still withheld. A brief recapitulation of the most impor- 1 tant incidents in this protracted cotitiMiet 7 sy, will show how utterly untenable are The grounds upon which this course is attempt ed to be justified. On entering neon the duties ofmy station, I feund the United States an unsuccessful applicant to the justice of France, for the satisfaction of claims, the validity of which was never qnestionable, and has now been most solemnly admitted by France herself. The antiquity of these claims, their high justice, arid the aggravating circumstances out of which they arose, are too familiar to the American People to require description. It is sufficient to say, that, fur a period of ten years and upwards, our commerce was, with but little interruption, the-subject of constant aggressions on the part of France —aggressions, the ordinary features of which wore condemnations of vessels and cargoes under arbitrary decrees, adopted in contravention, as well of the laws of na tions, ns of treaty stipulations; burnings on the high seas, and seizures and confiscations under special imperial rescripts, in the ports of other nations occupied by the armies, or under the control of France. Such, it is now conceded,is the character ofthe wrongs we sutibred; wrongs, in many cases, so fla grant that even their authors never denied our right to reparation. Of the extent of these injuries, some conception may be for med from the fact, that after the burning of a large amount at sea, and the necessary deterioration in other cases, by long deten tion, the American praperty so seized and sacrificed at forced sales, excluding what was adjudged to privateers, before or with out condemnation, brought into the French treasury upwards of twenty-four millions of francs, besides large custom-house duties. The subject had already been an affair of twenty years' uuinterrupted negotiation, ex cept for a short time, when France,was over whelmed by the military power of united Europe. During this period, whilst other nations were extorting from her, payment i of their claims at the point of the bayonet, the United States intermitted their demand for justice, out of respect to the oppressed' condition of a gallant people, to whom they felt under obligations forfraternal assistance in their own days ofsuffering and of peril.— The bad effi.cts of these protracted and una vailing discussions,as well upon our relations with France as upon our national character, were obvious; and the line of duty was to my mitid equally so. This was, either to insist upon the adjustment of our claims within a reasonable period, or to abandon al together. I could not doubt that, by this course, the interest and honor of both coun tries would be best consulted- Instructions were, therefore, given in this spirit, to the Minister who was sent out once more to de- mand reparation. Upon the meeting of COngress, in Drcem• her, 1829, I felt it my duty to speak of these claims, and the delays of France, in terms calculated to call the ,serious 'attention of both icountrie to the subject. The then Frenbli Ministry took exception to the mes• sagcon the ground outs containing a men ace, under which it waepot agreeable to the sensions ofour immediate neighbors,instruc lions have been given to the District Attor• nor; of the U.States,where indications war ranted it, to prosecute, without respect to persons, all who might attempt to violate the obligations of our neutrality; while, at the same time, it has been thought necessary to apprize the Government of Mexico that we should require the integrity of our territory to be aciupolously respected by both par ties. French Government to negotiate. The A merican Minister,of his own accord, refitted the construction which was attempted to be put upon the messageond at the same time called to the recollection oldie French Min istry, that the President's message was a communication addressed, not to Foreign Governments, but to the Congress of the U. States, in uhiel: it was enjeined npen him, by the entoollotion, to lav before that body information (tribe stale of the Union, coin pi cherb:lg its foreign as well as its domestic relations: and that if, in the discharge of this duty, he felt it incumbent upon him to summon the attention of Congress in due time to what might' be the possible conso quencee of existing difficulties with any for. sign Government, he might fairly be sup• posed to do so, under a sense of what was duo froin him in a frank communication with another branch of his own Government arid not from any intention of holding a menace over a foreign power. The views taken by hint received illy approbation. the French Government was satisfied, and the negotiation was continued. It terminated in the treaty of July 4, 1831, recognising the justice ()four claims in part,and promis ing payment to the amount of twenty-five millions of francs, in six annual instalments. The ratifications of this treaty were ex changed at Washington on the 2d of Feb ruary, 14:32, and in five days thereafter it was laid before Congress, K ho immediately passed the acts necessary, on our part, to se ' cure to France the commercial advantages conceded to her in the compact. The treat). had previously been solemnly ratified by the King of the French in terms which are cer tainly not mere matters ofform, and of which the translation is as follows: "We, approving the above convention in all and each of the dispositions which are contained in it, do declare by ourselves, as well as by our heirs and successors, that it is accepted, approved, ratified, and confirm• ed; and by these presents, signed by our hand, we do accept, approve, ratify, and confirm it; promising, on the faith and word ofa King, to observe it, and to cause it to be observed inviolably, without ever contrave ning it, or suffering it to be contravened, di rectly or indirectly, for any cause, or under any pretence whatsoever." Official information of the exchange of tatifications in the United States reached Paris whilst the Chambers were in session. The extraordinary, and to us injurious, de lays of the French Government in their ac tion upon the subject of its fulfilment, have been heretofore _Jitated to Congress, and I have no dispositted to enlarge 'upon them here. At is sufficient to observe that the then pending session was allowed to expire, without even an eifirt to obtain the necessa• ry appropriations=-that the two succeeding ones were also sufDred to piiss away without any thing like n serious attempt to obtain a decision upon the subject—and that it was not until! the fourth session—almost three years after the conclusion of the treaty, and more than two years after the exchange of ratifications—that the bill for the execution of the treaty was pressed to a vote, and re jected. In the mean time,the United States having full confidence that a treaty entered into and so solemnly ratified by the French King, would be executed in good faith, and not doubting that provision would be made for the payment of tho first instalment which was to become due on the second day of February, 1833, negotiated a draft for the amount through the Bank of the U. States. When this draft was presented by the hold er,with the credentials required by the trea ty to authorize him to receive the money, the Government of France allowed it to be protested. In addttion to the injury in the nonpayment of the money by France, con• forma* to her engagement, the U. States were exposed to a heavy claim on the part of the Bank,under the pretence of damages, in satisfaction of which that institution seiz ed upon,and still retains, an equal amount of, the public moneys. Congress was in session , when the decision of the Chambers reached ‘Vashington; and an immediate commuui cation of this apparently final decision of France not to fulfil the stipulations of the treaty,was the course naturally to be expec led from the President. The deep tone of dissatisfaction which pervaded the public mind,and the correspondent excitement pro duced in Congress by only a general, know ledge of the result, rendered it more than probable that a resort to immediate measures of redress would be the consequence of call ing the attention of that body to the subject. Sincerely desirous of preserving the pacific relations which had so long existed between the two countries,l was anxious to avoid this course ill could be satisfied that, by doing so, neither the interests nor the honor of my country would be compromitted. Without the fullest aaurances upon that point,l could not hope to acquit myself ofthe responsibil ity to be incurred in suffering Congress to adjourn without laying the subject before them. Those received by mo were believ ed to be - of that character. That the feelings produced in the U.States by the news of the rejection of the appro. priation, would be such as I have described them to have been, was foreseen by the French Government, and prompt measures were taken by it to prevent the consequen• ces. The King,in person,expressed,through our Minister at Paris, his profound regret at the decision of the Chambem,and promised to send, forthwith, a national ship, with de- spatches to his !Minister hare, authorizing him to give such assurances as would satin- fv the Government aid the people of the U. States that tile treaty would yet be faithfully executed by France. The national ship ar rived,and the Minister received his instruc tions. Claiming to act under the authority derived from them, he gave to this govern inent, in the name of his, the most solemn assurances, that, as soon after the new elec tions as the charter would permit,the French !Chambers would he convened, and the at• tempt to procure the necessary uppropria tions renewed : that all the constitutional powers of the King and his Ministers should be put in requisition to accomplish th e ob• ject: and he was undersiond,and sllexpress ly informed by this Gsvernmotitott the time to engage that the question should be press ed to ,a decision,nt a period sufficiently early', to permit isifermaiton of the result to, be communicated to Congress et the com mencement of their next session. Ite1) Mg upon these assurances, I incurred the re sponsibaity, great ns 1 regarded it to be, of suffering Congress to separate without corn intinicating with them upon the subject. The expectations justly founded upon the promises thus solemnly made to this Govern. ment by that of France, were not realized. The French Chambers met on . the 31st of July, 1834, soon idler the election, and al though our Minister in Paris urged the French Ministry to press the subject before them, they declined doing so. He next in sisted that the Chambers, if prorogued with. out acting on the subject, should be reas sembled at a period so early, that their ac.. t ion on the treaty might be known in Wash. ington prior to the meeting of Congress.— This reasonable request was not only declin ed, but the Chambers were prorogued to the 29th of December, a day so late, that their decision, however urgently pressed, could not, in all probability, be obtained in time to reach Washington before the necessary adjournment of Congress by the constitution. The reasons given by the Ministry for refus ing to convoke the Chambers at an earlier period, were afterwards shown not to be in superable, by their actual convocation on the Ist of December, under a special call for domestic purposes, which fact however did not become known to this Government until after the commencement of the last session of Congress. Thus disappointed in nu r just expectations it became my imperative duty to consult with Congress in regard to the expediency of a resort to retaliatory mensares, in case the stipulations of the treaty should not be speedily complied with; and to recommend such as, in my judgment, the occasion called for. To this end,an unreserved communi cation of the case, in all its aspects, became I indispensable. To have shrunk, in making it, from saying all that was necessary to its correct understanding, and that the truth would justify, for fear of giving offence to others, would have been unworthy of us.— To have gone, on the other hand, a single step further,for the purpose of wounding the pride ofa Government & people with whom we lied so many motives for cultivating re lations of amity and reciprocal advantage, would have been unwise and improper.— Admonished by the past, of the difficulty of making even the simplest statement of our wrongs without disturbing the sensibilities of those who had, by their position, become responsible for their redress, and earnestly desirous of preventing further obstacles from that source,l went out of my way to preclude a construction of the message, by which the recommendation that was made to Congress might be regarded as a menace to France, in not only disavowing such a design but in declaring that her pride and her power vi ere too well known to expect any thing from her fears. The message did not reach Par is until more than a month after the Cham bers had been in session, and such was the insensibility of the Ministry to our rightful claims and just expectntions,that our 4inis ter has been informedsliat the matter,when introduced, would not be pressed as a Cahi net measure. Although the message was not officially communicated to the French Government, and notwithstanding the declaration to the contrary which it contained,the French Min istry decided to consider the conditional re- commendation of reprisals, a menace and an insult, which the honor of the nation made tt incumbent on them to resent. The mea sures resorted to by them to evince their sense of the supposed indignity,were,the im mediate recall of their Minibter at Wash ington, the offer of passports to the Ameri can Minister at Paris,and a public notice to the Legislative Chambers, that all diplo matic intercourse with the U. States bad been suspended. Having, in this manner, vindicated the dignity of France, they next proceeded to il lustrate her justice. To this end, a bill was immediately introduced into the 'Chamber of Deputies, proposing to make the appro priations necessary to carry into effect the reaty. As this bill subsequently passed nto a law, the provisions of which now con- stitute the main subject , ofdifficulty between the two nations, it becomes my duty, in or der to place'the subject before you in a clear light, to trace the history of its passage, and to refer, with some particularity, to the pro ceedings and discussions in regard to it.— The Minister of Finance, in his opening speech, alluded to the measures which had beeti:adopted to resent the supposed indigni ty, and recommended the execution of the treaty us n measure required by the honor and justice of France. He, as the organ of the Minietry, declared the message, so long as it had not received the sanction of Con- gress, a mere expression of tho personal o pinion of the President, for which neither e Government nor the People of the U. [WHOLE NO. 297. States were responsible, and that an engage ment had been entered into, for the fulfil ment of which the honor of France was pledged. Entertaining these views, the single condition which the French Ministry; proposed to annex to the pay meta of the money, was, that it should not he male it was ascertained that the Government of the U. States had done nothing to injure the interests of France; or, in other words, that no steps had been authorized by Congress of a hostile character towards France. What the disposition or action of Con gress might be, was then unknown to ..the French Cabinet. But on the Mt hof Janua ry the Senate resolved, that it was at that time- imxpedrent to adopt..any leeislatlye measures in regard to the state of affairs between the United States mid France, and no action on the subject had occurred in the House of Representatives. These facts were known in Paris prior to the 28th of March, 1885, when the committee to whom the bill of indemnification had been referred, reported it to the Chamber of Deputies.-- That committee substantially re-echoed the sentiments of the Ministry, declared that Congress had set aside the proposition of the and recommended the passage of the bill without any other restriction, than that originally proposed . Thus was it known to the French Ministry and Chin'. hers, that if the position assumed by them, and which had been so frequently and sol emnly announced as the only one compati ble with the honor of France, was maintain ed, and the bill passed as originally proposed, . the money would be paid, and there would be an end of this unfortunate controversy. But this cheering prospect was soon de• stroyed by an amendment introduced into the bill at the moment of its passage, provi ding that the money should not be paid un til the French Government had received satisfactory explanations of the President's message of the 2d December, 1834; and what is still more extraordinary, the Presi dent of the Council of Ministers adopted this amendment, and consented to its incorpora tion in the bill. In regard to a supposed in sult which had been formally resented by the recall of their Minister, and the offer of passports to ours,they now,tor the first time, proposed to ask explanations. Sentiments and propositions which they had declared could not justly be imputed to the Govern ment or People.of the U. States, are set up as obstacles to the performance of an act of conceded justice to that Government and people. They had declared that the honor of France required the fulfilment of the ert• gagement into which the King had entered, unless Congress adopted the recommenda tions ofthe message. They ascertained that Congress did not adopt them, and yet that fulfilment is refused unless they first obtain from the President explanations of an opin ion characterized by themselves as personal and inoperative. The conception that it WAS my intention to menace or insult the Government of France, is as unfounded, as the attempt to extort from the fears of that nation what her sense of justice may deny,would be vain and ridiculous. But the constitution of the U. States imposes on the President the duty of laying before Congress the condition pf the country in its foreign and domestic relations, and of recommending such measures as may in his opinion, be required by its interests. From the performance of this duty he can not be deterred• by the fear of wounding the sensibilities of the people or Government of whom it may become necessary to speak--• and the Arrierican People are incapable of submitting to an interference by any Gov ernment on earth, however powerful, with the free performance of the domestic duties which the constitution has imposed .on their public functionaries. The discussions which intervene between the several 'departments ofour Government belong to ourselves; and for any thing said in then), our public ser vants are only responsible to then own con stituents,and to each other. lf,in the course of their consultations, facts are erroneously stated, or unjust deductions are made, they require no other inducement to correct them however informed of their error, than their love of justice,and what is due to (heir own character: but they can never submit to be interrogated upon the subject as a matter of right,hy a foreign poWer. When our discus- sions terminate in acts, our responsibility to foreign powers commences, not as individu• nis, but as a nation. The principle which calls in question the President for the lan guage of hiS message, would equally justify a foreign power in demanding explanation of the language used in the report of a cow mittee,or by a member in debate. This is not the first time that the Govern ment of France has taken exception to the messages of American Presidents. Presi• dent Washington and the first President A dams, in the perfornnince of their duties to the American People,fell under the animad- versions of the French Directory. The ob. jection taken by the Ministry of, Charles the Tenth, and removed by the explanations made by our• Minister upon the spot, has always been adverted to. When it was un- dorstood that the Ministry of the present King took exception to my message of last year, putting ; a construction upon it whith wasdisavowed on itsfitce, our,late dtinietee at Paris,in answer to the note which first an- nounced a dissatisfaction with the language, used in the mewage,made a communication to the French GovernMent,under date 01 the 29th of January,l 835 calculated to remove all impressimts, which an unreasonable sua. cepti bill ty had created. Ho repeated . , arid' called the attention of the French Govern*
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers