Read the book: «Abridgement of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856 (4 of 16 vol.)», page 87

Thursday, July 2

Agreeably to the order of the day, the bill, entitled "An act authorizing the President to take possession of a tract of country lying south of the Mississippi Territory and of the State of Georgia, and for other purposes," was resumed, and considered as in Committee of the Whole; and Mr. Gaillard was requested to take the Chair.

On motion by Mr. Crawford, he was permitted to amend his motion, made yesterday, as follows:

"And be it further enacted: That if the United States, in the prosecution of the present war against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, should obtain possession of the British provinces in North America, or either of them, that the President of the United States be, and he is hereby authorized and empowered to establish within the same a temporary government; and the military, civil, and judicial powers thereof, shall be vested in such person and persons, and be exercised in such manner as he may direct, for the protection and maintenance of the inhabitants of such province or provinces, in the full enjoyment of their property, liberty, and religion: Provided: That the principles upon which such temporary government shall be established, shall form no obstacle to the restoration of peace between the two nations."

And, on motion to agree to the amendment, it was determined in the affirmative – yeas 20, nays 10, as follows:

Yeas. – Messrs. Anderson, Bibb, Bradley, Brent, Campbell of Tennessee, Condit, Crawford, Cutts, Franklin, Gaillard, Giles, Howell, Leib, Pope, Robinson, Tait, Taylor, Turner, Varnum, and Worthington.

Nays. – Messrs. Bayard, German, Gilman, Goodrich, Horsey, Hunter, Lambert, Lloyd, Smith of Maryland, and Smith of New York.

On motion, by Mr. Tait, to amend the bill as follows:

"And be it further enacted: That this act be not printed or published, unless directed by the President of the United States; any law or usage to the contrary notwithstanding."

On the question to agree to this amendment, it was determined in the affirmative – yeas 23, nays 7, as follows:

Yeas. – Messrs. Anderson, Bayard, Bibb, Bradley, Brent, Campbell of Tennessee, Condit, Crawford, Cutts, Franklin, Gaillard, Giles, Howell, Leib, Pope, Robinson, Smith of Maryland, Smith of New York, Tait, Taylor, Turner, Varnum, and Worthington.

Nays. – Messrs. German, Gilman, Goodrich, Horsey, Hunter, Lambert, and Lloyd.

The President resumed the Chair, and Mr. Gaillard reported the bill, amended.

On the question: Shall this bill pass to a third reading, as amended? it was determined in the affirmative – yeas 15, nays 13, as follows:

Yeas. – Messrs. Anderson, Bibb, Brent, Campbell of Tennessee, Condit, Crawford, Gaillard, Howell, Leib, Robinson, Tait, Taylor, Turner, Varnum, and Worthington.

Nays. – Messrs. Bayard, Dana, Franklin, German, Gilman, Goodrich, Horsey, Hunter, Lambert, Lloyd, Pope, Smith of Maryland, and Smith of New York.

Friday, July 3

The amendments to the bill, entitled "An act authorizing the President to take possession of a tract of country lying south of the Mississippi Territory and of the State of Georgia, and for other purposes," were reported by the committee correctly engrossed; and the bill was read the third time, as amended.

On motion, by Mr. Bayard, to postpone the further consideration thereof to the first Monday in November next; it was determined in the negative – yeas 14, nays 16, as follows:

Yeas. – Messrs. Bayard, Bradley, Dana, German, Giles, Gilman, Goodrich, Horsey, Hunter, Lambert, Lloyd, Pope, Smith of Maryland, and Smith of New York.

Nays. – Messrs. Anderson, Bibb, Brent, Campbell of Tennessee, Condit, Crawford, Franklin, Gaillard, Howell, Leib, Robinson, Tait, Taylor, Turner, Varnum, and Worthington.

On the question, Shall this bill pass as amended? it was determined in the negative – yeas 14, nays 16, as follows:

Yeas. – Messrs. Anderson, Bibb, Brent, Campbell of Tennessee, Condit, Crawford, Franklin, Gaillard, Robinson, Tait, Taylor, Turner, Varnum, and Worthington.

Nays. – Messrs. Bayard, Bradley, Dana, German, Giles, Gilman, Goodrich, Horsey, Howell, Hunter, Lambert, Leib, Lloyd, Pope, Smith of Maryland, and Smith of New York.

So it was Resolved, That the Senate do not concur in the said bill.

TWELFTH CONGRESS. – FIRST SESSION.
PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES
IN
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. ¹¹

Monday, November 4, 1811

This being the day appointed by a proclamation of the President of the United States, of the twenty-fourth day of July last, for the meeting of Congress, the following members of the House of Representatives appeared, produced their credentials, and took their seats, to wit:

From New Hampshire– Josiah Bartlett, Samuel Dinsmoor, Obed Hall, John A. Harper, and George Sullivan.

From Massachusetts– Ezekiel Bacon, Abijah Bigelow, Elijah Brigham, William Ely, Isaiah L. Green, Josiah Quincy, William Reed, Ebenezer Seaver, Samuel Taggart, Peleg Tallman, Charles Turner, junior, Laban Wheaton, and Leonard White.

From Rhode Island– Richard Jackson, junior.

From Connecticut– Epaphroditus Champion, John Davenport, junior, Lyman Law, Jonathan O. Mosely, Timothy Pitkin, junior, Lewis B. Sturges, and Benjamin Tallmadge.

From Vermont– Martin Chittenden, James Fisk, Samuel Shaw, and William Strong.

From New York– Daniel Avery, Harmanus Bleecker, Thomas B. Cooke, James Emott, Asa Fitch, Thomas R. Gold, Robert Le Roy Livingston, Arunah Metcalf, Samuel L. Mitchill, Benjamin Pond, Peter B. Porter, Ebenezer Sage, Thomas Sammons, Silas Stow, Uri Tracy, and Pierre Van Cortlandt, junior.

From New Jersey– Adam Boyd, Lewis Condit, Jacob Hufty, James Morgan, and Thomas Newbold.

From Pennsylvania– William Anderson, David Bard, Robert Brown, William Crawford, Roger Davis, William Findlay, John M. Hyneman, Joseph Lefevre, Aaron Lyle, James Milnor, William Piper, Jonathan Roberts, William Rodman, Adam Seybert, John Smilie, George Smith, and Robert Whitehill.

From Delaware– Henry M. Ridgely.

From Maryland– Stevenson Archer, Joseph Kent, Peter Little, Alexander McKim, Samuel Ringgold, and Robert Wright.

From Virginia– Burwell Bassett, James Breckenridge, William A. Burwell, Matthew Clay, John Dawson, Peterson Goodwyn, Aylett Hawes, John P. Hungerford, Joseph Lewis, junior, William McCoy, Hugh Nelson, Thomas Newton, James Pleasants, junior, John Randolph, John Roane, Daniel Sheffey, John Smith, and Thomas Wilson.

From North Carolina– Willis Alston, William Blackledge, Thomas Blount, William R. King, Nathaniel Macon, Joseph Pearson, Israel Pickens, and Richard Stanford.

From South Carolina– William Butler, Langdon Cheves, Elias Earle, William Lowndes, Thomas Moore, and David R. Williams.

From Georgia– William W. Bibb, Howell Cobb, Bolling Hall, and George M. Troup.

From Kentucky– Henry Clay, Joseph Desha, Richard M. Johnson, Samuel McKee, Anthony New, and Stephen Ormsby.

From Tennessee– Felix Grundy, and John Rhea.

From Ohio– Jeremiah Morrow.

From Mississippi Territory– George Poindexter, Delegate.

From Indiana Territory– Jonathan Jennings, Delegate.

And a quorum, consisting of a majority of the whole number of Members, being present, the House proceeded, by ballot, to the choice of a Speaker; and, upon examining the ballots, it appeared that Henry Clay, one of the Representatives for the State of Kentucky, was duly elected; Whereupon,

Mr. Clay was conducted to the Speaker's chair, and the oath to support the Constitution of the United States, as prescribed by the act, entitled "An act to regulate the time and manner of administering certain oaths," was administered to him by Mr. Findlay, one of the members for the State of Pennsylvania; after which, he made his acknowledgments to the House, in the following words:

"Gentlemen: In coming to the station which you have done me the honor to assign me – an honor for which you will be pleased to accept my thanks – I obey rather your commands than my own inclination. I am sensible of the imperfections which I bring along with me, and a consciousness of these would deter me from attempting a discharge of the duties of the Chair, did I not rely, confidently, upon your generous support.

Should the rare and delicate occasion present itself, when your Speaker shall be called upon to check or control the wanderings or intemperance in debate, your justice will, I hope, ascribe to its interposition the motives only of public good and a regard to the dignity of the House. And in all instances, be assured, gentlemen, that I shall, with infinite pleasure, afford every facility in my power to the despatch of public business, in the most agreeable manner."

The oath or affirmation to support the Constitution of the United States was then administered, by the Speaker, to all the other members present.

George Poindexter, and Jonathan Jennings, having also appeared, and produced their credentials as the delegates from the Mississippi and Indiana Territories of the United States, the oath was administered to them by the Speaker.

The House proceeded, by ballot, to the choice of a Clerk, and, upon examining the ballots, it appeared that Patrick Magruder was duly elected, and the oath, together with the oath of office, administered by the Speaker to the Clerk.

Thomas Dunn was then re-elected Sergeant-at-Arms, and Thomas Claxton, Doorkeeper, without opposition. Benjamin Burch was also chosen Assistant Doorkeeper.

The usual messages were interchanged with the Senate on the subject of their being formed and ready to proceed to business.

Mr. Mitchill and Mr. Pitkin were appointed a committee on the part of the House, jointly with the committee 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 communications he may be pleased to make to them.

Mr. Mitchill, 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 Congress to-morrow at twelve o'clock.

Tuesday, November 5

Several other members, to wit, Abner Lacock, from Pennsylvania; John Baker, from Virginia; and Richard Wynn from South Carolina, appeared, produced their credentials, were qualified, and took their seats.

On motion of Mr. Newton, the Clerk of the House was directed to procure newspapers from any number of offices that the members may elect, provided that the expense do not exceed the amount of three daily papers.

A Message was received from the President of the United States, by Mr. Edward Coles; his Secretary, who delivered the same and withdrew. [For which see Senate proceedings of this date, ante page 401.]

The Message having been read, and the documents accompanying it in part, an adjournment was called for, and carried.

Wednesday, November 6

Two other members, to wit: Meshack Franklin, from North Carolina, and John C. Calhoun, from South Carolina, produced their credentials, were qualified, and took their seats.

Thursday, November 7

Another member, to wit, Lemuel Sawyer, from North Carolina, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat.

Friday, November 8

Another member, to wit, John Sevier, from Tennessee, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat.

Monday, November 11

Several other members, to wit: William Widgery, from Massachusetts; George C. Maxwell, from New Jersey; and Philip B. Key, and Philip Stuart, from Maryland, appeared, produced their credentials, were qualified, and took their seats.

Tuesday, November 12

Select Committees

All the select committees which were thought necessary, being appointed, it was determined that the first, on Foreign Relations, should consist of nine members; the committee on the Spanish colonies and Navy concerns, to consist of seven members; and those on manufacturing cannon and Indian affairs, to consist of five members.

The resolutions, as amended, are in the following words:

1. Resolved, That so much of the President's Message as relates to the subject of our foreign relations, be referred to a select committee.

2. Resolved, That so much of the President's Message as relates to filling the ranks and prolonging the enlistments of the regular troops, and to an auxiliary force; to the acceptance of volunteer corps; to detachments of militia, and to such a preparation of the great body as will proportion its usefulness to its intrinsic capacity, be referred to a select committee.

3. Resolved, That those parts of the Message of the President which relates to the Naval force of the United States, and to the defence of our maritime frontier, be referred to a select committee.

4. Resolved, That so much of the President's Message as relates to the revenue and the provisions necessary for the service of the ensuing year, be referred lo the Committee of Ways and Means.

5. Resolved, That so much of the President's Message as relates to the evasion and infraction of our commercial laws, be referred to the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures.

6. Resolved, That so much of the President's Message as relates to foreign trading licenses, and to the protection of manufactures and navigation, be referred to the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures.

7. Resolved, That so much of the President's Message as relates to the Spanish American colonies, be referred to a select committee.

8. Resolved, That so much of the said Message as relates to the manufacture of cannon and small arms, and the providing munitions of war, be referred to a select committee.

9. Resolved, That so much of the said Message as relates to Indian affairs, be referred to a select committee.

Mr. Porter, Mr. Calhoun, Mr. Grundy, Mr. Smilie, Mr. Randolph, Mr. Harper, Mr. Key, Mr. Desha, and Mr. Seaver, were appointed the committee on the first resolution.

Mr. Williams, Mr. Wright, Mr. Macon, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Stow, Mr. Maxwell, and Mr. Tallmadge, were appointed the committee on the second resolution.

Mr. Cheves, Mr. Newton, Mr. Milnor, Mr. Quincy, Mr. Cooke, Mr. McKim, and Mr. Fisk, were appointed the committee on the third resolution.

Mr. Mitchill, Mr. Bibb, Mr. Blackledge, Mr. Taggart, Mr. Champion, Mr. Butler, and Mr. Shaw, were appointed the committee on the seventh resolution.

Mr. Seybert, Mr. Little, Mr. Goodwyn, Mr. Tracy, and Mr. Sturges, were appointed the committee on the eighth resolution.

Mr. McKee, Mr. Sevier, Mr. Morrow, Mr. Sheffey, and Mr. Brown, were appointed the committee on the ninth resolution.

And then, on motion the House adjourned until to-morrow.

Wednesday, November 13

Another member, to wit, Thomas Gholson, from Virginia, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat.

Matthew Lyon's Claim for refunding his Fine under the Sedition Act.

The Speaker presented a memorial of Matthew Lyon, of Kentucky, stating that, whilst a member of the House of Representatives of the United States, from the State of Vermont, he was illegally tried and found guilty, under a charge of sedition, and fined the sum of one thousand dollars, and imprisoned twelve months, and praying that the said fine may be repaid, with interest, together with his pay as a member of Congress, which was withheld during his confinement.

The petition being read,

Mr. New moved that it be referred, with the accompanying documents, to the Committee of Claims.

Mr. Bassett was opposed to this reference. If the petitioner had any claim upon the United States, it must be on the ground that the law under which he was convicted was unconstitutional. A claim of this kind could not be recognized by that committee. He thought, therefore, it would be more proper to refer this petition to a select committee. This was desirable, also, from the consideration that the Committee of Claims is generally overburdened with business.

Mr. New said, it having been represented to him that it would be most proper to refer the petition to a select committee, he would so change his motion.

Mr. Randolph had no doubt it would be recollected, that at the first session of Congress under the administration of the present President, the session which met in May, 1809, a committee was raised "to inquire whether any and what prosecutions had been instituted before the courts of the United States for libels at common law, and to report such provisions as in their opinion may be necessary for securing the freedom of speech and of the press." Congress adjourned after a short session in June. The chairman of that committee was directed to address letters to the clerks of the several courts in which such prosecutions had been commenced. To some of these letters answers were received after the adjournment. These answers received in the recess (all except one, which the chairman had found amongst his private papers since the meeting of the present session) were transmitted to the clerk of this House, in whose possession it is presumed they now are. The chairman of that committee, at the two succeeding sessions, was, by the visitation of God, and from circumstances without his control, for the first time since he had the honor of a seat on this floor, prevented from attending to his duty till the sessions had considerably advanced, otherwise he would have felt it obligatory on him to have called the attention of Congress to this subject. It was his intention, at the present session, without knowing any thing of this petition, to have called the attention of the House to it, amongst others, at an early day. He thought it behooved this House, as the guardian of the public purse and public weal, to take care that the stream of public justice be preserved pure and free from pollution; and whether persons have suffered by prosecutions under the sedition law, or under the common law of England – not the common law of the United States, as modified by the laws of the United States in their corporate capacity – he was for affording them relief. He wished to see if any of our citizens had received injury from prosecutions of this kind; and, if they had to redress the wrong by such a prospective measure as may prevent a recurrence of similar mischief.

It seems idle, said Mr. R., for any man to undertake, by statute, to do that which the great charter of our confederation has endeavored to do in vain. It is, it appears, impossible to prevent men, heated by party, and seeking only the gratification of their own passions, from trampling in the dust the charter which we have sworn to support; for though our constitution has said, in the broadest terms which our language knows, that the freedom of speech and of the press shall not be abridged, men have been found so lost to all sense of their country's good, as to pass the act, commonly called the sedition act, and to send out our judges to dispense, not law, but politics from the bench. It would seem idle to attempt to prevent, by statutory provisions, similar abuses. But though, formed as we are, we cannot attain perfection, we ought, in imitation of a divine example, to aspire to it, and endeavor to preserve in purity the great Magna Charta of our country.

This subject, Mr. R. said, might appear frivolous to others. He knew that men, intent on worldly things, with their snouts grovelling in the mud, who hold every thing but sordid pelf, and still more disgraceful office, as dross and dust, would not think it worth while to attend to things of this kind. Nor did he wish to set himself up for a political Pharisee, and thank God that he was not as other men are.

Mr. R. moved to amend the reference, by adding to it the following:

"With instructions to inquire whether any, and what, prosecutions have been instituted before the courts of the United States for libels, under the sedition law or the common law, and by what authority; and to make such provisions as they may deem necessary for securing the freedom of speech and of the press."

Mr. R. hoped this amendment would be agreed to; for, said he, it is evident that when we came into power, when we succeeded to our predecessors, proper measures were not taken for purifying the violent temper of the day – for preventing the recurrence of prosecutions of this kind. He recollected having heard, at the close of the administration of the second President of the United States, one of the most beautiful pieces of declamation, from a gentleman from South Carolina, which he had ever heard, in which he conjured the House to re-enact the sedition act, because, said he, we are about to surrender the Government into the hands of men in whom we have no confidence, and I wish to retain this law as our shelter, because, by this, if we are prosecuted for a libel, we can give the truth in evidence. Mr. R. said he listened to the gentleman, but he thought he was talking for talking's sake. He did not believe that himself believed a word of what he said. Mr. R. did not suppose that a prosecution at common law, for a libel, could take place under a republican administration. He thought the gentleman was making the best apology he could for the sedition law, and that he was glad to find himself in a minority on his motion for continuing it. But, said he, experience teacheth. I find it possible even for the Pharisees themselves sometimes to slide, sometimes to fall. He thought it due to our country, and to ourselves, that whatever abuses exist, without stopping to inquire whether the sufferer be a Catholic or a Protestant, a Federalist, a Democrat, or a monarchy man, to redress the wrong. What would be said in a court of justice in a case of murder? It would not be thought worth while to inquire what was the offender's politics, or whether honest or the contrary. He considered honest men as of right politics. It unfortunately happens, said he, that some men make up in zeal what they know themselves to be deficient in honor and honesty.

The amendment was agreed to and the petition referred to a committee of seven, consisting of Mr. New, Mr. Randolph, Mr. Wright, Mr. Troup, Mr. Whitehill, Mr. Mosely, and Mr. Cooke.