During the administrations of Washington and Adams, it was the custom of the
President, at the opening of each session of Congress, to meet both Houses, and
deliver in person a written speech, to which, in the course of a few days, each
House would return an answer through a Committee appointed to wait upon the
President, who acknowledged the answer by returning a brief reply. Jefferson
changed this system at the beginning of his Presidential term. Instead of
meeting the Houses of Congress, and addressing them personally, he sent them a
written message, thus substituting messages for speeches. His reasons for this
change were the greater convenience of messages over speeches, the economy of
time, and the relief of Congress from the necessity of sending answers on
subjects in regard to which they were often very imperfectly informed. In the
general opinion of the country at that time, this change was in the nature of
improvement, and the custom of communicating with Congress by means of
messages instead of speeches, has been invariably adopted by all succeeding
Presidents.

   After serving as Vice-President for four years, Jefferson became President on
March 4th, 1801, was re-elected President in 1804, and retired finally from
public life, March 4th, 1809. His cabinet, of which Madison and Gallatin were
the pillars, were in thorough sympathy with him in his general policy, and its
perfect harmony was uninterrupted. He gave his Ministers his entire
confidence. "If I had the world to choose from," he said on one occasion, "I
could not change one of my associates to my better satisfaction ."

   The first important act of his administration was to send four of the six
vessels constituting the so-called navy of the republic to the Mediterranean
to exterminate the Algerine pirates who for half a century had preyed upon the
commerce of the world, thus initiating a series of events which in a few years
contributed largely to the safety of commerce in the Mediterranean.

   Being convinced of the supreme commercial importance of New Orleans, Jefferson
directed negotiations to be opened with the French Government, which resulted
in the purchase for $15,000,000 of the territory of Louisiana, which had been
ceded by Spain to France. The purchase of Louisiana was regarded as the
crowning achievement of his administration.

   One of the notable events of his second term was his unsuccessful attempt to
convict Aaron Burr (Vice-President during his first term) of having engaged in
treasonable projects in the southwest. Other important measures of his
administration included his efforts to maintain, without war, the rights of
neutrals on the high seas; the careful exploration of the western territories;
the reduction of the public debt; the fortification of seaports; reorganizing
and rearming the militia; diminishing the taxes; and extinguishing the
Indians' titles by fair purchase and promoting their emigration beyond the
Mississippi.

   Everything that Jefferson wrote -- in the line of Presidential Messages and other
state papers -- proved him a great political writer, but his first inaugural
address is considered by many critics to be his masterpiece. It presents an
exposition of the principles of democracy that has never been surpassed. Every
sentence is expressed with force and point, and with a rhetorical grace that
invariably tends to enhance the underlying power.

   Friends and Fellow Citizens:

   Called upon to undertake the duties of the first executive office of our
country, I avail myself of the presence of that portion of my fellow citizens
which is here assembled, to express my grateful thanks for the favor with which
they have been pleased to look toward me, to declare a sincere consciousness
that the task is above my talents, and that I approach it with those anxious
and awful presentiments which the greatness of the charge and the weakness of
my powers so justly inspire. A rising nation, spread over a wide and fruitful
land, traversing all the seas with the rich productions of their industry,
engaged in commerce with nations who feel power and forget right, advancing
rapidly to destinies beyond the reach of mortal eye -- -when I contemplate these
transcendent objects, and see the honor, the happiness, and the hopes of this
beloved country committed to the issue and the auspices of this day, I shrink
from the contemplation, and humble myself before the magnitude of the
undertaking. Utterly indeed, should I despair, did not the presence of

   During the contest of opinion through which we have passed, the animation of
discussion and of exertions has sometimes worn an aspect which might impose on
strangers unused to think freely and to speak and to write what they think; but
this being now decided by the voice of the nation, announced according to the
rules of the constitution, all will, of course, arrange themselves under the
will of the law, and unite in common efforts for the common good. All, too,
will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority
is in all cases to prevail, that will, to be rightful, must be reasonable; that
the minority possess their equal rights, which equal laws must protect, and to
violate which would be oppression. Let us, then, fellow citizens, unite with
one heart and one mind. Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and
affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things. And
let us reflect that having banished from our land that religious intolerance
under which man

   Let us, then, with courage and confidence pursue our own federal and republican
principles, our attachment to our union and representative government. Kindly
separated by nature and a wide ocean from the exterminating havoc of one
quarter of the globe; too high-minded to endure the degradations of the
others; possessing a chosen country, with room enough for our descendants to
the hundredth and thousandth generation; entertaining a due sense of our equal
right to the use of our own faculties, to the acquisitions of our industry, to
honor and confidence from our fellow citizens, resulting not from birth but
from our actions and their sense of them; enlightened by a benign religion,
professed, indeed, and practiced in various forms, yet all of them including
honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man; acknowledging and
adoring an overruling Providence, which by all its dispensations proves that
it delights in the happiness of man here and his greater happiness hereafter;
with all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and
prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow citizens -- a wise and frugal
government, which shall

   About to enter, fellow citizens, on the exercise of duties which comprehend
everything dear and valuable to you, it is proper that you should understand
what I deem the essential principles of our government, and consequently
those which ought to shape its administration. I will compress them within the
narrowest compass they will bear, stating the general principle, but not all
its limitations. Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or
persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship,
with all nations -- en tangling alliances with none; the support of the state
governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for
our domestic concerns and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican
tendencies; the preservation of the general government in its whole
constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety
abroad; a jealous care of the right of election by the people -- a mild and safe
corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword of the revolution where
peaceable remedies are unprovided; absolute acquiescence in the decisions of
the majority -- t he vital principle of republics, from which there is no appeal
but to force the vital

   I repair, then, fellow citizens, to the post you have assigned me. With
experience enough in subordinate offices to have seen the difficulties of
this, the greatest of all, I have learned to expect that it will rarely fall to
the lot of imperfect man to retire from this station with the reputation and
the favor which

   Relying, then, on the patronage of your good will, I advance with obedience to
the work, ready to retire from it whenever you become sensible how much better
choice it is in your power to make. And may that Infinite Power which rules the
destinies of the universe, lead our councils to what is best, and give them a
favorable issue for your peace and prosperity.

   In communicating his first message to Congress, President Jefferson addressed
the following letter to the presiding officer of each branch of the national
legislature.]

   December 8, 1801. SIR: The circumstances under which we find ourselves placed
rendering inconvenient the mode heretofore practised of making by personal
address the first communication between the legislative and executive
branches, I have adopted that by message, as used on all subsequent occasions
through the session. In doing this, I have had principal regard to the
convenience of the legislature, to the economy of their time; to their relief
from the embarrassment of immediate answers on subjects not yet fully before
them, and to the benefits thence resulting to the public affairs. Trusting that
a procedure founded in these motives will meet their approbation, I beg leave,
through you, sir, to communicate the enclosed message, with the documents
accompanying it, to the honorable the senate, and pray you to accept, for
yourself and them, the homage of my high respect and consideration.

   The Hon. the President of the Senate.

   March, 1808. In proceeding to carry into execution the Act, etc., it is found
that the sites most advantageous for the defense of our harbors and rivers,
and sometimes the only sites competent to that defense are in some cases the
property of minors incapable of giving a valid consent to their alienation, in
others belong to persons who on no terms will alienate, and in others the
proprietors demand such exaggerated compensation as, however liberally the
public ought to compensate in such cases, would exceed all bounds of justice or
liberality. From this cause the defense of our seaboard, so necessary to be
pressed during

   I am aware that as the consent of the legislature of the state to the purchase
of the site may not, in some instances have been previously obtained, exclusive
legislation cannot be exercised therein by Congress until that consent is
given. But in the meantime it will be held under the same laws which protect
the property of individuals in that state and other property of the United
States and the legislatures at their next meetings will have opportunities of
doing what will be so evidently called for by the interest of their own State.

   Fellow Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives:

   It is a circumstance of sincere gratification to me that on meeting the great
council of our nation, I am able to announce to them, on the grounds of
reasonable certainty, that the wars and troubles which have for so many years
afflicted our sister nations have at length come to an end, and that the
communications of peace and commerce are once more opening among them. While
we devoutly return thanks to the beneficent Being who has been pleased to
breathe into them the spirit of conciliation and forgiveness, we are bound
with peculiar gratitude to be thankful to him that our own peace has been
preserved through so perilous a season, and ourselves permitted quietly to
cultivate the earth and to practice and improve those arts which tend to
increase our comforts. The assurances, indeed, of friendly disposition,
received from all the powers with whom we have principal relations, had
inspired a confidence that our peace with them would not have been disturbed.
But a cessation of the irregularities which had affected the commerce of
neutral nations, and of the irritations and injuries produced by them, cannot
but add to this confidence; and strengthens, at the same time, the hope, that
wrongs committed on unoffending friends, under a pressure of circumstances,
will now be reviewed with candor, and will

   Among our Indian neighbors, also, a spirit of peace and friendship generally
prevails; and I am happy to inform you that the continued efforts to introduce
among them the implements and the practice of husbandry, and of the household
arts, have not been without success; that they are becoming more and more
sensible of the superiority of this dependence for clothing and subsistence
over the precarious resources of hunting and fishing; and already we are able
to announce, that instead of that constant diminution of their numbers,
produced by their wars and their wants, some of them begin to experience an
increase of population.

   To this state of general peace with which we have been blessed, one only
exception exists. Tripoli, the least considerable of the Barbary States, had
come forward with demands unfounded either in right or in compact, and had
permitted itself to denounce war, on our failure to comply before a given day.
The style of the demand admitted but one answer. I sent a small squadron of
frigates into the Mediterranean, with assurances to that power of our sincere
desire to remain in peace, but with orders to protect our commerce against the
threatened attack. The measure was seasonable and salutary. The bey had already
declared war in form. His cruisers were out. Two had arrived at Gibraltar. Our
commerce in the Mediterranean was blockaded,

   I wish I could say that our situation with all the other Barbary states was
entirely satisfactory. Discovering that some delays had taken place in the
performance of certain articles stipulated by us, I

   I lay before you the result of the census lately taken of our inhabitants, to
a conformity with which we are to reduce the ensuing rates of representation
and taxation. You will perceive that the increase of numbers during the last
ten years, proceeding in geometrical ratio, promises a duplication in little
more than twenty-two years. We contemplate this rapid growth, and the prospect
it holds up to us, not with a view to the injuries it may enable us to do to
others in some future day, but to the settlement of the extensive country still
remaining vacant within our limits to the multiplications of men susceptible
of happiness, educated in the love of order, habituated to self-government,
and valuing its blessings above all price.

   Other circumstances, combined with the increase of numbers, have produced an
augmentation of revenue arising from consumption, in a ratio far beyond that
of population alone, and though the changes of foreign relations now taking
place so desirably for

   These views, however, of reducing our burdens, are formed on the expectation
that a sensible, and at the same time a salutary reduction, may take place in
our habitual expenditures. For this purpose those of the civil government,
the army, and navy, will need revisal.

   When we consider that this government is charged with the external and mutual
relations only of these states; that the states themselves have principal care
of our persons, our property, and our reputation,

   In our care, too, of the public contributions intrusted to our direction, it
would be prudent to multiply barriers against their dissipation, by appropriating specific sums t
every specific purpose susceptible of definition; by
disallowing all applications of money varying from the appropriation in
object, or transcending it in amount; by reducing the undefined field of
contingencies, and thereby circumscribing discretionary powers over money;
and by bringing back to a single department all accountabilities for money
where the examination may be prompt, efficacious, and uniform.

   An account of the receipts and expenditures of the last year, as prepared by
the secretary of the treasury, will as usual be laid before you. The success
which has attended the late sales of the public lands, shows that with
attention they may be made an important source of receipt. Among the payments;
those made in discharge of the principal and

   A statement has been formed by the secretary of war, on mature consideration,
of all the posts and stations where garrisons will be expedient, and of the
number of men requisite for each garrison. The whole amount is considerably
short of the present military establishment. For the surplus no particular use
can be pointed out. For defence against invasion, their number is as nothing;
nor is it conceived needful or safe that a standing army should be kept up in
time of peace for that purpose. Uncertain as we must ever be of the particular
point in our circumference where an enemy may choose to invade us, the only
force which can be ready at every point and competent to oppose them, is the
body of neighboring citizens as formed into a militia. On these, collected
from the parts most convenient, in numbers proportioned to the invading foe,
it is best to rely, not only to meet the first attack, but if it threatens to
be permanent, to maintain the defence until regulars may be engaged to relieve
them. These considerations render it important that we should at every session
continue to amend the defects which from time to time show themselves in the
laws for regulating the militia, until they are sufficiently

   The provisions of military stores on hand will be laid before you, that you may
judge of the additions still requisite.

   With respect to the extent to which our naval preparations should be carried,
some difference of opinion may be expected to appear; but just attention to the
circumstances of every part of the Union will doubtless reconcile all. A small
force will probably continue to be wanted for actual service in the Mediterranean. Whateve
annual sum beyond that you may think proper to appropriate to
naval preparations, would perhaps be better employed in providing those
articles which may be kept without waste or consumption, and be in readiness
when any exigence calls them into use. Progress has been made, as will appear
by papers now communicated, in providing materials for seventy-fo ur gun ships
as directed by law.

   How far the authority given by the legislature for procuring and establishing
sites for naval purposes has been perfectly understood and pursued in the
execution, admits of some doubt. A statement of the expenses already incurred
on that subject, shall be laid before you. I have in certain cases suspended or
slackened these expenditures, that the legislature might determine whether so
many yards

   The fortifications of our harbors, more or less advanced, present considerations of great difficulty
While some of them are on a scale sufficiently
proportioned to the advantages of their position, to the efficacy of their
protection, and the importance of the points within it, others are so
extensive, will cost so much in their first erection, so much in their
maintenance, and require such a force to garrison them, as to make it
questionable what is best now to be done. A statement of those commenced or
projected,

   Agriculture, manufactures, commerce, and navigation, the four pillars of our
prosperity, are the most thriving when left most free to individual enterprise.
Protection from casual embarrassments, however, may sometimes be seasonably
interposed. If in the course of your observations or inquiries they should
appear to need any aid within the limits of our constitutional powers, your
sense of their importance is a sufficient assurance they will occupy your
attention. We cannot, indeed, but all feel an anxious solicitude for the
difficulties under which our carrying trade will soon be placed. How far it can
be relieved, otherwise than by time, is a subject of important consideration.

   The judiciary system of the United States, and especially that portion of it
recently erected, will of course present itself to the contemplation of
Congress; and that they may be able to judge of the proportion which the
institution bears to the business it has to perform, I have caused to be
procured from the several States, and now lay before Congress, an exact
statement of all the causes decided since the first establishment of the
courts, and of those which were depending when additional courts and judges
were brought in to their aid.

   And while on the judiciary organization, it will be worthy your consideration, whether th
protection of the inestimable institution of juries has been
extended to all the cases involving the security of our persons and property.
Their impartial selection also being essential to their value, we ought further
to consider whether that is sufficiently secured in those States where they are
named by a marshal depending on executive will, or designated by the court or
by officers dependent on them.

   I cannot omit recommending a revisal of the laws on the subject of
naturalization. Considering the ordinary chances of human life, a denial of
citizenship under a residence of fourteen years is a denial to a great
proportion of those who ask it, and controls a policy pursued from their first
settlement by many of these States, and still believed of consequence to their
prosperity. And shall we refuse the unhappy fugitives from distress that
hospitality which the savages of the wilderness extended to our fathers
arriving in this land? Shall oppressed humanity find no asylum on this globe?
The constitution, indeed, has wisely provided that, for admission to certain
offices of important trust, a residence shall be required sufficient to develop
character and design. But might not the general character and capabilities of a
citizen be safely communicated to every one manifesting a bona fide purpose of
embarking his life and fortunes permanently with us? with restrictions,
perhaps, to guard against the

   These, fellow citizens, are the matters respecting the state of the nation,
which I have thought of importance to be submitted to your consideration at
this time. Some others of less moment, or not yet ready for communication,
will be the subject of separate messages. I am happy in this opportunity of
committing the arduous affairs of our government to the collected wisdom of
the Union. Nothing shall be wanting on my part to inform, as far as in my
power, the legislative judgment, nor to carry that judgment into faithful
execution. The prudence and temperance of your discussions will promote, within
your own walls, that conciliation which so much befriends rational conclusion;
and by its example will encourage among our constituents that progress of
opinion which is tending to unite them in object and in will. That all should
be satisfied with any one order of things is not to be expected, but I indulge
the pleasing persuasion that the great body of our citizens will cordially
concur in honest and disinterested efforts, which have for their object to
preserve the general and State governments in their constitutional form and
equilibrium; to maintain peace abroad, and order and obedience to the laws at
home; to establish principles and practices of

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-
When we assemble together, fellow citizens, to consider the state of our
beloved country, our just attentions are first drawn to those pleasing
circumstances which mark the goodness of that Being from whose favor they
flow, and the large measure of thankfulness we owe for his bounty. Another
year has come around, and finds us still blessed with peace and friendship
abroad; law, order, and religion, at home; good affection and harmony with our
Indian neighbors; our burdens lightened, yet our income sufficient for the
public wants, and the produce of the year great beyond example. These, fellow
citizens, are the circumstances under which we meet; and we remark with
special satisfaction, those which, under the smiles of Providence, result
from the skill, industry and order of our citizens, managing their own affairs
in their own way and for their own use, unembarrassed by too much regulations, unoppressed b
fiscal exactions.

   On the restoration of peace in Europe, that portion of the general carrying
trade which had fallen to our share during the war, was abridged by the
returning

   It is with satisfaction I lay before you an act of the British parliament
anticipating this subject so far as to authorize a mutual abolition of the
duties and countervailing duties permitted under the treaty of 1794. It shows
on their part a spirit of justice and friendly accommodation which it is our
duty and our interest to cultivate with all nations. Whether this would produce
a due equality in the navigation between the two countries, is a subject for
your consideration.

   Another circumstance which claims attention, as directly affecting the very
source of our navigation, is the defect or the evasion of the law providing for
the return of seamen, and particularly of those belonging to vessels sold
abroad. Numbers of them, discharged in foreign ports, have been thrown on the
hands of our consuls, who, to rescue them from the dangers into which their
distresses might plunge

   The cession of the Spanish province of Louisiana to France, which took place in
the course of the late war, will, if carried into effect, make a change in the
aspect of our foreign relations which will doubtless have a just weight in any
deliberations of the legislature connected with that subject.

   There was reason, not long since, to apprehend that the warfare in which we
were engaged with Tripoli might be taken up by some others of the Barbary
powers. A reinforcement, therefore, was immediately ordered to the vessels
already there. Subsequent information, however, has removed these apprehensions for th
present. To secure our commerce in that sea with the smallest force
competent, we have supposed it best to watch strictly the harbor of Tripoli.
Still, however, the shallowness of their coast, and the want of smaller
vessels on our part, has permitted some cruisers to escape unobserved; and to
one of these an American vessel unfortunately fell a prey. The captain, one
American seaman, and two others of color, remain prisoners with them unless
exchanged under an agreement formerly made with the bashaw, to whom, on the
faith of that, some of his captive subjects had been restored.

   The convention with the State of Georgia has been ratified by their
legislature, and a repurchase from the Creeks has been consequently made of a
part of

   In order to remove every ground of difference possible with our Indian
neighbors, I have proceeded in the work of settling with them and marking the
boundaries between us. That with the Choctaw nation is fixed in one part, and
will be through the whole in a short time. The country to which their title had
been extinguished before the revolution is sufficient to receive a very
respectable population, which Congress will probably see the expediency of
encouraging so soon as the limits shall be declared. We are to view this
position as an outpost of the United States, surrounded by strong neighbors
and distant from its support. And how far that monopoly which prevents
population should here be guarded against, and actual habitation made a
condition of the continuance of title, will be for your consideration. A
prompt settlement, too, of all existing rights and claims within this
territory, presents itself as a preliminary operation.

   In that part of the Indian territory which includes Vincennes, the lines
settled with the neighboring tribes fix the extinction of their title at a
breadth of twenty-fou r leagues from east to west, and about the same length
parallel with and including the Wabash. They have also ceded a tract of four

   In the department of finance it is with pleasure I inform you that the receipts
of external duties for the last twelve months have exceeded those of any former
year, and that the ratio of increase has been also greater than usual. This has
enabled us to answer all the regular exigencies of government, to pay from the
treasury in one year upward of eight millions of dollars, principal and
interest, of the public debt, exclusive of upward of one million paid by the
sale of bank stock, and making in the whole a reduction of nearly five millions
and a half of principal; and to have now in the treasury four millions and a
half of dollars, which are in a course of application to a further discharge of
debt and current demands. Experience, too, so far, authorizes us to believe, if
no extraordinary event supervenes, and the expenses which will be actually
incurred shall not be greater than were contemplated by Congress at their last
session, that we shall not be disappointed in the expectations then formed.
But nevertheless, as the effect of peace on the amount of duties is not yet
fully ascertained, it is the more necessary to practice every useful economy,
and to incur no expense which may be avoided without prejudice.

   The collection of the internal taxes having been completed in some of the
States, the officers employed in it are of course out of commission. In

   The usual accounts of receipts and expenditures for the last year, with an
estimate of the expenses of the ensuing one, will be laid before you by the
secretary of the treasury.

   No change being deemed necessary in our military establishment, an estimate of
its expenses for the ensuing year on its present footing, as also of the sums
to be employed in fortifications and other objects within that department,
has been prepared by the secretary of war, and will make a part of the general
estimates which will be presented to you.

   Considering that our regular troops are employed for local purposes, and that
the militia is our general reliance for great and sudden emergencies, you will
doubtless think this institution worthy of a review, and give it those
improvements of which you find it susceptible .

   Estimates for the naval department, prepared by the secretary of the navy for
another year, will in like manner be communicated with the general estimates.
A small force in the Mediterranean will still be necessary to restrain the
Tripoline cruisers, and the uncertain tenure of peace with some other of the
Barbary powers, may eventually require that

   Presuming it will be deemed expedient to expend annually a sum towards
providing the naval defence which our situation may require, I cannot but
recommend that the first appropriations for that purpose may go to the saving
what we already possess. No cares, no attentions, can preserve vessels from
rapid decay which lie in water and exposed to the sun. These decays require
great and constant repairs, and will consume, if continued, a great portion of
the money destined to naval purposes. To avoid this waste of our resources, it
is proposed to add to our navy-yard here a dock, within which our vessels may
be laid up dry and under cover from the sun. Under these circumstances
experience proves that works of wood will remain scarcely at all affected by
time. The great abundance of running water which this situation possesses, at
heights for above the level of the tide, if employed as is practised for lock
navigation, furnishes the means of raising and laying up our vessels on a dry
and sheltered bed. And should the measure be found useful here, similar
depositories for laying up as well as for building and repairing vessels may
hereafter be undertaken at other navy-yards offering the same means. The plans
and estimates of the work, prepared by a person of skill and experience, will
be presented to

   To cultivate peace and maintain commerce and navigation in all their lawful
enterprises; to foster our fisheries and nurseries of navigation and for the
nurture of man, and protect the manufactures adapted to our circumstances; to
preserve the faith of the nation by an exact discharge of its debts and
contracts, expend the public money with the same care and economy we would
practise with our own, and impose on our citizens no unnecessary burden; to
keep in all things within the pale of our constitutional powers, and cherish
the federal union as the only rock of safety -- the se, fellow citizens, are the
landmarks by which we are to guide ourselves in all our proceedings. By
continuing to make these our rule of action, we shall endear to our countrymen
the true principles of their constitution, and promote a union of sentiment
and of action equally auspicious to their happiness and safety. On my part, you
may count on a cordial concurrence in every measure for the public good, and
on all the information I possess which may enable you to discharge to advantage
the high functions with which you are invested by your country.

   Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives:

   I lay before you the accounts of our Indian trading houses, as rendered up to
the first day of January, 1801, with a report of the secretary of war thereon,
explaining the effects and the situation of that commerce, and the reasons in
favor of its farther extension. But it is believed that the act authorizing
this trade expired so long ago as the 3d of March, 1799. Its revival;
therefore, as well as its extension, is submitted to the consideration of the
legislature.

   The act regulating trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes will also
expire on the 3d day of March next. While on the subject of its continuance,
it will be worthy the consideration of the legislature, whether the provisions
of the law inflicting on Indians, in certain cases, the punishment of death by
hanging, might not permit its commutation into death by military execution,
the form of the punishment in the former way being peculiarly repugnant to
their ideas, and increasing the obstacles to the surrender of the criminal.

   These people are becoming very sensible of the baneful effects produced on
their morals, their health and existence, by the abuse of ardent spirits, and
some of them earnestly desire a prohibition of that article from being carried
among them. The legislature

   It is now become necessary to run and mark the boundaries between them and us
in various parts. The law last mentioned has authorized this to be done, but no
existing appropriation meets the expense.

   Certain papers, explanatory of the grounds of this communication, are
herewith enclosed.

   Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives:

   I lay before you a report of the secretary of state on the case of the Danish
brigantine Henrick, taken by a French privateer in 1799, retaken by an armed
vessel of the United States, carried into a British island and there adjudged
to be neutral, but under an allowance of such salvage and costs as absorbed
nearly the whole amount of sales of the vessel and cargo. Indemnification for
these losses, occasioned by our officers, is now claimed by the sufferers,
supported by the representation of their government. I have no doubt the
legislature will give to the

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   In calling you together, fellow citizens, at an earlier day than was
contemplated by the act of the last session of Congress, I have not been
insensible to the personal inconveniences necessarily resulting from an
unexpected change in your arrangements. But matters of great public concernment have rendere
this call necessary, and the interest you feel in these will
supersede in your minds all private considerations.

   Congress witnessed, at their last session, the extraordinary agitation
produced in the public mind by the suspension of our right of deposit at the
port of New Orleans, no assignment of another place having been made according
to treaty. They were sensible that the continuance of that privation would be
more injurious to our nation than any consequences which could flow from any
mode of redress, but reposing just confidence in the good faith of the
government whose officer had committed the wrong,

   Previous, however, to this period, we had not been unaware of the danger to
which our peace would be perpetually exposed while so important a key to the
commerce of the western country remained under foreign power. Difficulties,
too, were presenting themselves as to the navigation of other streams, which,
arising within our territories, pass through those adjacent. Propositions had,
therefore, been authorized for obtaining, on fair conditions, the sovereignty
of New Orleans, and of other possessions in that quarter interesting to our
quiet, to such extent as was deemed practicable; and the provisional
appropriation of two millions of dollars, to be applied and accounted for by
the president of the United States, intended as part of the price, was
considered as conveying the sanction of Congress to the acquisition proposed.
The enlightened Government of France saw, with just discernment, the
importance to both nations of such liberal arrangements as might best and
permanently promote the peace, friendship, and interests of both; and the
property and sovereignty of all Louisiana, which had been restored to them,
have on certain conditions been transferred to the United States by instrument
s bearing date the 30th of April last. When these shall have received the
constitutional sanction of the senate, they will without delay be communicated to th
representatives also, for the

   With the wisdom of Congress it will rest to take those ulterior measures which
may be necessary for the immediate occupation and temporary government of the
country; for its incorporation into our Union; for rendering the change of
government a blessing to our newly-adopted brethren; for securing to them the
rights of conscience and of property; for confirming to the Indian inhabitants
their occupancy and self-government, establishing friendly and commercial
relations with them, and for ascertaining the geography of the country
acquired. Such materials for your information, relative to its affairs in
general; as the short space of time has permitted me to collect, will be laid
before you when the subject shall be in a state for your consideration.

   Another important acquisition of territory has also been made since the last
session of Congress. The

   With many other Indian tribes, improvements in agriculture and household
manufacture are advancing, and with all our peace and friendship are
established on grounds much firmer than heretofore. The measure adopted of
establishing trading houses among them, and of furnishing them necessaries in
exchange for their commodities, at such moderated

   The small vessels authorized by Congress with a view to the Mediterranean
service, have been sent into that sea, and will be able more effectually to
confine the Tripoline cruisers within their harbors, and supersede the
necessity of convoy to our commerce in that quarter. They will sensibly lessen
the expenses of that service the ensuing year.

   A further knowledge of the ground in the northeastern and north-western
angles of the United States has evinced that the boundaries established by the
treaty of Paris, between the British territories and ours in those parts, were
too imperfectly described to be susceptible of execution. It has therefore been
thought worthy of attention, for preserving and cherishing the harmony and
useful intercourse subsisting between the two nations, to remove by timely
arrangements what unfavorable incidents might otherwise render a ground of
future misunderstanding. A convention has therefore been entered into, which
provides for a practicable demarkation of those limits to the satisfaction of
both parties.

   An account of the receipts and expenditures of the year ending 30th September
last, with the estimates for the service of the ensuing year, will be laid
before you by the secretary of the treasury so soon as the receipts of the last
quarter shall be

   The amount of debt paid for the same year is about three millions one hundred
thousand dollars, exclusive of interest, and making, with the payment of the
preceding year, a discharge of more than eight millions and a half of dollars
of the principal of that debt, besides the accruing interest; and there remain
in the treasury nearly six millions of dollars. Of these, eight hundred and
eighty thousand have been reserved for payment `of the first instalment due
under the British convention of January 8th, 1802, and two millions are what
have been before mentioned as placed by Congress under the power and
accountability of the president, toward the price of New Orleans and other
territories acquired, which, remaining untouched, are still applicable to that
object, and go in diminution of the sum to be funded for it.

   Should the acquisition of Louisiana be constitutionally confirmed and carried
into effect, a sum of nearly thirteen millions of dollars will then be added to
our public debt, most of which is payable after fifteen years; before which
term the present existing

   Remittances for the instalments of our foreign debt having been found
practicable without loss, it has not been thought expedient to use the power
given by a former act of Congress of continuing them by reloans, and of
redeeming instead thereof equal sums of domestic debt, although no difficulty
was found in obtaining that accommodation.

   The sum of fifty thousand dollars appropriated by Congress for providing
gun-boats, remains unexpended. The favorable and peaceful turn of affairs on
the Mississippi rendered an immediate execution of that law unnecessary, and
time was desirable in order that the institution of that branch of our force
might begin on models the most approved by experience.

   The same issue of events dispensed with a resort to the appropriation of a
million and a half of dollars contemplated for purposes which were effected by
happier means.

   We have seen with sincere concern the flames of war lighted up again in Europe,
and nations with which we have the most friendly and useful relations engaged
in mutual destruction . While we regret the miseries in which we see others
involved, let us bow with gratitude to that kind Providence which, inspiring
with wisdom and moderation our late legislative councils while placed under the
urgency of the greatest wrongs, guarded us from hastily entering into the
sanguinary contest, and left us only to look on and to pity its ravages. These
will be heaviest on those immediately engaged. Yet the nations pursuing peace
will not be exempt from all evil. In the course of this conflict, let it be our
endeavor, as it is our interest and desire, to cultivate the friendship of the
belligerent nations by every act of justice and of incessant kindness; to
receive their armed vessels with hospitality from the distresses of the sea,
but to administer the means of annoyance to none; to establish in our harbors
such a police as may maintain law and order; to restrain our citizens from
embarking individually in a war in which their country takes no part; to
punish severely those persons, citizen or alien, who shall usurp the cover of
our flag for vessels not entitled to it, infecting thereby with suspicion those
of real Americans, and

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   In my communication to you of the 17th instant, I informed you that convention
s had been entered into with the government of France for the cession of
Louisiana to the United States. These, with the advice and consent of the
Senate, having now been ratified, and my ratification exchanged for that of the
first consul of France in due form, they are communicated to you for
consideration in your legislative capacity. You will observe that some
important conditions cannot be carried into execution, but with the aid of the
legislature; and that time presses a decision on them without delay.

   The ulterior provisions, also suggested in the same communication, for the
occupation and government of the country, will call for early attention. Such
information relative to its government, as time and distance have enabled me
to obtain, will be ready to be laid before you within a few days. But, as
permanent arrangements for this object may require time and deliberation, it
is for your consideration whether you will not, forthwith, make such temporary
provisions for the preservation, in the meanwhile, of order and tranquillity
in the country, as the case may require.

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   By the copy now communicated of a letter from Captain Bainbridge of the
Philadelphia frigate, to our consul at Gibraltar, you will learn that an act
of hostility has been committed on a merchant vessel of the United States by an
armed ship of the Emperor of Morocco. This conduct on the part of that power is
without cause and without explanation . It is fortunate that Captain Bainbridge
fell in with and took the capturing vessel and her prize; and I have the
satisfaction to inform you, that about the date of this transaction such a
force would be arriving in the neighborhood of Gibraltar, both from the east
and the west, as leaves less to be feared for our commerce from the suddenness
of the aggression.

   On the 4th of September, the Constitution frigate, Captain Preble, with Mr.
Lear on board, was within two days' sail of Gibraltar, where the Philadelphia
would then be arrived with her prize, and such explanations would probably be
instituted as the state of thing required, and as might perhaps arrest the
progress of hostilities.

   In the meanwhile it is for Congress to consider the provisional authorities
which may be necessary to restrain the depredations of this power, should they
be continued.

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   The treaty with the Kaskaskia Indians being ratified with the advice and
consent of the Senate, it is now laid before both Houses, in their legislative
capacity. It will inform them of the obligations which the United States
thereby contract, and particularly that of taking the tribe under their future
protection; and that the ceded country is submitted to their immediate
possession and disposal.

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   I have the satisfaction to inform you that the act of hostility mentioned in my
message of the 4th of November to have been committed by a cruiser of the
emperor of Morocco on a vessel of the United States, has been disavowed by the
Emperor. All difficulties in consequence thereof have been amicably adjusted,
and the treaty of 1786, between this country and that, has been recognized and
confirmed by the Emperor, each party restoring to the other what had been
detained or taken. I enclose the Emperor's orders given on this occasion.

   The conduct of our officers generally, who have

   The temperate and correct course pursued by our consul, Mr. Simpson, the
promptitude and energy of Commodore Preble, the efficacious co-operation of
Captains Rodgers and Campbell of the returning squadron; the proper decision of
Captain Bainbridge that a vessel which had, committed an open hostility was of
right to be detained for inquiry and consideration, and the general zeal of
the other officers and men, are honorable facts which I make known with
pleasure. And to these I add what was indeed transacted in another quarter -- the
gallant enterprise of Captain Rodgers in destroying, on the coast of Tripoli, a
corvette of that power, of twenty-two guns.

   I recommended to the consideration of Congress a just indemnification for the
interest acquired by the captors of the Mishouda and Mirboha, yielded by them
for the public accommodation.

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   In execution of the act of the present session of Congress for taking
possession of Louisiana, as ceded to us by France, and for the temporary
government thereof, Governor Claiborne, of the Mississippi territory, and
General Wilkinson, were appointed

   On this important acquisition, so favorable to the immediate interests of our
western citizens, so auspicious to the peace and security of the nation in
general, which adds to our country territories so extensive and fertile, `and
to our citizens new brethren to partake of the blessings of freedom and
self-government, I offer to Congress and the country, my sincere congratulations.

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   I communicate to Congress, a letter received from Captain Bainbridge,
commander of the Philadelphia frigate, informing us of the wreck of that
vessel on the coast of Tripoli, and that himself, his officers, and men, had
fallen into the hands of the Tripolitans. This accident renders it expedient to
increase our force, and enlarge our expenses in the Mediterranean beyond what
the last appropriation far the naval service contemplated. I recommend,
therefore, to the consideration of Congress, such an addition to that
appropriation as they may think the exigency requires.

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   To a people, fellow citizens, who sincerely desire the happiness and prosperity
of other nations; to those who justly calculate that their own well-being is
advanced by that of the nations with which they have intercourse, it will be a
satisfaction to observe that the war which was lighted up in Europe a little
before our last meeting has not yet extended its flames to other nations, nor
been marked by the calamities which sometimes stain the footsteps of

   While noticing the irregularities committed on the ocean by others, those on
our own part should not be omitted nor left unprovided for. Complaints have
been received that persons residing within the United States have taken on
themselves to arm merchant vessels, and to force a commerce into certain ports
and countries in defiance of the laws of those countries. That individuals
should undertake to wage private war, independently of the authority of their
country, cannot be permitted in a well-ordered society. Its tendency to
produce aggression on the laws and rights of other nations, and to endanger the
peace of our own is so obvious, that I doubt not you will adopt measures for
restraining it effectually in future.

   Soon after the passage of the act of the last session, authorizing the
establishment of a district and port

   I have the satisfaction to inform you that the objections which had been urged
by that government against the validity of our title to the country of
Louisiana have been withdrawn, its exact limits, however, remaining still to be
settled between us. And to this is to be added that, having prepared and
delivered the stock created in execution of the convention of Paris, of April
30, 1803, in consideration of the cession of that country, we have received
from the government of France an acknowledgment, in due form, of the
fulfilment of that stipulation.

   With the nations of Europe in general our friendship and intercourse are
undisturbed, and from the

   The activity and success of the small force employed in the Mediterranean in
the early part of the present year, the reinforcement sent into that sea, and
the energy of the officers having command in the several vessels, will, I
trust, by the sufferings of war, reduce the barbarians of Tripoli to the desire
of peace on proper terms. Great injury, however, ensues to ourselves as well as
to others interested, from the distance to which prizes must be brought for
adjudication, and from the impracticability of bringing hither such as are
not seaworthy.

   The bey of Tunis having made requisitions unauthorized by our treaty, their
rejection has produced from him some expressions of discontent. But to those
who expect us to calculate whether a compliance with unjust demands will not
cost us less than a war, we must leave as a question of calculation for them,
also, whether to retire from unjust demands will not cost them less than a war.
We can do to each other very sensible injuries by war, but the mutual
advantages of peace make that the best interest of both.

   Peace and intercourse with the other powers on the same coast continue on the
footing on which they are established by treaty.

   In the district of Louisiana, it has been thought best to adopt the division
into subordinate districts, which had been established under its former
government. These being five in number, a commanding officer has been
appointed to each, according to the provision of the law, and so soon as they
can be at their station, that district will also be in its due state of
organization; in the meantime their places are supplied by the officers before
commanding there. The functions of the Governor and Judges of Indiana have
commenced; the government, we presume, is proceeding in its new form. The lead
mines in that district offer so rich a supply of that metal, as to merit
attention. The report now communicated will inform you of their state, and of
the necessity of immediate inquiry into their occupation and titles.

   On this side the Mississippi an important relinquishment of native title has
been received from the Delawares. That tribe, desiring to extinguish in

   The act of Congress of February 28th, 1803, for building and employing a number
of gun-boats, is now in a course of execution to the extent there provided for.
The obstacle to naval enterprise which vessels of this construction offer for
our seaport towns; their utility toward supporting within our waters the
authority of the laws; the promptness with which they will be manned by the
seamen and

   No circumstance has arisen since your last session which calls for any
augmentation of our regular military force. Should any improvement occur in
the militia system, that will be always seasonable.

   Accounts of the receipts and expenditures of the last year, with estimates for
the ensuing one, will as, usual be laid before you.

   The state of our finances continue to fulfil our expectations. Eleven millions
and a half of dollars received in the course of the year ending on the 30th of
September last, have enabled us, after meeting all the ordinary expenses of the
year, to pay upward of $3,600,000 of the public debt, exclusive of interest.
This payment, with those of the two preceding years, has extinguished upward
of twelve millions of the principal, and a greater sum of interest, within that
period; and by a proportion al diminution of

   It is also ascertained that the revenue accrued during the last year, exceeds
that of the preceding; and the probable receipts of the ensuing year may safely
be relied on as sufficient, with the sum already in the treasury, to meet all
the current demands of the year, to discharge upward of three millions and a
half of the engagements incurred under the British and French conventions,
and to advance in the farther redemption of the funded debts as rapidly as had
been contemplated. These, fellow citizens, are the principal matters which I
have thought it necessary at this time to communicate for your consideration
and attention. Some others will be laid before you in the course of the
session, but in the discharge of the great duties confided to you by our
country, you will take a broader view of the field of legislation. Whether the
great interests of agriculture, manufactures, commerce, or navigation, can,
within the pale of your constitutional powers, be aided in any of their
relations; whether laws are provided in all cases where they are wanting;
whether those provided are exactly what they should be; whether any abuses take
place in their administration, or in that of the public revenues; whether the
organization of the public agents or of the public force is perfect in all its
parts; in fine, whether anything can be done to advance the general

   Proceeding, fellow citizens, to that qualification which the constitution
requires, before my entrance on the charge again conferred upon me, it is my
duty to express the deep sense I entertain of this new proof of confidence from
my fellow citizens at large, and the zeal with which it inspires me, so to
conduct myself as may best satisfy their just expectations.

   On taking this station on a former occasion, I declared the principles on which
I believed it my duty to administer the affairs of our commonwealth. My
conscience tells me that I have, on every occasion, acted up to that
declaration, according to its obvious import, and to the understanding of
every candid mind.

   In the transaction of your foreign affairs, we have endeavored to cultivate the
friendship of all nations, and especially of those with which we have the most
important relations. We have done them justice on all occasions, favored where
favor was lawful, and cherished mutual interests and intercourse on fair and
equal terms. We are firmly convinced,

   At home, fellow citizens, you best know whether we have done well or ill. The
suppression of unnecessary offices, of useless establishments and expenses,
enabled us to discontinue our internal taxes. These covering our land with
officers, and opening our doors to their intrusions, had already begun that
process of domiciliary vexation which, once entered, is scarcely to be
restrained from reaching successively every article of produce and property.
If among these taxes some minor ones fell which had not been inconvenient, it
was because their amount would not have paid the officers who collected them,
and because, if they had any merit, the state authorities might adopt them,
instead of others less approved.

   The remaining revenue on the consumption of foreign articles, is paid
cheerfully by those who can afford to add foreign luxuries to domestic
comforts, being collected on our seaboards and frontiers only, and incorporate
d with the transactions of our mercantile citizens, it may be the pleasure and
pride of an American to ask, what farmer, what mechanic, what laborer, ever
sees a tax-gather er of the United States? These contributions enable us to
support

   I have said, fellow citizens, that the income reserved had enabled us to extend
our limits; but that extension may possibly pay for itself before we are called
on, and in the meantime, may keep down the accruing interest; in all events, it
will repay the advances we have made. I know that the acquisition of Louisiana
has been disapproved by some, from a candid apprehension that the enlargement of our territor
would endanger its union. But who

   In matters of religion, I have considered that its free exercise is placed by
the constitution independent of the powers of the general government. I have
therefore undertaken ., on no occasion, to prescribe the religious exercises
suited to it; but have left them, as the constitution found them, under the
direction and discipline of State or Church authorities acknowledged by the
several religious societies.

   The aboriginal inhabitants of these countries I have regarded with the
commiseration their history inspires. Endowed with the faculties and the
rights of men, breathing an ardent love of liberty and independence, and
occupying a country which left them no desire but to be undisturbed, the
stream of overflowing population from other regions directed itself on these
shores; without power to divert, or habits to contend against, they have been
overwhelmed by the current, or driven before it; now reduced within limits too
narrow for the hunter's state, humanity enjoins us to teach them agriculture
and the domestic arts; to encourage them to that

   But the endeavors to enlighten them on the fate which awaits their present
course of life, to induce them to exercise their reason, follow its dictates,
and change their pursuits with the change of circumstances, have powerful
obstacles to encounter; they are combated by the habits of their bodies,
prejudice of their minds, ignorance, pride, and the influence of interested and
crafty individuals among them, who feel themselves something in the present
order of things, and fear to become nothing in any other. These persons
inculcate a sanctimonious reverence for the customs of their ancestors; that
whatsoever they did, must be done through all time; that reason is a false
guide, and to advance under its counsel, in their physical, moral, or political
condition, is perilous innovation; that their duty is to remain as their
Creator made them, ignorance being safety, and knowledge full of danger; in
short, my friends, among them is seen the action and counteraction of good
sense and bigotry; they, too, have their anti-philos ophers, who find an
interest

   In giving these outlines, I do not mean, fellow citizens, to arrogate to myself
the merit of the measures; that is due, in the first place, to the reflecting
character of our citizens at large, who, by the weight of public opinion,
influence and strengthen the public measures; it is due to the sound discretion
with which they select from among themselves those to whom they confide the
legislative duties; it is due to the zeal and wisdom of the characters thus
selected, who lay the foundations of public happiness in wholesome laws, the
execution of which alone remains for others; and it is due to the able and
faithful auxiliaries, whose patriotism has associated with me in the executive
functions.

   During this course of administration, and in order to disturb it, the
artillery of the press has been levelled against us, charged with whatsoever
its licentiousness could devise or dare. These abuses of an institution so
important to freedom and science, are deeply to be regretted, inasmuch as they
tend to lessen its usefulness, and to sap its safety; they might, indeed, have
been corrected by the wholesome punishments reserved and provided by the laws
of the several States against falsehood and defamation; but public duties more
urgent press on the time of public servants, and the offenders have therefore

   Nor was it uninteresting to the world, that an experiment should be fairly and
fully made, whether freedom of discussion, unaided by power; is not sufficient
for the propagation and protection of truth -- whet her a government, conducting
itself in the true spirit of its constitution, with zeal and purity, and doing
no act which it would be unwilling the whole world should witness, can be
written down by falsehood and defamation. The experiment has been tried; you
have witnessed the scene; our fellow citizens have looked on, cool and
collected; they saw the latent source from which these outrages proceeded; they
gathered around their public functionaries, and when the constitution called
them to the decision by suffrage, they pronounced their verdict, honorable to
those who had served them, and consolatory to the friend of man, who believes
he may be intrusted with his own affairs.

   No inference is here intended, that the laws, provided by the State against
false and defamatory publications, should not be enforced; he who has time,
renders a service to public morals and public tranquillity, in reforming these
abuses by the salutary coercions of the law; but the experiment is noted, to
prove that, since truth and reason have maintained their ground against false
opinions in league with false facts, the press, confined to truth,

   Contemplating the union of sentiment now manifested so generally, as auguring
harmony and happiness to our future course, I offer to our country sincere
congratulations. With those, too, not yet rallied to the same point, the
disposition to do so is gaining strength; facts are piercing through the veil
drawn over them; and our doubting brethren will at length see, that the mass of
their fellow citizens, with whom they cannot yet resolve to act, as to
principles and measures, think as they think, and desire what they desire; that
our wish, as well as theirs, is, that the public efforts may be directed
honestly to the public good, that peace be cultivated, civil and religious
liberty unassailed, law and order preserved, equality of rights maintained, and
that state of property, equal or unequal, which results to every man from his
own industry, or that of his fathers. When satisfied of these views, it is not
in human nature that they should not approve and support them; in the meantime,
let us cherish them with patient affection; let us do them justice, and more
than justice, in all competitions of interest;

   I shall now enter on the duties to which my fellow citizens have again called
me, and shall proceed in the spirit of those principles which they have
approved. I fear not that any motives of interest may lead me astray; I am
sensible of no' passion which could seduce me knowingly from the path of
justice; but the weakness of human nature, and the limits of my own understand
ing, will produce errors of judgment sometimes injurious to your interests. I
shall need, therefore, all the indulgence I have heretofore experience d -- the
want of it will certainly not lessen with increasing years. I shall need, too,
the favor of that Being in whose hands we are, who led our forefathers, as
Israel of old, from their native land, and planted them in a country flowing
with all the necessaries and comforts of life; -- who has covered our infancy
with his providence, and our riper years with his wisdom and power; and to
whose goodness I ask you to join with me in supplications, that he will so
enlighten the minds of your servants, guide their councils, and prosper their
measures, that whatsoever they do, shall result iny our good, and shall secure
to you the peace, friendship, and approbation of all nations.

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   At a moment when the nations of Europe are in commotion and arming against each
other, and when those with whom we have principal intercourse are engaged in
the general contest, and when the countenance of some of them toward our
peaceable country threatens that even that may not be unaffected by what is
passing on the general theatre, a meeting of the representatives of the nation
in both houses of Congress has become more than usually desirable. Coming from
every section of our country, they bring with them the sentiments and the
information of the whole, and will be enabled to give a direction to the public
affairs which the will and wisdom of the whole will approve and support.

   In taking a view of the state of our country, we in the first place notice the
late affliction of two of our cities under the fatal fever which in latter
times has occasionally visited our shores. Providence in his goodness gave it
an early termination on this occasion, and lessened the number of victims which
have usually fallen before it. In the course of the several visitations by this
disease it has appeared that it is strictly local; incident to the cities and
on the tide waters only; incommunic able in the country, either by persons
under the disease or by goods carried from diseased places; that its access is
with the

   Since our last meeting the aspect of our foreign relations has considerably
changed. Our coasts have been infested and our harbors watched by private armed
vessels, some of them without commissions, some with illegal commissions,
others with those of legal form but committing piratical acts beyond the
authority of their commissions. They have captured in the very entrance of our
harbors, as well as on the high seas, not only the vessels of our friends
coming to trade with us, but our own also. They have carried them off under
pretence of legal adjudication, but not daring to approach a court of justice,
they have plundered and sunk them by the way, or in obscure places where no
evidence could arise against them; maltreated the crews, and abandoned them in
boats in the open sea or on desert shores without food or covering. These
enormities appearing to be unreached by any control of their sovereigns, I
found it necessary to equip a force to cruise within our own seas, to arrest
all vessels of these descriptions found hovering on our coast within the
limits of the Gulf Stream, and to bring the offenders in for trial as pirates.

   The same system of hovering on our coasts and harbors under color of seeking
enemies, has been also carried on by public armed ships, to the great annoyance
and oppression of our commerce. New principles, too, have been interloped into
the law

   With Spain our negotiations for a settlement of differences have not had a
satisfactory issue. Spoliation's during the former war, for which she had
formally acknowledged herself responsible, have been refused to be compensate
d, but on conditions affecting other claims in nowise connected with them. Yet
the same practices are renewed in the present war, and are already of great
amount. On the Mobile, our commerce passing through that river continues to be
obstructed by arbitrary duties and vexatious searches. Propositions for
adjusting amicably the boundaries of Louisiana have not been acceded to. While,
however, the right is unsettled,

   In reviewing these injuries from some of the belligerent powers, the
moderation, the firmness, and the wisdom of the legislature will be all called
into action. We ought still to hope that time and a more correct estimate of
interest, as well as of character, will produce the justice we are bound to
expect. But should any nation deceive itself by false calculations, and
disappoint that expectation, we must join in the unprofitable contest of
trying which party can do the other the most harm. Some of

   Considerable provision has been made, under former authorities from Congress,
of materials for the construction of ships of war of seventy-fo ur guns. These
materials are on hand, subject to the further will of the legislature.

   An immediate prohibition of the exportation of arms and ammunition is also
submitted to your determination.

   Turning from these unpleasant views of violence and wrong, I congratulate you
on the liberation of our fellow citizens who were stranded on the coast of
Tripoli and made prisoners of war. In a government bottomed on the will of
all, the life and liberty of every individual citizen become interesting to
all. In the treaty, therefore, which has concluded our warfare with that State,
an article for the ransom of our citizens has been agreed to. An operation

   With Tunis some misunderstandings have arisen, not yet sufficiently explained,
but friendly discussions with their Ambassador recently arrived, and a mutual
disposition to do whatever is just and reasonable, cannot fail of dissipating
these; so that we may consider our peace on that coast, generally, to be on as
sound a footing as it has been at any preceding time. Still it will not be
expedient to withdraw, immediately, the whole of our force from that sea.

   The law for providing a naval peace establishment fixes the number of frigates
which shall be kept in

   Our Indian neighbors are advancing, many of them with spirit and others
beginning to engage, in the pursuits of agriculture and household manufacture.
They are becoming sensible that the earth yields subsistence with less labor
and more certainty than, the forest, and find it their interest, from time to
time, to dispose of parts of their surplus and waste lands for the means of
improving those they occupy, and of subsisting their families while they are
preparing their farms. Since your last session, the northern tribes have sold
to us the lands between

   The several treaties which have been mentioned will be submitted to both houses
of Congress for the exercise of their respective functions.

   Deputations now on their way to the seat of government, from various nations
of Indians inhabiting the Missouri and other parts beyond the Mississippi, come
charged with the assurances of their satisfaction with the new relations in
which they are placed with us, of their disposition to cultivate our peace and
friendship, and their desire to enter into commercial

   The receipts at the treasury during the year ending the 30th day of September
last, have exceeded the sum of thirteen millions of dollars, which, with not
quite five millions in the treasury at the beginning of the year, have enabled
us, after meeting other demands, to pay nearly two millions of the debt
contracted under the British treaty and convention, upward of four millions of
principal of the public debt, and four millions of interest. These payments,
with those which had been made in three years and a half preceding, have
extinguished of the funded debt nearly eighteen millions of principal.
Congress, by their act of November 10th, 1803; authorized us to borrow one
million seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, toward meeting the claims of
our citizens assumed by the convention with France. We have not, however, made
use of this authority, because the sum of four millions and a half, which
remained in the treasury on the same 30th day of September last, with the
receipts which we may calculate on for the ensuing year, besides paying the
annual sum of eight millions of dollars appropriated to the funded debts, and
meeting all the current demands which may be expected, will

   On this first occasion of addressing Congress, since, by the choice of my
constituents, I have entered on a second term of administration, I embrace
the opportunity to give this public assurance, that I will exert my best
endeavors to administer faithfully the executive department, and will
zealously cooperate with you in every measure which may tend to secure the
liberty, property, and personal safety of our fellow citizens, and to
consolidate the republican forms and principles of our government.

   In the course of your session you shall receive all the aid which I can give
for the despatch of the public business, and all the information necessary far
your deliberations, of which the interests of our own country and the
confidence reposed in us by others will admit a communication.

   December 6, 1805.

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   The depredations which had been committed on the commerce of the United States
during a preceding war, by persons under the authority of Spain, are
sufficiently known to all. These made it a duty to require from that government indemnification
for our injured citizens. A convention was accord to
require from that government indemnifications for our injured citizens. A
convention was accordingly

   To obtain justice, as well as to restore friendship, I thought a special
mission advisable, and accordingly appointed James Monroe, Minister Extraordinary an
Plenipotentiary, to repair to Madrid, and in conjunction with our
Minister resident there, to endeavor to procure a ratification of the former
Convention, and to come to an understanding with Spain as to the boundaries
of Louisiana. It appeared at once that her policy was to reserve herself for
events, and in the meantime [to avoid all explanations and engagements] to
keep our differences in an undetermined state. This will be evident from the
papers now communicated to you. After [yielding to their delays until their
object could no longer be doubted] nearly five months of fruitless endeavor to
bring them to some definite [accommodation] and satisfactory result our
Ministers ended the conferences,

   The present crisis in Europe is favorable for pressing such a settlement: and
not a moment should be lost in availing ourselves of it. Should it pass
unimproved,

   But the course to be pursued will require the command of means which it belongs
to Congress exclusively to yield or to deny. ' To them I communicate every
fact material for their information, and the documents necessary to enable
them to judge for themselves. To their wisdom then I look for the course I am
to take, and will pursue with sincere zeal that which they shall approve.

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   I lay before Congress the application of Hamet Caramalli, elder brother of the
reigning bashaw of Tripoli, soliciting from the United States attention to his
services and sufferings in the late war against that State. And in order to
possess them of the ground on which that application stands, the facts shall be
stated according to the views and information of the executive.

   During the war with Tripoli, it was suggested that Hamet Caramalli, elder
brother of the reigning

   Mr. Eaton, however (our late consul), on his return from the Mediterranean,
possessing a personal knowledge of the scene, and having confidence in the
effect of a joint operation, we authorized Commodore Barron, then proceeding
with his squadron, to enter into an understanding with Hamet if he should deem
it useful; and as it was represented that he would need some aids of arms, and
ammunition, and even of money, he was authorized to furnish them to a moderate
extent, according to the prospect of utility to be expected from it. In order
to avail him of the advantages of Mr. Eaton's knowledge of circumstances, an
occasional employment was provided for the latter as an agent for the navy in
that sea. Our expectation was, that an intercourse should be kept up between
the ex-bashaw and the commodore, that while the former moved on by land, our
squadron should proceed with equal pace so as to arrive at

   In the event it was found that after placing the ex-bashaw in possession of
Derne, one of the most important cities and provinces of the country, where he
had resided himself as governor, he was totally unable to command any
resources, or to bear any part in the cooperation with us. This hope was

   In operations at such a distance, it becomes necessary to leave much to the
discretion of the agents employed, but events may still turn up beyond the
limits of that discretion: Unable in such case to consult his government, a
zealous citizen will act as he believes that would direct him were it apprized
of the circumstances, and will take on himself the responsibility. In all
these cases the purity and patriotism of the motives should shield the agent
from blame, and even secure the sanction where the error is not too injurious.
Should it be thought by

   A nation, by establishing a character of liberality and magnanimity, gains in
the friendship and respect of others more than the worth of mere money. This
appeal is now made by Hamet Caramalli to the United States. The ground he has
taken being different not only from our views but from those expressed by
himself on former occasions, Mr. Eaton was desired to state whether any verbal
communications passed from him to Hamet, which had varied what we saw in
writing. His answer of December 5th is herewith transmitted, and has rendered
it still more necessary, that in presenting to the legislature the application
of Hamet, I should present them at the same time an exact statement of the
views and proceedings of the executive through this whole business, that they
may clearly understand the

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   In my message to both houses of Congress at the opening of their present
session, I submitted to their attention, among other subjects, the oppression
of our commerce and navigation by the irregular practices of armed vessels,
public and private, and by the introduction of new principles, derogatory of
the rights of neutrals, and unacknowledged by the usage of nations.

   The memorials of several bodies of merchants of the United States are now
communicated, and will develop these principles and practices which are
producing the most ruinous effects on our lawful commerce and navigation.

   The rights of a neutral to carry on a commercial intercourse with every part of
the dominions of a belligerent, permitted by the laws of the country (with the
exception of blockaded ports and contraband of war), was believed to have been
decided between Great Britain and the United States by the sentence of the
commissioners mutually appointed

   On the impressment of our seamen our remonstrances have never been
intermitted . A hope existed at one moment of an arrangement which might have
been submitted to, but it soon passed away, and the practice, though relaxed at
times in the distant seas, has been constantly pursued in those in our
neighborhood. The grounds on which the reclamations on this subject have been
urged, will appear in an extract from instructions to our minister at London
now communicated.

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   A letter has been received from the Governor of South Carolina, covering an act
of the legislature of that state, ceding to the United States various forts and
fortifications, and sites for the erection of forts in that state, on the
conditions therein expressed. This letter and the act it covered are now
communicated to Congress.

   I am not informed whether the positions ceded are the best which can be taken
for securing their respective objects. No doubt is entertained that the
legislature deemed them such. The river of Beaufort particularly, said to be
accessible to ships of very large size, and capable of yielding them a
protection which they cannot find elsewhere, but very far to the north, is,
from these circumstances, so interesting to the Union in general, as to merit
particular attention and inquiry, as to the positions on it best calculated for
health as well as safety.

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   In pursuance of a measure submitted to Congress by a message of January 18th,
1803, and sanctioned

   In order to render the statement as complete as may be, of the Indians
inhabiting the country west of the Mississippi, I add Dr. Sibley's account of
those residing in and adjacent to the territory of Orleans. I communicate
also, from the same person, an account of the Red river, according to the best
information he had been able to collect.

   Having been disappointed, after considerable preparation, in the purpose of
sending an exploring expedition up that river in the summer of 1804, it was
thought best to employ the autumn in that year in procuring a knowledge on an
interesting branch of the river called Washita. This was undertaken under the
direction of Mr. Dunbar, of Natchez, a citizen of distinguished science, who
had aided, and continues to aid us with his disinterested valuable services in
the prosecution of these enterprises . He ascended the river to the remarkable
hot springs near it, in latitude 34^o 31' 4" .16, longitude, 92^o 50' 45" west,
from Greenwich, taking its courses and distances, and correcting them by
frequent celestial observations. Extracts from his observations, and copies
of his map of the river, from its mouth to the

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   It was reasonably expected, that while the limits between the territories of
the United States and of Spain were unsettled, neither party would have
innovated on the existing state of their respective positions. Some time since,
however, we learned that the Spanish authorities were advancing into the
disputed country to occupy new posts and make new settlements . Unwilling to
take any measures which might preclude a peaceable accommodation of
differences, the officers of the United States were ordered to confine
themselves within the country on this side of the Sabine river; which, by the
delivery of its principal post (Natchitoches), was understood to have been
itself delivered up by Spain; and at the same time to permit no adverse post to
be taken, nor armed men to remain within it. In consequence of these orders,
the commanding officer of Natchitoches, learning that a party of Spanish
troops had crossed the Sabine river and were posting themselves on this side
the Adais, sent a detachment of his force to require them to withdraw to the
other side of the Sabine, which they accordingly did.

   I have thought it proper to communicate to Congress the letters detailing this
incident, that they may fully understand the state of things in that quarter,
and be enabled to make such provision for its security as in their wisdom they
shall deem sufficient.

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   During the blockade of Tripoli by the squadron of the United States, a small
cruiser, under the flag of Tunis, with two prizes (all of trifling value),
attempted to enter Tripoli, was turned back, warned, and attempting again to
enter, was taken and detained as a prize by the squadron. Her restitution was
claimed by the bey of Tunis, with a threat of war so serious, that, on
withdrawing from the blockade of Tripoli, the commanding officer of the
squadron thought it his duty to repair to Tunis with his squadron, and to
require a categorical declaration whether peace or war was intended. The bey
preferred explaining himself by an Ambassador to the United States, who, on
his arrival, renewed the request that the vessel and her prizes should be
restored. It was deemed proper to give this proof of friendship to the bey, and
the Ambassador was informed the vessels would be restored. Afterward he made a
requisition of naval stores to be sent to

   Under these circumstances, and considering that the several provisions of the
act, March 25th, 1804, will cease in consequence of the ratification of the
treaty of peace with Tripoli, now advised to and consented to by the Senate, I
have thought it my duty to communicate these facts, in order that Congress may
consider the expediency of continuing the same provisions for a limited time or
making others equivalent.

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress
assembled:-

   It would have given me, fellow citizens, great satisfaction to announce in the
moment of your meeting that the difficulties in our foreign relations, existing
at the time of your last separation, had been amicably and justly terminated. I
lost no time in taking those measures which were most likely to bring them to
such a termination, by special missions charged with such powers and
instructions as in the event of failure could leave no imputation on either
our moderation or forbearance. The delays which have since taken place in our
negotiations with the British government appears to have proceeded from

   The nature of that country requires indispensably that an unusual proportion
of the force employed there should be cavalry or mounted infantry. In order,
therefore, that the commanding officer might

   Having received information that in another part of the United States a great
number of private individuals were combining together, arming and organizing
themselves contrary to law, to carry on military expeditions against the
territories of Spain, I thought it necessary, by proclamations as well as by
special orders, to take measures for preventing and suppressing this
enterprise, for seizing the vessels, arms, and other means provided for it, and
for arresting and bringing to justice its authors and abettors. It was due to
that good faith which ought ever to be the rule of action in public as well as
in private transactions; it was due to good order and regular government,
that while the public force was acting strictly on the defensive and merely to
protect our citizens from aggression, the criminal attempts of private
individuals to decide for their country the question

   Whether it will be necessary to enlarge our regular force will depend on the
result of our negotiation with Spain; but as it is uncertain when that result
will be known, the provisional measures requisite for that, and to meet any
pressure intervening in that quarter, will be a subject for your early
consideration.

   The possession of both banks of the Mississippi reducing to a single point the
defence of that river, its waters, and the country adjacent, it becomes highly
necessary to provide for that point a more adequate security. Some position
above its mouth, commanding the passage of the river, should be rendered
sufficiently strong to cover the armed vessels which may be stationed there for
defence, and in conjunction with them to present an insuperable obstacle to
any force attempting to pass. The approaches to the city of New Orleans, from
the eastern quarter also, will require to be examined, and more effectually
guarded. For the internal support of the country, the encouragement of a
strong settlement on the western side of the Mississippi; within reach of New
Orleans, will be worthy the consideration of the legislature.

   The gunboats authorized by an act of the last session are so advanced that they
will be ready for service in the ensuing spring. Circumstances permitted

   A further appropriation will also be necessary for repairing fortification
already established, and the erection of such works as may have real effect in
obstructing the approach of an enemy to our seaport towns, or their remaining
before them.

   In a country whose constitution is derived from the will of the people,
directly expressed by their free suffrages; where the principal executive
functionaries, and those of the legislature, are renewed by them at short
periods; where under the characters of jurors, they exercise in person the
greatest portion of the judiciary powers; where the laws are consequently so
formed and administered as to bear with equal weight and favor on all,
restraining no man in the pursuits of honest industry, and securing to every
one the property which that acquires, it would not be supposed that any
safeguards could be needed against insurrection or enterprise on the public
peace or authority. The laws, however, aware that these should not be trusted
to moral restraints only, have wisely provided punishments for these crimes
when committed. But would it not be salutary to give also the means of
preventing their commission?

   Where an enterprise is meditated by private individuals against a foreign
nation in amity with the United States, powers of prevention to a certain
extent are given by the laws; would they not be as reasonable and useful were
the enterprise preparing against the United States? While adverting to this
branch of the law, it is proper to observe, that in enterprises meditated
against foreign nations, the ordinary process of binding to the observance of
the peace and good behavior, could it be extended to acts to be done out of the
jurisdiction of the United States, would be effectual in some cases where the
offender is able to keep out of sight every indication of his purpose which
could draw on him the exercise of the powers now given by law.

   The states on the coast of Barbary seem generally disposed at present to
respect our peace and friendship; with Tunis alone some uncertainty remains.
Persuaded that it is our interest to maintain our peace with them on equal
terms, or not at all, I propose to send in due time a reinforcement into the
Mediterranean, unless previous information shall show it to be unnecessary.

   We continue to receive proofs of the growing attachment of our Indian
neighbors, and of their disposition to place all their interests under the
patronage of the United States. These dispositions are inspired by their
confidence in our justice, and in the sincere concern we feel for their
welfare; and as long as we discharge these high and honorable functions with

   The expedition of Messrs. Lewis and Clarke, for exploring the river Missouri,
and the best communication from that to the Pacific ocean, has had all the
success which could have been expected. They have traced the Missouri nearly to
its source, descended the Columbia to the Pacific ocean, ascertained with
accuracy the geography of that interesting communication across our continent,
learned the character of the country, of its commerce, and inhabitants; and it
is but justice to say that Messrs. Lewis and Clarke, and their brave companions
, have by this arduous service deserved well of their country.

   The attempt to explore the Red river, under the direction of Mr. Freeman,
though conducted with a zeal and prudence meriting entire approbation, has not
been equally successful. After proceeding up it about six hundred miles, nearly
as far as the French settlements had extended while the country was in their
possession, our geographers were obliged to return without completing their
work.

   Very useful additions have also been made to our knowledge of the Mississippi
by Lieutenant Pike, who has ascended to its source, and whose journal and map,
giving the details of the journey, will shortly be ready for communication to
both houses of Congress. Those of Messrs. Lewis and Clarke, and Freeman, will
require further time to be digested and

   I congratulate you, fellow citizens, on the approach of the period at which
you may interpose your authority constitutionally, to withdraw the citizens of
the United States from all further participation in those violations of human
rights which have been so long continued on the unoffending inhabitants of
Africa, and which the morality, the reputation, and the best interests of our
country, have long been eager to proscribe. Although no law you may pass can
take prohibitory effect till the first day of the year one thousand eight
hundred and eight, yet the intervening period is not too long to prevent, by
timely notice, expeditions which cannot be completed before that day.

   The receipts at the treasury during the year ending on the 30th of September
last, have amounted to near fifteen millions of dollars, which have enabled us,
after meeting the current demands, to pay two millions seven hundred thousand
dollars of the American claims, in parts of the price of Louisiana; to pay of
the funded debt upward of three millions of principal, and nearly four of
interest; and in addition, to reimburse, in the course of the present

   The duties composing the Mediterranean fund will cease by law at the end of
the present season. Considering, however, that they are levied chiefly on
luxuries, and that we have an impost on salt, a necessary of life, the free use
of which otherwise is so important, I recommend to your consideration the
suppression of the duties on salt, and the continuation of the Mediterranean
fund, instead thereof, for a short time, after which that also will become
unnecessary for any purpose now within contemplation.

   When both of these branches of revenue shall in this way be relinquished,
there will still ere long be an accumulation of moneys in the treasury beyond
the instalments of public debt which we are permitted by contract to pay. They
cannot, then, without a modification assented to by the public creditors, be
applied to the extinguishment of this debt, and the complete liberation of our
revenues the most desirable of all objects; nor, if our peace continues, will
they be wanting for any other existing purpose. The question, therefore, now
comes forward, to what other objects shall these surpluses be appropriated,
and the whole surplus of impost,

   The present consideration of a national establishment for education,
particularly, is rendered proper by this circumstance also, that if Congress,
approving the proposition, shall yet think it more eligible to found it on a
donation of lands, they have it now in their power to endow it with those which
will be among the earliest to produce the necessary income. This foundation
would have the advantage of being independent on war, which may suspend other
in improvements by requiring for its own purposes the resources destined for
them:
This, fellow citizens, is the state of the public interest at the present
moment, and according to the information now possessed. But such is the
situation of the nations of Europe, and such, too, the predicament in which we
stand with some of them, that we cannot rely with certainty on the present
aspect of our affairs that may change from moment to moment, during the course
of your session or after you shall have separated. Our duty is, therefore, to
act upon things as they are, and to make a reasonable provision

   The result of our negotiations, or such incidents in their course as may
enable us to infer their probable issue; such further movements also on our
western frontiers as may show whether war is to be pressed there while
negotiation is protracted elsewhere, shall be communicated to you from time to

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   I have the satisfaction to inform you that the negotiation depending between
the United States and the government of Great Britain is proceeding in a
spirit of friendship and accommodation which promises a result of mutual
advantage. Delays, indeed, have taken place, occasioned by the long illness and
subsequent death of the British Minister charged with that duty. But the
commissioners appointed by that government to resume the negotiation have
shown every disposition to hasten its progress. It is, however, a work of time,
as many arrangements are necessary to place our future harmony on stable
grounds. In the meantime, we find by the communications of our Plenipotentiaries, that
temporary suspension of the act of the last session prohibiting
certain importations, would, as a mark of candid disposition on our part, and
of confidence in the temper and views with which they have been met, have a
happy effect on its course. A step so friendly will afford further evidence
that all our proceedings have flowed from views of justice and

   Add to this, that the same motives which produced the postponement of the act
till the fifteenth of November last, are in favor of its further suspension;
and as we have reason to hope that it may soon yield to arrangements of mutual
consent and convenience, justice seems to require that the same measure may be
dealt out to the few cases which may fall within its short course, as to all
others preceding and following it. I cannot, therefore, but recommend the
suspension of this act for a reasonable time, on considerations of justice,
amity, and the public interests.

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   Agreeably to the request of the House of Representatives, communicated in
their resolution of the sixteenth instant, I proceed to state under the reserve
therein expressed, information received touching an illegal combination of
private individuals against the peace and safety of the Union, and a military
expedition planned by them against the territories of a power in amity with the
United States, with the measures I have pursued for suppressing the same.

   I had for some time been in the constant expectation

   Some time in the latter part of September, I received intimations that designs
were in agitation in the western country, unlawful and unfriendly to the peace
of the Union; and that the prime mover in these was Aaron Burr, heretofore
distinguished by

   It was not until the latter part of October, that the objects of the conspiracy
began to be perceived, but still so blended and involved in mystery that
nothing distinct could be singled out for pursuit. In this state of uncertainty as to the crim
contemplated, the acts done, and the legal course to be
pursued, I thought it best to send to the scene where these things were
principally in transaction, a person, in whose integrity, understanding, and
discretion, entire confidence could be reposed, with instructions to
investigate the plots going on, to enter into conference (for which he had
sufficient credentials ) with the governors and all other officers, civil and
military, and with their aid to do on the spot whatever should be necessary to
discover the designs of the conspirators, arrest their means, bring their
persons to punishment, and to call out the force of the country to suppress
any unlawful enterprise in which it should be found they were engaged. By this
time it was known that many boats were under preparation, stores of provisions
collecting, and an unusual number of suspicious characters in motion on the
Ohio and its waters. Besides despatching the confidential

   The general's letter, which came to hand on the

   He found at once that the attachment of the western country to the present
Union was not to be shaken; that its dissolution could not be effected with the
consent of its inhabitants, and that his resources were inadequate, as yet, to
effect it by force. He took his course then at once, determined to seize on New
Orleans, plunder the bank there, possess himself of the military and naval
stores, and proceed on his expedition to Mexico; and to this object all his
means and preparationswere now directed. He collected from all the quarters
where

   This was the state of my information of his proceedings about the last of
November, at which time, therefore, it was first possible to take specific
measures to meet them. The proclamation of November 27th, two days after the
receipt of General Wilkinson's information, was now issued. Orders were
despatched to every intersecting point on the Ohio and Mississippi, from
Pittsburg to New Orleans, for the employment of such force either of the
regulars or of the militia, and of such proceedings also of the civil
authorities, as might enable them to seize on all the boats and stores provided
for the enterprise, to arrest the persons concerned, and to suppress
effectually the further progress of the enterprise. A little before the receipt
of these orders in the State of Ohio, our confidential agent, who had been
diligently employed in investigating the conspiracy, had acquired sufficient
information to open himself to the governor of that State, and apply for the
immediate exertion of the authority and power of

   In Kentucky, a premature attempt to bring Burr to justice, without sufficient
evidence for his conviction, had produced a popular impression in his favor,
and a general disbelief of his guilt. This gave him an unfortunate opportunit
y of hastening his equipments . The arrival of the proclamation and orders,
and the application and information of our confidential agent, at length
awakened the authorities of that State to the truth, and then produced the same
promptitude and energy of which the neighboring State had set the example.
Under an act of their legislature of December 23d, militia was instantly
ordered to different important points, and measures taken for doing whatever
could yet be done. Some boats (accounts vary from five to double or treble that
number) and persons (differently estimated from one to three hundred) had in
the meantime passed the falls of the Ohio, to rendezvous at the mouth of the
Cumberland, with others expected down that river.

   Not apprized, till very late, that any boats were building on Cumberland, the
effect of the proclamation

   On the whole, the fugitives from Ohio, with their associates from Cumberland,
or any other place in that quarter, cannot threaten serious danger to the city
of New Orleans.

   By the same express of December nineteenth, orders were sent to the governors
of New Orleans and Mississippi, supplementary to those which had been given on
the twenty fifth of November, to hold the militia of their territories in
readiness to cooperate for their defence, with the regular troops and

   Surmises have been hazarded that this enterprise is to receive aid from certain
foreign powers. But these surmises are without proof or probability . The
wisdom of the measures sanctioned by Congress at its last session had placed us
in the paths of peace and justice with the only powers with whom we had any
differences, and nothing has happened since which makes it either their
interest or ours to pursue another course. No change of measures has taken
place on our part; none ought to take place at this time. With the one,
friendly arrangement was then proposed, and the law deemed necessary on the
failure of that was suspended to give time for a fair trial

   By letters from General Wilkinson, of the 14th and 18th of September, which
came to hand two days after date of the resolution of the House of Representatives, that is to say
on the morning of the 18th instant, I received the
important affidavit, a copy of which I now communicate, with extracts of so
much of the letters as come within the scope of the resolution. By these it
will be seen that of three of the principal emissaries of Mr. Burr, whom the
general had caused to be apprehended, one had been liberated by habeas corpus,
and the two others, being those particularly employed in the endeavor to
corrupt the general and army of the United States, have been embarked by him
for our ports in the Atlantic States, probably on the consideration that an
impartial trial could not be expected during the

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   By the letters of Captain Bissel, who commands at Fort Massac, and of Mr.
Murrell, to General Jackson, of Tennessee, copies of which are now communicated to Congress
it will be seen that Aaron Burr passed Fort Massac on the 31st
December, with about ten boats, navigated by about six hands each, without any
military appearance, and that three boats with ammunition were said to have
been arrested by the militia at Louisville.

   As the guards of militia posted on various points on the Ohio will be able to
prevent any further aids passing through that channel, should any be attempted,
we may now estimate, with tolerable certainty, the means derived from the Ohio
and its waters, toward the accomplishment of the purposes of Mr. Burr.

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   In execution of the act of the last session of Congress, entitled, "An act to
regulate the laying out and making a road from Cumberland, in the State of
Maryland, to the State of Ohio," I appointed Thomas Moore, of Maryland, Joseph
Kerr, of Ohio, and Eli Williams, of Maryland, commissioners to lay out the
said road, and to perform the other duties assigned to them by the act. The
progress which they made in the execution of the work, during the last session,
will appear in their report, now communicated to Congress. On the receipt of
it, I took measures to obtain consent for making the road, of the States of
Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, through which the commissioners
proposed to lay it out. I have received acts of the legislatures of Maryland
and Virginia, giving the consent desired; that of Pennsylvania has the subject
still under consideration, as is supposed. Until I receive full consent to

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   In compliance with the request of the House of Representatives, expressed in
their resolution of the 5th instant, I proceed to give such information as is
possessed, of the effect of gunboats in the protection and defence of harbors,
of the numbers thought necessary, and of the proposed distribution of them
among the ports and harbors of the United States.

   Under the present circumstances, and governed by the intentions of the
legislature, as manifested by their annual appropriations of money for the
purposes of defence, it has been concluded to combine-1st, land batteries,
furnished with heavy cannon and mortars, and established on all the points
around the place favorable for preventing vessels from lying before it; 2d,
movable artillery which may be carried, as an occasion may require, to points
unprovided with fixed batteries; 3d, floating batteries; and 4th, gunboats,
which may oppose an enemy at its entrance and cooperate with the batteries for
his expulsion.

   On this subject professional men were consulted as far as we had opportunity.
General Wilkinson, and the late General Gates, gave their opinions in writing,
in favor of the system, as will be seen by their letters now communicated. The
higher officers of the navy gave the same opinions in separate conferences, as
their presence at the seat of government offered occasions of consulting them,
and no difference of judgment appeared on the subjects. Those of Commodore
Barron and Captain Tingey, now here, are recently furnished in writing, and
transmitted herewith to the legislature.

   The efficacy of gunboats for the defence of harbors, and of other smooth and
enclosed waters, may be estimated in part from that of galleys, formerly much
used, but less powerful, more costly in their construction and maintenance,
and requiring more men. But the gunboat itself is believed to be in use with
every modern maritime nation for the purpose of defence. In the Mediterranean,
on which are several small powers, whose system like ours is peace and defence,
few harbors are without this article of protection. Our own experience there of
the effect of gunboats for harbor service, is recent. Algiers is particularly
known to have owed to a great provision of these vessels the safety of its
city, since the epoch of their construction. Before that it had been
repeatedly insulted and injured. The effect of gunboats at present in the
neighborhood of Gibraltar, is well known, and how much they were used

   From the opinions given as to the number of gunboats necessary for some of the
principal seaports, and from a view of all the towns and ports from Orleans to
Maine inclusive, entitled to protection, in proportion to their situation and
circumstances, it is concluded, that to give them a due measure of protection
in time of war, about two hundred gunboats will be requisite. According to
first ideas, the following would be their general distribution, liable to be
varied on more mature examination, and as circumstances shall vary, that is
to say:

   To the Mississippi and its neighboring waters, forty gunboats.

   To Savannah and Charleston, and the harbors on each side, from St. Mary's to
Currituck, twenty-five.

   To the Chesapeake and its waters, twenty.

   To Delaware bay and river, fifteen.

   To New York, the Sound, and waters as far as Cape Cod, fifty.
To Boston and the harbors north of Cape Cod, fifty.

   The flotilla assigned' to these several stations, might each be under the care
of a particular commandant, and the vessels composing them would, in ordinary,
be distributed among the harbors within the station in proportion to their
importance.

   Of these boats a proper proportion would be of the larger size, such as those
heretofore built, capable of navigating any seas, and of reinforcing
occasionally the strength of even the most distant port when menaced with
danger. The residue would be confined to their own or the neighboring harbors,
would be smaller, less furnished for accommodation, and consequently less
costly. Of the number supposed necessary, seventy-three are built or building,
and the hundred and twenty-seven still to be provided, would cost from five to
six hundred thousand dollars. Having regard to the convenience of the
treasury, as well as to the resources of building, it has been thought that one
half of these might be built in the present year, and the other half the next.
With the legislature, however, it will rest to stop where we are, or at any
further point, when they shall be of opinion that the number provided shall be
sufficient for the object.

   At times when Europe as well as the United States

   But they would be manned, in ordinary, with only their complement for
navigation, relying on the seamen and militia of the port if called into action
on sudden emergency. It would be only when the United States should themselves
be at war, that the whole number would be brought into actual service, and
would be ready in the first moments of the war to cooperate with other means
for covering at once the line of our seaports. At all times, those unemployed
would be withdrawn into places not exposed to sudden enterprise, hauled up
under sheds from the sun and weather, and kept in preservation with little
expense for repairs or maintenance.

   It must be superfluous to observe, that this species of naval armament is
proposed merely for defensive operation; that it can have but little effect
toward protecting our commerce in the open seas even on our coast; and still
less can it become an excitement to engage in offensive maritime war, toward
which it would furnish no means.

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   Circumstances, fellow citizens, which seriously threatened the peace of our
country, have made it a duty to convene you at an earlier period than usual.
The love of peace, so much cherished in the bosoms of our citizens, which has
so long guided the proceedings of the public councils, and induced forbearance under so man
wrongs, may not insure our continuance in the quiet pursuits
of industry. The many injuries and depredations committed on our commerce and
navigation upon the high seas for years past, the successive innovations on
those principles of public law which have been established by the reason and
usage of nations as the rule of their intercourse, and the umpire and security
of their rights and peace, and all the circumstances which induced the
extraordinary mission to London, are already known to you. The instructions
given to our ministers were framed in the sincerest spirit of amity and
moderation. They accordingly proceeded, in conformity therewith, to propose
arrangements which might embrace and settle all the points in difference
between us, which might bring us to a mutual understanding on our neutral and
national rights, and provide for a commercial intercourse on conditions of some
equality. After long and fruitless endeavors to effect the purposes of their
mission,

   The aggression thus begun has been continued on the part of the British
commanders, by remaining within our waters, in defiance of the authority of
the country, by habitual violations of its jurisdiction, and at length by
putting to death one of the persons whom they had forcibly taken from on board
the Chesapeake . These aggravations necessarily lead to the policy, either of
never admitting an armed vessel into our harbors, or of maintaining in every
harbor such an armed force as may constrain

   To former violations of maritime rights, another is now added of very extensive
effect. The government of that nation has issued an order interdicting all
trade by neutrals between ports not in amity with them; and being now at war
with nearly every nation on the Atlantic and Mediterranean seas, our vessels
are required to sacrifice their cargoes at the first port they touch, or to
return home without the benefit of going to any other market. Under this new
law of the ocean, our trade on the Mediterranean has been swept away by
seizures and condemnations, and that in other seas is threatened with the same
fate.

   Our differences with Spain remain still unsettled; no measure having been taken
on her part, since my last communication to Congress, to bring them to a
close. But under a state of things which, may favor a reconsideration, they
have been recently pressed, and an expectation is entertained that they may now
soon be brought to an issue of some sort. With their subjects on our borders,
no new collisions have taken place nor seem immediately to be apprehended.

   To our former grounds of complaint has been added a very serious one, as you
will see by the decree, a copy of which is now communicated. Whether this
decree, which professes to be conformable to that of the French Government of
November 21st, 1806, heretofore communicated to Congress, will also be
conformed to that in its construction and application in relation to the
United States, had not been ascertained at the date of our last communications. These, however
gave reason to expect such a conformity.

   With the other nations of Europe our harmony has been uninterrupted, and
commerce and friendly intercourse have been maintained on their usual footing.

   Our peace with the several states on the coast of Barbary appears as firm as at
any former period, and is as likely to continue as that of any other nation.

   Among our Indian neighbors in the northwestern quarter, some fermentation was
observed soon after the late occurrences, threatening the continuance of our
peace. Messages were said to be interchanged, and tokens to be passing, which
usually denote a state of restlessness among them, and the character of the
agitators pointed to the sources of excitement. Measures were immediately taken
for providing against that danger; instructions were given to require
explanations, and with assurances of our continued friendship, to admonish the
tribes to

   The great tribes on our southwestern quarter, much advanced beyond the others
in agriculture and household arts, appear tranquil, and identifying their views
with ours, in proportion to their advancement. With the whole of these people,
in every quarter, I shall continue to inculcate peace and friendship with all
their neighbors, and perseverance in those occupations and pursuits which
will best promote their own well-being.

   The appropriations of the last session, for the defence of our seaport towns
and harbors, were made under expectation that a continuance of our peace would
permit us to proceed in that work according to our convenience. It has been
thought better to apply the sums then given, toward the defence of New York,
Charleston, and New Orleans chiefly, as most open and most likely first to need
protection; and to leave places less immediately in danger to the provisions of
the present session.

   The gunboats, too, already provided, have on a like principle been chiefly
assigned to New York, New Orleans, and the Chesapeake . Whether our

   The moment our peace was threatened, I deemed it indispensable to secure a
greater provision of those articles of military stores with which our magazines
were not sufficiently furnished. To have awaited a previous and special
sanction by law would have lost occasions which might not be retrieved. I did
not hesitate, therefore, to authorize engagements for such supplements to our
existing stock as would render it adequate to the emergencies threatening us;
and I trust that the legislature, feeling the same anxiety for the safety of
our country, so materially advanced by this precaution, will approve, when
done, what they would have seen so important to be done if then assembled.
Expenses, also unprovided for, arose out of the necessity of calling all our
gunboats into actual service for the defence of our harbors; of all which
accounts will be laid before you.

   Whether a regular army is to be raised, and to

   I informed Congress at their last session of the enterprises against the public
peace, which were believed to be in preparation by Aaron Burr and his
associates, of the measures taken to defeat them, and to bring the offenders to
justice. Their enterprises were happily defeated by the patriotic exertions of
the militia wherever called into action, by the fidelity of the army, and
energy of the commander-in-chief in promptly arranging the difficulties
presenting themselves on the Sabine, repairing to meet those arising on the
Mississippi, and dissipating, before their explosion, plots engendering
there. I shall think it my duty to lay before you the proceedings and the
evidence publicly exhibited on the arraignment of the principal offenders
before the circuit court of Virginia. You will be enabled to judge whether the
defeat was in the testimony, in the law, or in the administration of the law;
and where.

   The accounts of the receipts of revenue, during the year ending on the
thirtieth day of September last, being not yet made up, a correct statement
will be hereafter transmitted from the treasury. In the meantime, it is
ascertained that the receipts have amounted to near sixteen millions of
dollars, which, with the five millions and a half in the treasury at the
beginning of the year, have enabled us, after meeting the current demands and
interest incurred, to pay more than four millions of the principal of our
funded debt. These payments, with those of the preceding five and a half years,
have extinguished of the funded debt twenty-five millions and a half of
dollars, being the whole which could be paid or purchased within the limits of
the law and of our contracts, and have left us in the treasury eight millions
and a half of dollars. A portion of this sum may be considered as a commencement o
accumulation of the surpluses of revenue, which, after paying the
instalments of debts as they shall become payable, will remain without any
specific object. It may partly, indeed, be applied toward

   Matters of minor importance will be the subjects of future communications; and
nothing shall be wanting on my part which may give information or despatch to
the proceedings of the legislature in the exercise of their high duties, and
at a moment so interesting to the public welfare.

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   Agreeably to the assurance in my message at the opening of the present session
of Congress, I now lay before you a copy of the proceedings, and of the
evidence exhibited on the arraignment of Aaron Burr, and others, before the
circuit court of the United States, held in Virginia, in the course of the
present year, in as authentic form as their several parts have admitted.

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   Having recently received from our late Minister

   While this information will have its proper effect on their deliberations and
proceedings respecting the relations between the two countries, they will be
sensible that, the negotiation being still depending, it is proper for me to
request that the communications may be considered as confidential.

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   The communications now made, showing the great and increasing dangers with
which our vessels, our seamen, and merchandise, are threatened on the high
seas and elsewhere, from the belligerent powers of Europe, and it being of
great importance to keep in safety these essential resources, I deem it my duty
to recommend the subject to the consideration

   Their wisdom will also see the necessity of making every preparation for
whatever events may grow out of the present crisis.

   To the House of Representatives of the United States:-

   Some days previous to your resolution of the 13th instant, a court of inquiry
had been instituted at the request of General Wilkinson, charged to make the
inquiry into his conduct which the first resolution desires, and had commenced
their proceedings. To the judge advocate of that court the papers and
information on that subject, transmitted to me by the House of Representatives, have bee
delivered, to be used according to the rules and powers of
that court.

   The request of a communication of any information, which may have been
received at any time since the establishment of the present government,
touching combinations with foreign nations for dismembering the Union, or the
corrupt receipt of money by any officer of the United States from the agents of
foreign governments, can be complied with but in a partial degree.

   It is well understood that, in the first or second year of the presidency of
General Washington, information

   In the first or second year of the administration of President Adams, Andrew
Ellicott, then employed in designating, in conjunction with the Spanish
authorities, the boundaries between the territories of the United States and
Spain, under the treaty with that nation, communicated to the executive of the
United States papers and information respecting the subjects of the present
inquiry, which were deposited in the office of State. Copies of these are now
transmitted to the House of Representatives, except of a single letter and a
reference from the said Andrew Ellicott, which being expressly desired to

   A paper "on the commerce of Louisiana," bearing date of the 18th of April,
1798, is found in the office of State, supposed to have been communicated by
Mr. Daniel Clark, of New Orleans, then a subject of Spain, and now of the House
of Representatives of the United States, stating certain commercial
transactions ' of General Wilkinson, in New Orleans; an extract from this is
now communicated, because it contains facts which may have some bearing on the
questions relating to him.

   The destruction of the war office, by fire, in the close of 1800, involved all
information it contained at that date.

   The papers already described, therefore, constitute the whole information on
the subjects, deposited in the public offices, during the preceding administrat
ions, as far as has yet been found; but it cannot be affirmed that there may be
no others, because, the papers of the office being filed, for the most part,
alphabetically, unless aided by the suggestion of any particular name which
may have given such information, nothing short of a careful examination of the
papers in the offices generally, could authorize such affirmation.

   About a twelvemonth after I came to the administration of the government,
Mr. Clark gave some

   In the course of the communications made to me on the subject of the
conspiracy of Aaron Burr, I sometimes received letters, some of them anonymous,
some under names true or false, expressing suspicions and insinuations against
General Wilkinson. But one only of them, and that anonymous, specified any
particular fact, and that fact was one

   No other information within the purview of the request of the house is known to
have been received by any department of the government from the establishment
of the present federal government. That which has recently been communicated
to the House of Representatives, and by them to me, is the first direct
testimony ever made known to me, charging General Wilkinson with the corrupt
receipt of money; and the House of Representatives may be assured that the
duties which this information devolves on me shall be exercised with rigorous
impartiality . Should any want of power in the court to compel the rendering of
testimony, obstruct that full and impartial inquiry, which alone can establish
guilt or innocence, and satisfy justice, the legislative authority only will be
competent to the remedy.

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   The Choctaws being indebted to their merchants beyond what could be discharged
by the ordinary proceeds of their huntings, and pressed for payment, proposed
to the United States to cede lands to the amount of their debts, and designated
them in two different portions of their country. These designations

   The location contemplated in the instructions to the commissioners was on
the Mississippi. That in the treaty being entirely different, I was, at that
time, disinclined to its ratification, and have suffered it to be unacted on.
But progressive difficulties in our foreign relations have brought into view
considerations other than those which then prevailed. It is perhaps now as
interesting to obtain footing for a strong settlement of militia along our
southern frontier, eastward of the Mississippi, as on the west of that river,
and more so than higher up the river itself. The consolidation of the
Mississippi territory, and the establishment of a barrier of separation
between the Indians and our southern neighbors, are also important objects; and
the Choctaws and their creditors being still anxious that the sale should be
made, I submitted the treaty to the Senate, who

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   The posts of Detroit and Mackinac, having been originally intended by the
governments which established and held them, as mere depots for the commerce
with the Indians, very small cessions of land around were obtained or asked
from the native proprietors, and these posts depended for protection on the
strength of their garrisons. The principle of our government leading us to the
employment of such moderate garrisons in time of peace, as may merely take care
of the post, and to a reliance on the neighboring militia for its support in
the first moments of war, I have thought it would be important to obtain from
the Indians such a cession of the neighborhood of these posts as might
maintain a militia proportioned to this object; and I have particularly
contemplated, with this view, the acquisition of the eastern moiety of the
peninsula between the lakes Huron, Michigan, and Erie, extending it to the
Connecticut reserve, so soon as it could be effected with the perfect good
will of the natives.

   By a treaty concluded at Detroit, on the 17th of November last, with the
Ottawas, Chippewas, Wyandots, and Pottawatomies, so much of this country has
been obtained as extends from about Saguina bay southwardly to the Miami of
the lakes, supposed to contain upward of five millions of acres, with a
prospect of obtaining, for the present, a breadth of two miles for a communication from th
Miami to the Connecticut reserve.

   The Senate having advised and consented to the ratification of this treaty, I
now lay it before both houses of Congress for the exercise of their constitutional powers as to th
means of fulfilling it.

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   Having received an official communication of certain orders of the British
government against the maritime rights of neutrals, bearing date of the 11th
of November, 1807, I transmitted to Congress, as a further proof of the
increasing dangers to our navigation and commerce which led to the provident
measures of the present session, laying an embargo on our own vessels.

   To the House of Representatives of the United States:-

   In my message, January 20th, I stated that some papers forwarded by Mr. Daniel
Clark, of New Orleans, to the Secretary of State, in 1803, had not then been
found in the office of State; and that a letter had been addressed to the
former chief clerk, in the hope that he might advise where they should be
sought for. By indications received from him they are now found. Among them are
two letters from the Baron de Carondelet to an officer serving under him at a
separate post, in which his views of a dismemberment of our Union are
expressed. Extracts of so much of these letters as are within the scope of the
resolutions of the house, are now communicated. With these were found the
letters from Mr. Clark, to the Secretary of State, in 1803. A part of one only
of these relates to this subject, and is extracted and enclosed for the
information of the house. In no part of the papers communicated by Mr. Clark,
which are voluminous, and in different languages, nor in his letters, have we
found any intimation of the corrupt receipt of money by any officer of the
United States from any foreign nation. As to the combinations with foreign
agents for the dismemberment of the Union, these papers and letters offer
nothing which was not probably known to my predecessors, or which could call
anew for inquiries, which they had not thought necessary to

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   I communicate to Congress, for their information, a letter from the person
acting in the absence of our consul at Naples, giving reason to believe, on the
affidavit of a Captain Sheffield of the American schooner Mary Ann, that the
dey of Algiers had commenced war against the United States. For this no just
cause has been given on our part within my knowledge. We may daily expect more
authentic and particular information on the subject from Mr. Lear, who was
residing as our consul at Algiers.

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   I communicate for the information of Congress a letter from the consul of the
United States at Malaga, to the Secretary of State, covering one from Mr. Lear,
our consul at Algiers, which gives information,

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   The States of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, having, by their several
acts, consented that the road from Cumberland to the State of Ohio, authorized
by the act of Congress of the 29th March, 1806, should pass through those
States, and the report of the commissioners communicated to Congress with my
message of the 31st January, 1807, having been duly considered, I have approved
of the route therein proposed for the said road, as far as Brownsville, with a
single deviation since located, which carries it through Uniontown.

   From thence the course of the Ohio, and the point within the legal limits at
which it shall strike that river, is still to be decided. In forming this
decision, I shall pay material regard to the interests and wishes of the
populous part of the State of Ohio, and to a future and convenient connection
with the road which is to lead from the Indian boundary near Cincinnati, by
Vincennes to the Mississippi, at St. Louis, under authority of the act, 21st
April, 1806. In this way we may accomplish a continued and advantageous line
of communication from the

   I have thought it advisable also to secure from obliteration the trace of the
road so far as it has been approved, which has been executed at such
considerable expense, by opening one half of its breadth through its whole
length.

   The report of the commissioners, herewith transmitted, will give particular
information of their proceedings, under the act of the 29th March, 1806, since
the date of my message of the 31st January, 1807, and will enable Congress to
adopt further measures relative thereto, as they may deem proper under existing
circumstances.

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-
The dangers of our country, arising from the contests of other nations and the
urgency of making preparation for whatever events might affect our relations
with them, have been intimated in preceding messages to Congress. To secure
ourselves by due precautions, an augmentation of our military force, as well
regular as of volunteer militia, seems to be expedient. The precise extent of
that augmentation cannot as yet be satisfactorily suggested, but that no time
may be lost, and especially at a season

   If an increase of force be now approved, I submit to their consideration the
outlines of a plan proposed in the enclosed letter from the Secretary of War.

   I recommend, also, to the attention of Congress, the term at which the act of
April 18th, 1806, concerning the militia, will expire, and the effect of that
expiration.

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   In the city of New Orleans, and adjacent to it, are sundry parcels of ground,
some of them with buildings and other improvements on them, which it is my
duty to present to the attention of the legislature. The title to those grounds
appears to have been retained in the former sovereigns of the province of
Louisiana, as public fiduciaries, and for the purposes of the province. Some of
them were used for the residence of the governor, for public offices,
hospitals, barracks, magazines, fortifications, levees, &c., others

   The papers and plans now transmitted, will give them such information on the
subject as I possess, and being mostly originals, I must request that they may
be communicated from the one to the other house to answer the purposes of
both.

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   I have heretofore communicated to Congress the decrees of the government of
France, of November 21st, 1806, and of Spain, February 19th, 1807, with the
orders of the British government, of January and November, 1807
I now transmit a decree of the Emperor of France, of December 17th, 1807, and a
similar decree of the 3d January last, by his Catholic Majesty. Although the
decree of France has not been received by official communication, yet the
different channels of promulgation through which the public are possessed of
it, with the formal testimony furnished by the government of Spain, in their
decree, leave us with

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   The scale on which the military academy at West Point was originally
established, is become too limited to furnish the number of well instructed
subjects in the different branches of artillery and engineering which the
public service calls for. The want of such characters is already sensibly felt,
and will be increased with the enlargement of our plans of military
preparation. The chief engineer having been instructed to consider the subject,
and to propose an augmentation which might render the establishment commensurate with th
present circumstances of our country, has made the report I now
transmit for the consideration of Congress.

   The idea suggested by him of removing the institution

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   At the opening of the present session I informed the legislature that the
measures which had been taken with the government of Great Britain for the
settlement of our neutral and national rights, and of the conditions of
commercial intercourse with that nation, had resulted in articles of a treaty
which could not be acceded to on our part; that instruction had consequently
been sent to our Ministers there to resume the negotiations, and to endeavor
to obtain certain alterations; and that this was interrupted by the
transaction which took place between the frigates Leopard and Chesapeake . The
call on that government for reparation of this wrong produced, as Congress
have already been informed, the mission of a special Minister to this country,
and the occasion is now arrived when the public interest permits and requires
that the whole of these proceedings should be made known to you.

   I therefore now communicate the instructions given to our Minister resident
at London, and his communications to that government on the subject of the
Chesapeake, with the correspondence which has taken place here between the
Secretary of State and Mr. Rose, the special Minister charged with the
adjustment of that difference; the instructions to our Ministers for the
formation of a treaty; their correspondence with the British commissioners
and with their own government on that subject; the treaty itself, and written
declaration of the British commissioners accompanying it, and the instruction
s given by us for resuming the negotiations, with the proceedings and
correspondence subsequent thereto. To these I have added a letter lately
addressed to the Secretary of State from one of our late Ministers, which,
though not strictly written in an official character, I think it my duty to
communicate, in order that his views of the proposed treaty and its several
articles may be fairly presented and understood .

   Although I have heretofore and from time to time made such communications to
Congress as to keep them possessed of a general and just view of the proceeding
s and dispositions of the government of France toward this country, yet, in
our present critical situation, when we find no conduct on our part, however
impartial and friendly, has been sufficient to insure from either belligerent a
just respect for our rights, I am desirous that nothing shall be omitted on my

   When, on the 26th of February, I communicated to both houses the letter of
General Armstrong to M. Champagny, I desired it might not be published,
because of the tendency of that practice to restrain injuriously the freedom of
our foreign correspondence. But perceiving that this caution, proceeding
purely from a regard for the public good, has furnished occasion for
disseminating unfounded suspicions and insinuations, I am induced to believe
that the good which will now result from its publication, by confirming the
confidence and union of our fellow citizens, will more than countervail the
ordinary objection to such publications. It is my wish therefore, that it may
be now published.

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   It would have been a source, fellow citizens, of much gratification, if our
last communications from Europe had enabled me to inform you that the
belligerent nations, whose disregard of neutral rights has been so destructive
to our commerce, had become awakened to the duty and true policy of revoking
their unrighteous edicts. That no means might be omitted to produce this
salutary effect, I lost no time in availing myself of the act authorizing a
suspension, in whole or in part, of the several embargo laws. Our ministers at
London and Paris were instructed to explain to the respective governments
there, our disposition to exercise the authority in such manner as would
withdraw the pretext on which the aggressions were originally founded, and'
open the way for a renewal of that commercial intercourse which it was alleged
on all sides had been reluctantly obstructed. As each of those governments had
pledged its readiness to concur in renouncing a measure which reached its
adversary through the incontestable rights of neutrals only, and as the
measure had been assumed by each as a retaliation for an asserted acquiescence
in the aggressions of the other, it was reasonably expected that the occasion
would have been seized by both for evincing the sincerity of their profession,
and for restoring to the commerce

   This candid and liberal experiment having thus failed, and no other event
having occurred on which a suspension of the embargo by the executive was
authorized, it necessarily remains in the extent originally given to it. We
have the satisfaction, however, to reflect, that in return for the privations
by the measure, and which our fellow citizens in general have borne with
patriotism, it has had the important effects of saving our mariners and our
vast mercantile property, as well as of affording time for prosecuting the
defensive and provisional measures called for by the occasion. It has
demonstrated to foreign nations the moderation and firmness which govern our
councils, and to our citizens the necessity of uniting in support of the laws
and the rights of their country, and has thus long frustrated those usurpation
s and spoliations which, if resisted, involve war; if submitted to, sacrificed
a vital principle of our national independence.

   Under a continuance of the belligerent measures which, in defiance of laws
which consecrate the rights of neutrals, overspread the ocean with danger, it
will rest with the wisdom of Congress to decide on the course best adapted to
such a state of things; and bringing with them, as they do, from every part of
the Union, the sentiments of our constituents, my confidence is strengthened,
that in forming this

   The documents containing the correspondences on the subject of the foreign
edicts against our commerce, with the instructions given to our ministers at
London and Paris, are now laid before you.

   The communications made to Congress at their last session explained the
posture in which the close of the discussion relating to the attack by a
British ship of war on the frigate Chesapeake left a subject on which the
nation had manifested so honorable a sensibility. Every view of what had passed
authorized a belief that immediate steps would be taken by the British
government for redressing a wrong, which, the more it was investigated,
appeared the more clearly to require what had not been provided for in the
special mission. It is found that no steps have been taken for the purpose. On
the contrary, it will be seen, in the documents laid before you, that the
inadmissible preliminary which obstructed the adjustment is still adhered to;
and, moreover, that it is now brought into connection with the distinct and

   Our relations with the other powers of Europe have undergone no material
changes since your last session. The important negotiations with Spain, which
had been alternately suspended and resumed, necessarily experience a pause
under the extraordinary and interesting crisis which distinguished her
internal situation.

   With the Barbary powers we continue in harmony, with the exception of an
unjustifiable proceeding of the dey of Algiers toward our consul to that
regency. Its character and circumstances are now laid before you, and will
enable you to decide how far it may, either now or hereafter, call for any
measures not within the limits of the executive authority.

   With our Indian neighbors the public peace has been steadily maintained. Some
instances of individual wrong have, as at other times, taken place, but in
nowise implicating the will of the nation. Beyond the Mississippi, the Iowas,
the Sacs, and the Alabamas, have delivered up for trial and punishment
individuals from among themselves accused of murdering citizens of the United
States. On this side of the Mississippi, the Creeks are exerting themselves to
arrest offenders of the same kind; and the Choctaws have manifested their
readiness and desire

   In consequence of the appropriations of the last session of Congress for the
security of our seaport towns and harbors, such works of defence have been
erected as seemed to be called for by the situation of the several places,
their relative importance, and the scale of expense indicated by the amount of
the appropriation. These works will chiefly be finished in the course of the
present season, except at New York and New Orleans, where most was to be done;
and although a great proportion of the last appropriation has been expended on
the former place, yet some further views will be submitted to Congress for
rendering its security entirely

   Of the gunboats authorized by the act of December last, it has been thought
necessary to build only one hundred and three in the present year. These, with
those before possessed, are sufficient for the harbors and waters exposed, and
the residue will require little time for their construction when it is deemed
necessary.

   Under the act of the last session for raising an additional military force, so
many officers were immediately appointed as were necessary for carrying on the
business of recruiting, and in proportion as it advanced, others have been
added. We have reason to believe their success has been satisfactory, although
such returns have not yet been received as enable me to present to you a
statement of the numbers engaged.

   I have not thought it necessary in the course of the last season to call for
any general detachments of militia or volunteers under the law passed for that
purpose. For the ensuing season, however, they will require to be in readiness
should their services be wanted. Some small and special detachments have been
necessary to maintain the laws of embargo on that portion of our northern
frontier which offered peculiar facilities for evasion, but these were replaced
as soon as it could be done by bodies of new recruits.

   Considering the extraordinary character of the times in which we live, our
attention should unremittingly be fixed on the safety of our country. For a
people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well-organized and armed
militia is their best security. It is, therefore, incumbent on us, at every
meeting, to revise the condition of the militia, and to ask ourselves if it is
prepared to repel a powerful enemy at every point of our territories exposed to
invasion. Some of the States have paid a laudable attention to this object; but
every degree of neglect is to be found among others. Congress alone have power
to produce a uniform state of preparation in this great organ of defence; the
interests which they so deeply feel in their own and their country's security
will present this as among the most important objects of their deliberation.

   Under the acts of March 11th and April 23d, respecting arms, the difficulty of
procuring them from abroad, during the present situation and dispositions of
Europe, induced us to direct our whole efforts to the means of internal supply.
The public factories have, therefore, been enlarged, additional machineries
erected, and in proportion as artificers can be found or formed, their effect,
already more

   The suspension of our foreign commerce, produced by the injustice of the
belligerent powers, and the consequent losses and sacrifices of our citizens,
are subjects of just concern. The situation into which we have thus been
forced, has impelled us to apply a portion of our industry and capital to
internal manufactures and improvements. The extent of this conversion is
daily increasing, and little doubt remains that the establishments formed and
forming will under the auspices of cheaper materials and subsistence, the
freedom of labor from taxation with us, and of protecting duties and
prohibitions-become permanent. The commerce with the Indians, too, within
our own boundaries, is likely to receive abundant aliment from the same
internal source, and will secure to them peace and the progress of
civilization, undisturbed by practices hostile to both.

   The accounts of the receipts and expenditures during the year ending on the
30th day of September last, being not yet made up, a correct statement will
hereafter be transmitted from the Treasury. In the meantime, it is ascertained
that the receipts have

   Availing myself of this the last occasion which will occur of addressing the
two houses of the legislature at their meeting, I cannot omit the expression of
my sincere gratitude for the repeated proofs of confidence manifested to me by
themselves and their predecessors since my call to the administration, and
the many indulgences experienced at their hands. The same grateful acknowledgments are due t
my fellow citizens generally, whose support has been my great
encouragement under all embarrassments. In the transaction of their business
I cannot have escaped error. It is incident to our imperfect nature. But I may
say with truth, my errors have been of the understanding, not of intention;
and that the advancement of their rights and interests has been the constant
motive for every measure. On these considerations I solicit their indulgence.
Looking forward with anxiety to their future destinies, I trust that, in their
steady character unshaken by difficulties, in their love of liberty, obedience
to law, and support of the public authorities, I see a sure guaranty of the
permanence of our republic; and retiring from the charge of their affairs, I
carry with me the consolation of a firm persuasion that Heaven

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   I lay before the legislature a letter from Governor Claiborne, on the subject
of a small tribe of Alabama Indians, on the western side of the Mississippi,
consisting of about a dozen families. Like other erratic tribes in that
country, it is understood that they have hitherto moved from place to place,
according to their convenience, without appropriating to themselves
exclusively any particular territory. But having now become habituated to some
of the occupations of civilized life, they wish for a fixed residence. I
suppose it will be the interest of the United States to encourage the wandering
tribes of that country to reduce themselves to fixed habitations, whenever
they are so disposed. The establishment of towns, and growing attachment to
them, will furnish, in some degree, pledges of their peaceable and friendly
conduct. The case of this particular tribe is now submitted to the consideration of Congress.

   To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:-

   I now lay before Congress a statement of the works of defence which it has been
thought necessary to provide in the first instance, for the security of our
seaports, towns, and harbors, and of the progress toward their completion;
their extent has been adapted to the scale of the appropriation, and to the
circumstances of the several places.

   The works undertaken at New York are calculated to annoy and endanger any naval
force which shall enter the harbor, and, still more, one which should attempt
to lie before the city. To prevent altogether the entrance of large vessels, a
line of blocks across the harbor has been contemplated, and would, as is
believed, with the auxiliary means already provided, render that city safe
against naval enterprise. The expense, as well as the importance of the work,
renders it a subject proper for the special consideration of Congress.

   At New Orleans, two separate systems of defence are necessary; the one for the
river, the other for the lake, which, at present, can give no aid to one
another. The canal now leading from the lake, if continued into the river,
would enable the armed vessels in both stations to unite, and to meet in
conjunction an attack from either side; half the aggregate force would then
have the same effect as the whole; or the

   Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

   As the continuance of the act for establishing trading houses with the Indian
tribes, will be under the consideration of the legislature at its present
session, I think it my duty to communicate the views which have guided me in
the execution of that act, in order that you may decide on the policy of
continuing it, in the present or any other form, or discontinue it altogether,
if that shall, on the whole, seem most for the public good.

   The Indian tribes residing within the limits of the United States, have, for a
considerable time, been growing more and more uneasy at the constant
diminution of the territory they occupy, although effected by their own
voluntary sales; and the policy has long been gaining strength with them, of
refusing absolutely all further sale, on any conditions; inasmuch that, at this
time, it hazards their friendship, and excites dangerous jealousies and
perturbations in their minds to make any overture for the purchase of the
smallest portions of their land. A very few

   While the extension of the public commerce among the Indian tribes, may deprive
of that source of profit such of our citizens as are engaged in it, it might be
worthy the attention of Congress, in their care of individual as well as of the
general interest, to point in another direction the enterprise of these
citizens, as profitably for themselves, and more usefully for the public. The
river Missouri, and the Indians inhabiting it, are not as well known as is
rendered desirable by their connection with the Mississippi, and consequently
with us. It is, however, understood, that the country on that river is
inhabited by numerous tribes, who furnish great supplies of furs and peltry to
the trade of another nation, carried on in a high latitude, through an infinite
number of portages and lakes, shut up by ice through a long season. The
commerce on that line could bear no competition with that of the Missouri,
traversing a moderate climate, offering, according to the best accounts, a
continued navigation from its source, and possibly with a single portage, from
the western ocean, and finding to the Atlantic a choice of channels through,
the Illinois or Wabash, the lakes and Hudson, through the Ohio and Susquehanna,
or Potomac or James rivers, and through the Tennessee