PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, AT THE SECOND SESSION OF THE SIXTEENTH CONGRESS, BEGUN AT THE CITY OF WASHINGTON, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1820. The result was, that the term of service of Mr. HOLMES will expire on the 3d March next, and that of Mr. CHANDLER on the 3d of March two years thereafter. Mr. KING, of Alabama, moved the appointment of a committee to acquaint the President of the United States of the organization of the Senate, and of its readiness to receive communication any from him; whereupon, Messrs. KING, of Alabama, and MACON were appointed. On motion of Mr. MORRIL, Resolved, That two Chaplains, of different denominations, be appointed to Congress, during the present session, one by each House, who shall interchange weekly. The orders usual at the commencement of the session having been made, the Senate adjourned. TUESDAY, November 14. WILLIAM A. PALMER, from the State of Vermont, and JOHN WILLIAMS, from the State of Tennessee, severally attended. The PRESIDENT communicated a copy of the constitution, as adopted for the government of the State of Missouri, which was read. Whereupon, on motion of Mr. SMITH, Resolved, That a committee be appointed to inquire whether any, and if any, what, legislative measures may be necessary for admitting the State of Missouri into the Union. Messrs. SMITH, BURRILL, and MACON, were appointed the committee. The Senate adjourned to two o'clock, to await and met again, but finding the House of Reprethe organization of the House of Representatives, sentatives had not yet elected a Speaker, they adjourned until to-morrow. WEDNESDAY, November 15. SAMUEL W. DANA, from the State of Connecticut, attended. Mr. BURRILL Communicated a resolution, passed by the Legislature of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, instructing their Senators, and requesting their Representatives in Con gress, to exert their influence to reduce the compensation of members of Congress to six dollars per day; and the resolution was read. On motion by Mr. WALKER, of Alabama, the Senate adjourned to one o'clock in the afternoon. One o'clock in the afternoon. NOVEMBER, 1820. been shaken, and the long and destructive wars in which all were engaged, with their sudden transition to a state of peace, presenting, in the first instance, unusual encouragement to our commerce, and withdrawing it in the second, even within its wonted limit, could not fail to be sensibly felt here. The station, too, which we had to support through this long conA message from the House of Representatives flict, compelled as we were finally to become a party informed the Senate that a quorum of the House to it with a principal Power, and to make great exof Representatives is assembled, and have elected ertions, suffer heavy losses, and to contract considerable JOHN W. TAYLOR, one of the Representatives from debts, disturbing the ordinary course of affairs, by augthe State of New York, their Speaker, in the placementing, to a vast amount, the circulating medium, of Henry Clay, resigned, and are ready to proceed to business; and that they have appointed a committee on their part to join the committee appointed on the part of the Senate, to wait on the President of the United States, and inform him that a quorum of the two Houses is assembled, and ready to receive any communications he may be pleased to make to them. Mr. KING, of Alabama, reported, from the joint committee, that they had waited on the President of the United States, and that the President informed the committee that he would make a communication to the two Houses forthwith. PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE. and thereby elevating, at one time, the price of every article above a just standard, and depressing it at another below it, had likewise its due effect. It is manifest that the pressures of which we complain have proceeded, in a great measure, from these causes. When, then, we take into view the prosperous and happy condition of our country, in all the great circumstances which constitute the felicity of a nation-every individual in the full enjoyment of all his rights: the Union blessed with plenty, and rapidly rising to greatness, under a national Government, which operates with complete effect in every part, without being felt in any, except by the ample protection which it affords, and under State governments which perform their equal share, according to a wise distribution of power between them, in promoting the public hap The following Message was received from the piness-it is impossible to behold so gratifying, so gloPRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Fellow-citizens of the Senate rious a spectacle, without being penetrated with the most profound and grateful acknowledgments to the Supreme Author of all good for such manifold and inestimable blessings. Deeply impressed with these sentiments, I cannot regard the pressures to which I have adverted otherwise than in the light of mild and instructive admonitions; warning us of dangers to be shunned in future; teaching us lessons of economy, corresponding with the simplicity and purity of our institutions, and best adapted to their support; evincing the connexion and dependence which the various parts of our happy Union have on each other, thereby augmenting daily our social incorporation, and adding, by its strong ties, new strength and vigor to the political; opening a wider range, and with new encouragement, to the industry and enterprise of our fellowcitizens at home and abroad; and more especially by the multiplied proofs which it has accumulated of the great perfection of our most excellent system of gov ernment, the powerful instrument, in the hands of our all-merciful Creator, in securing to us these blessings. and of the House of Representatives : In communicating to you a just view of public affairs, at the commencement of your present labors, I do it with great satisfaction; because, taking all circumstances into consideration which claim attention, I see much cause to rejoice in the felicity of our situation. In making this remark, I do not wish to be understood to imply that an unvaried prosperity is to be seen in every interest of this great community. In the progress of a nation, inhabiting a territory of such vast extent and great variety of climate, every portion of which is engaged in foreign commerce, and liable to be affected, in some degree, by the changes which occur in the condition and regulations of foreign countries, it would be strange if the produce of our soil and the industry and enterprise of our fellow-citizens received at all times, and in every quarter, an uniform and equal encouragement. This would be more than we would have a right to expect, under circumstances the most favorable. Pressures on certain interests, it Happy as our situation is, it does not exempt us is admitted, has been felt; but allowing to these their from solicitude and care for the future. On the congreatest extent, they detract but little from the force of trary, as the blessings which we enjoy are great, prothe remarks already made. In forming a just esti-portionably great should be our vigilance, zeal, and mate of our present situation, it is proper to look at the whole, in the outline, as well as in the detail. A free, virtuous, and enlightened people know well the great principles and causes on which their happiness depends; and even those who suffer most, occasionally, in their transitory concerns, find great relief under their sufferings, from the blessings which they otherwise enjoy, and in the consoling and animating hope which they administer. From whence do these pressures come? Not from a Government which is founded by, administered for, and supported by the people. We trace them to the peculiar character of the epoch in which we live, and to the extraordinary occurrences which have signalized it. The convulsions with which several of the Powers of Europe have activity, to preserve them. Foreign wars may again expose us to new wrongs, which would impose on us new duties, for which we ought to be prepared. The state of Europe is unsettled, and how long peace may be preserved is altogether uncertain; in addition to which, we have interests of our own to adjust, which will require particular attention. A correct view of our relations with each Power will enable you to form a just idea of existing difficulties, and of the measures of precaution best adapted to them. Respecting our relations with Spain, nothing explicit can now be communicated. On the adjournment of Congress in May last, the Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States, at Madrid, was instruct. ed to inform the Government of Spain that, if His |