obvious reasons, was not allowed to be done; but the assurance before given was repeated, that any official communication which he might be authorized to make in the accustomed form, would receive a prompt and just consideration. The indiscretion of this attempt was made more manifest by the subsequent avowal of the French chargé d'affaires, that the object was to bring this letter before Congress and the American people. If foreign agents, on a subject of disagreement between their governments and this, wish to prefer an appeal to the American people, they will hereafter, it is hoped, better appreciate their own rights, and the respect due to others, than to attempt to use the executive as the passive organ of their communications. It is due to the character of our institutions, that the diplomatic intercourse of this government should be conducted with the utmost directness and simplicity, and that, in all cases of importance, the communications received or made by the executive⚫ should assume the accustomed official form. It is only by insisting on this form, that foreign powers can be held to full responsibility; that their communications can be officially replied to; or that the advice or interference of the legislature can, with propriety, be invited by the president. This course is also best calculated, on the one hand, to shield that officer from unjust suspicions, and on the other, to subject this portion of his acts to public scrutiny; and, if occasion should require it, to constitutional animadversion. It was the more necessary to adhere to these principles in the instance in question, inasmuch as, in addition to other important interests, it very intimately concerns the national honor; a matter in my judgment much too sacred to be made the subject of private and unofficial negotiation.

It will be perceived that this letter of the French minister of foreign affairs was read to the secretary of state on the 11th of September last. This was the first authentic indication of the specific views of the French government, received by the government of the United States after the passage of the bill of indemnification. Inasmuch as the letter had been written before the official notice of my approval of Mr. Livingston's last explanation and remonstrance could have reached Paris, just ground of hope was left, as has been before stated, that the French government, on receiving that information, in the same manner as the alleged offensive message had reached them, would desist from their extraordinary demand, and pay the money at once. To give them an opportunity to do so, and, at all events, to elicit their final determination, and the ground they intended to occupy, the instructions were given to our chargé d'affaires, which were adverted to at the commencement of the present session of Congress. The result, as you have seen, is a demand of an official written expression of regrets, and a direct explanation addressed to France, with a distinct intimation that this is a sine quâ non.

Mr. Barton having, in pursuance of his instructions, returned to the United States, and the chargé d'affaires of France having been recalled, all diplomatic intercourse between the two countries is suspended a state of things originating in an unreasonable susceptibility on the part of the French government, and rendered necessary on our part by their refusal to perform engagements contained in a treaty, from the faithful performance of which by us they are to this day enjoying many important commercial advantages.

It is time that this unequal position of affairs should cease, and that legislative action should be brought to sustain executive exertion in such meas

ures as the case requires. While France persists in her refusal to comply with the terms of a treaty, the object of which was, by removing all causes of mutual complaint, to renew ancient feelings of friendship, and to unite the two nations in the bonds of amity and of a mutually beneficial commerce, she can not justly complain if we adopt such peaceful remedies as the law of nations and the circumstances of the case may authorize and demand. Of the nature of these remedies I have heretofore had occasion to speak, and, in reference to a particular contingency, to express my conviction that reprisals would be best adapted to the emergency then contemplated. Since that period, France, by all the departments of her government, has acknowledged the validity of our claims, and the obligations of the treaty, and has appropriated the moneys which are necessary to its execution; and though payment is withheld on grounds vitally important to our existence as an independent nation, it is not to be believed that she can have determined permanently to retain a position so utterly indefensible. In the altered state of the questions in controversy, under all existing circumstances, it appears to me, that, until such a determination shall have become evident, it will be proper and sufficient to retaliate her present refusal to comply with her engagements, by prohibiting the introduction of French products and the entry of French vessels into our ports. Between this and the interdiction of all commercial intercourse, or other remedies, you, as the representatives of the people, must determine. I recommend the former in the present posture of our affairs, as being the least injurious to our commerce, and as attended with the least difficulty of returning to the usual state of friendly intercourse, if the government of France shall render us the justice that is due, and also as a proper preliminary step to stronger measures, should their adoption be rendered necessary by subsequent events.

The return of our chargé d'affaires is attended with public notices of naval preparations on the part of France, destined for our seas. Of the cause and intent of these armaments I have no authentic information, nor any other means of judging, except such as are common to yourselves and to the public; but whatever may be their object, we are not at liberty to regard them as unconnected with the measures which hostile movements on the part of France may compel us to pursue. They at least deserve to be met by adequate preparation on our part, and I therefore strongly urge large and speedy appropriations for the increase of the navy, and the completion of our coast defences.

If this array of military force be really designed to affect the action of the government and the people of the United States, on the questions now pending between the two nations, then indeed would it be dishonorable to pause a moment on the alternative which such a state of things would present to us. Come what may, the explanation which France demands can never be accorded; and no armament, however powerful and imposing, at a distance or on our coast, will, I trust, deter us from discharging the high duties which we owe to our constituents, our national character, and to the world.

The house of representatives, at the close of the last session of Congress, unanimously resolved that the treaty of the 4th of July, 1831, should be maintained, and its execution insisted on by the United States. It is due to the welfare of the human race, not less than to our own interests and honor, that this resolution should at all hazards be adhered to. If, after so signal an example as that given by the American people, during their

long-protracted difficulties with France, of forbearance under accumulated wrongs, and of generous confidence in her ultimate return to justice, she shall now be permitted to withhold from us the tardy and imperfect indemnification which, after years of remonstrance and discussion, had at length been solemnly agreed on by the treaty of 1831, and to set at naught the obligations it imposes, the United States will not be the only sufferers. The efforts of humanity and religion to substitute the appeals of justice and the arbitrament of reason, for the coercive remedies usually resorted to by injured nations, will receive little encouragement from such an issue. By the selection and enforcement of such lawful and expedient measures as may be necessary to prevent a result so injurious to ourselves, and so fatal to the hopes of the philanthropist, we shall therefore not only preserve the pecuniary interests of our citizens, the independence of our government, and the honor of our country, but do much, it may be hoped, to vindicate the faith of treaties, and to promote the general interests of peace, civilization, and improvement.

SPECIAL MESSAGE.

FEBRUARY 8, 1836.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

THE government of Great Britain has offered its mediation for the adjustment of the dispute between the United States and France. Carefully guarding that point in the controversy which, as it involves our honor and independence, admits of no compromise, I have cheerfully accepted the offer. It will be obviously improper to resort even to the mildest measures of a compulsory character, until it is ascertained whether France has declined or accepted the mediation. I therefore recommend a suspension of all proceedings on that part of my special message of the 15th of January last, which proposes a partial non-intercourse with France. While we can not too highly appreciate the elevated and disinterested motives of the offer of Great Britain, and have a just reliance upon the great influence of that power to restore the relations of ancient friendship between the United States and France, and know, too, that our own pacific policy will be strictly adhered to until the national honor compels us to depart from it, we should be insensible to the exposed condition of our country, and forget the lesson of experience, if we did not efficiently and sedulously prepare for an adverse result. The peace of the nation does not depend exclusively upon its own will, nor upon the beneficent policy of neighboring powers; and that nation which is found totally unprepared for the exigencies and dangers of war, although it come without having given warning of its approach, is criminally negligent of its honor and its duty. I can not too strongly urge the recommendation already made to place the seaboard in a proper state of defence, and promptly to provide the means for amply protecting our commerce.

SPECIAL MESSAGE.

FEBRUARY 22, 1836.

To the Senate and House of Representatives :

I TRANSMIT herewith, to Congress, copies of the correspondence between the secretary of state and the chargé d'affaires of his Britannic majesty, relative to the mediation of Great Britain in our disagreement with France, and to the determination of the French government to execute the treaty of indemnification without further delay, on the application for payment by the agent of the United States.

The grounds upon which the mediation was accepted will be found fully developed in the correspondence. On the part of France, the mediation had been publicly accepted before the offer of it could be received here; while each of the governments has thus discovered a just solicitude to resort to all honorable means of adjusting amicably the controversy between them, it is a matter of congratulation that the mediation has been rendered unnecessary. Under such circumstances, the anticipation may be confidently indulged that the disagreement between the United States and France will not have produced more than temporary estrangement. The healing effects of time; a just consideration of the powerful motives for a cordial and good understanding between the two nations; the strong inducements each has to respect and esteem the other, will, no doubt, soon obliterate from their remembrance all traces of that disagreement.

Of the elevated and disinterested part the government of Great Britain has acted, and was prepared to act, I have already had occasion to express my high sense. Universal respect, and the consciousness of meriting it, are, with governments, as with men, the just rewards of those who faithfully exert their power to preserve peace, restore harmony, and perpetuate good will.

I may be permitted, I trust, at this time, without a suspicion of the most remote desire to throw off censure from the executive, or to point it to any other department or branch of the government, to refer to the want of effective preparation in which our country was found at the late crisis. From the nature of our institutions, the movements of the government, in preparation for hostilities, must ever be too slow for the exigencies of unexpected war. I submit it, then, to you, whether the first duty we owe to the people who have confided to us their power, is not to place our country in such an attitude as always to be so amply supplied with the means of self-defence, as to afford no inducements to other nations to presume upon our forbearance, or to expect important advantages from a sudden assault, either upon our commerce, our seacoast, or our interior frontier. In case of the commencement of hostilities during the recess of Congress, the time necessarily elapsing before that body could be called together, even under the most favorable circumstances, would be pregnant with danger; and if we escaped without signal disaster or national dishonor, the hazard of both, unnecessarily incurred, could not fail to excite a feeling of deep reproach. I earnestly recommend to you, therefore, to make such provisions that in no future time shall we be found without ample means to repel aggression, even although it may come upon us without a note of warning. We are now fortunately so situated that the expenditure for this purpose will not be felt, and if it were, it would be ap

proved by those from whom all its means are derived, and for whose benefit only it should be used with a liberal economy and an enlightened forecast.

In behalf of these suggestions, I can not forbear repeating the wise precepts of one whose counsels can not be forgotten: "The United States ought not to indulge a persuasion that, contrary to the order of human events, they will for ever keep at a distance those painful appeals to arms with which the history of every other nation abounds. There is a rank due to the United States among nations, which will be withheld, if not absolutely lost, by the reputation of weakness. If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it: if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known that we are at all times ready for war."

SPECIAL MESSAGE.

MAY 10, 1836.

To the Senate and House of Representatives :—

INFORMATION has been received at the treasury department that the four instalments under our treaty with France have been paid to the agent of the United States. In communicating this satisfactory termination of our controversy with France, I feel assured that both houses of Congress will unite with me in desiring and believing that the anticipations of a restoration of the ancient cordial relations between the two countries, expressed in my former message on this subject, will be speedily realized.

No proper exertion of mine shall be wanting to efface the remembrance of those misconceptions that have temporarily interrupted the accustomed intercourse between them.

EIGHTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.

DECEMBER 6, 1836.

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives :—

ADDRESSING to you the last annual message I shall ever present to the Congress of the United States, it is a source of the most heartfelt satisfaction to be able to congratulate you on the high state of prosperity which our beloved country has attained. With no causes at home or abroad to lessen the confidence with which we look to the future for continuing proofs of the capacity of our free institutions to produce all the fruits of good government, the general condition of our affairs may well excite our national pride.

I can not avoid congratulating you and my country particularly on the success of the efforts made during my administration by the executive and legislature, in conformity with the sincere, constant, and earnest desire of the people, to maintain peace, and establish cordial relations with all foreign powers. Our gratitude is due to the Supreme Ruler of the universe,