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Territories of Florida, Arkansas, and Michigan, from Missouri to Mexico, and for the continuation of the Cum berland Road, are, some of them fully executed, and others in process of execution. Those for completing or commencing fortifications, have been delayed only so far as the C orps of Engineers has been inadequate to furnish officers for the necessary su perintendence of the works. Under the Act confirming the Statutes ot Virginia and Maryland, incorporating Chesapeake and Ohio Cana! Company, three Commissioners on the part of the United States have been appointed for opening books and receiving subscriptions, in con cert with a like number of Commis sioners appointed on the part ot each of those States. A meeting of the Commissioners has been postponed to await the definitive report of the Board of Engineers. The light houses and monuments for the safety of our commerce and mariners; the works for the security of Plymouth Beach, and for the preservation ot the Islands in Boston Harbour, have received the attention required by the laws relating to those objects re spectively. The continuation of the Cumberland Road, the most impor tant of them all, after surmounting no inconsiderable difficulty in fixing up on the direction of the road, has com menced under the most promising auspices, with the improvments of recent invention in the mode of con struction, and with the advantage of a great reduction in the compara tive cost of the work - The operation of the laws relating to Revolutionary Pensioners may de*erve the renewed consideration of Congress. The act of 18th March, 1818, while it made provision for many meritorious and indigent citi zens, who had served in the War of Independence, opened a door to nu merous abuses and imposition To remedy this, the Act of Ist May, 1820, exacted proofs of absolute indigence, which many really in want were un able, and all, susceptible of that de licacy which is allied to many vir tues, must be deeply reluctant to give. The result has been, that some among the least deserving have been retained, and some in whom the requisites both of worth and want were combined, have been stricken from the list. As the numbers of these venerable relics of an age gone by, diminish; as the decays of body, mind, and estate, of those that sur vive, must in the common course of nature increase, should not a more liberal portion of indulgence be dealt out to them? May not the want, in most instances, be inferred from the demand, when the service can be duly proved; and may not the last days of human infirmity be spared the mortification of purchasing a pit tance of relief only by the exposure of its own necessities? I submit to Congress tbe expediency either of providing for individual cases of this description by special enactment, or of revising the Act of I*4 May, 1820, with a view to mitigate the rigor of its exclusions, in favor of persons to whom charity now bes towed can scarcely discharge the debt of justice. The portion of the Naval force of the Union in actual service, ha; been chiefly employed in three sta tions : the Mediterranean, the coasts of South America bordering on the Pacific Ocean, and the West In lies. An occasional crulzer has been sent to range along the African shores most polluted by the traffic of slaves; one armed vessel has been stationed on the coast of our eastern bounda ry, to cruise along the fishing grounds in Hudson's Bay, and on the coast of Labrador ; and the first service of a new frigate has been performed in restoring to his native soil, and do mestic enjoyments, the veteran hero whose youthful blood ami treasure had freely flowed in the cause of our Country’s Independence, and whose whole life bad been a series of servi ces an<l sacrifices to the improve ment of his fellow-men. The visit of General La Fayette, alike honora ble to himself and to our Country, closed, as it had commenced, with the most affecting testimonials of de voted attachment on his part, and of unbounded gratitude of this People to him in return. It will form, here after, a pleasing incident in the ar>- als of our Union, giving to real his tory the intense interest of romance, and signally marking the unpurchas able tribute of a great Nation’s so cial affections to the disinterested champion of the liberties of human kind. The constant maintenance of a small squadron in the Mediterranean is a necessary substitute for the hu miliating alternative of payingtribute for the security of our commerce in that sea, and for a precarious peace, at the mercy of every caprice of four Barharv States, bv whom it was lia ble to be violated. An additional motive for keeping a respectable forr< stationed there a* this time, is •bun I. * i the maritime Aai imf bt - tween the Greeks and the Turk« - mid in which the neutral navigation '■l this Inion is always in danger of outrage and depredation. A few in stances have occurred of nuchdepre umions upon our merchant vessel, privateers nr pirates wearing the flag, but without real no * "’fit? fry in the Greek or any other * -O' Mimenf The heroic struggle of the Greeks themselves, in which our warmest sympathies, as freemen and Christians, have been engaged, have continued to be maintained with vicissitudes of success adverse and favourable. Similar motives have rendered ex pedient the keeping of a regular force on the coasts ol Peru and Chili on the Pacific. The irregular and convulsive character of the war upon the shores, has been extended to the conflicts upon the ocean. An active warfare has been kept up lor years, with alternate success, though generally to the advantage ot the American Patriots. But their naval forces have not always been under the control oi their own governments. Blockades, unjustifia ble upon any acknowledged princi ples of international law, have been proclaimed by officers in command ; and though disavowed by the su preme authorities, the protection ol our own commerce against them has been made cause of complaint and of erroneous imputations upon some of the most gallant officers ot our Navy. Complaints equally ground- less have been made by the com manders of the Spanish Royal forces in those seas ; but th most effective protection to our commerce has been the flag and the firmness of our own commanding officer-. Ihe cessation of the war, by the complete triumph of the Patriot cause, has removed, n is hoped, all causes of disscotion with one party, and all vestige of force ol the other. But an unsettled coast ot manv degrees ot latitude, forming a part of our own territory, and a flour ishing commerce and fishery, extend ing to the Islands of the Pacific and to China, still require that the pro tecting power of the Union should he displayed under its flag as well upon the ocean as upon the land. The objecis of the West India squadron have been, to carry into execution the laws lor the suppres sion of the African Slave Trade ; for the protection of our commerce against vessels of piratical character, though hearing commissions from either of the belligerent parties : fi> r its protection against open and une quivocal pirates. These objects dur ing the present year have been ac complished, more effectually than m any former period. The African Slave Trade has long been exclud ed from the use of our flag ; and if some few citizens of our country have continued to set the laws ot the Union, as well as those of Nature and Humanity, at defiance, by per severing in that abominable traffic, it has been only by sheltering them selves tinder the banners of other nations, less earnest for the total ex tinction of the trade than ours. The irregular privateers have, within the last year, been in a great measure banished from those seas; ami the pirates for months past appear to have been almost entirely swept away from the borders and the shores of the two Spanish island in those regions. The active, per severing, and unremitted energy of Captain Warrington, and of the offi cers and men - under his command, on that trying and perilous service, have been crowned with signal suc cess, and are entitled to the appro bation of their country. But expe rience has shown, that not even a temporary suspension or relaxation from assiduity can Ik; indulged on that static i without re-producing pi racy and murder in all their horrors; nor is it probable that for years to come our immensely valuable com merce in those seas can navigate in security, without the steady continu ance of an armed force devoted to its protection. It were indeed a vain and danger ous illusion to believe, that in the present and probable condition of hu man society, a commerce so exten sive and so rich as onrs could exist and be pursued in safety, without the continual support of a military ma rine; the only arm by which the pow er of this confederacy can be estima ted or felt by foreign nations, and the only standing military force which can never 1m; dangerous to our own liberties at home. A permanent na val peace; establishment, therefore, adapted toour present condition, and adaptabletothat gigantic growth with which the nation is advancing in its career, is among the subjects which have already occupied the foresight of the last ( ;- ngress, and which w. i deserve your serious and liberations. Our Navy, commenced at an early period of our present political organ ization, upon a scale comensurat with the insipient energies, the scan ty resources, and the comparative in digence ofour infancy, waseven then found adequate to cope with all the powers ot Barharv, save the first, and with one of the principal maritime powers of Europe. At a period of further advancement, but with little accession of strength, it not only sus tained with honour the most unequal of conflicts, ip.it covered itself and our country wit If unfading glory. But it is onlv since the clow* of the late war, that by the intmlier and force of the ships of which it was composed it could deserve the name of a Navy, Yi*t it retains nearly the same organ ization as when it consisted only ot five frigates. The rule-and regula tions by w hich it is governed urgent ly called for rev ision, no A the w set of Him eat I responding with the MiUnarv Aca demy at West Point, lor the forir.a ation of scientific and accominplished officers, is felt with daily increasing aggravation. The Act of Congress of 2tith May, 1824, authorizing an examination and survey of the harbour of Charleston, in South-Carolina, ot St. Mary’s, in Georgia, and of the Coast of .Flori da, and for other purposes, has been executed so far as the appropriation would admit. Those ol the 3d ot March last, authorizing the estab lishment of a Navy Yard and Depot on the Coast of Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico,and authorizing the build ing of ten sloops of war, and for other purposes, are in the course of exe cution ; for the particulars of which, and other objects connected with this Department, I refer to the report ot the Secretary of the Navy, herewith, communicated. A report from the Postmaster- General is also submitted, exhibiting the present flourishing condition oi that depatment. For the first time for many years, the receipts for the year ending on tit* - fir-t ol July last, exceeded the ex - enditures during the same period, to the amount ol more than forty-five thousand dollars. Other facts equally creditable to the administration of that Department are, that in two years from the first ot' July, 1823, an improvement ot more than one hundred and eighty five thousand dollars in its pecuniary affairs have been realized; that in the same interval the increase ot the transportation oft lie mail has exceed ed one million five hundred thousand miles, annually; and that one thou sand and forty new post offices have befn established. It hence appears, that under judicious management, the income from this establishment may be relied on as fully adequate to defray its expenses; and that by the discontinuance of post-roads, alto gether unproductive, others of more useful character may be opened, til! the circulation of the mail shall keep pace with the spread of our popula tion; and the comforts of friendly correspondence, the exchanges of in ternal traffic, and the lights of the periodical press, shall he distributed to the remotest corners of the Union, at a charge scarcely perceptible to any individual, and without the cost of a dollar to the public treasury. Upon this first occasion of address ing the Legislature of the Union, wTP> which i have been honored, ir pro-tenting to their view the execu tion, so far as it has been effected, of the treasures sanctioned by them, for promoting the internal improve ment of our country, I cannot close the communication without recom mending to their calm and persever ing consideration. the general princi ple in a more enlarged extent. Tin great object of the institution of civ il government, is the improvement <4 the condition of those who are par ties to the social compact; and no government, iii whatever form con stituted, can accomplish the lawful ends of its institution, but in propor tion as it improves the condition of those over whom it is established.— Roads and Canals, hv multiplying and facilitating the communications and intercouse between distant regions, and multitudes of men, are among the most important means of improve ment. But moral, political, and in tellectual improvement, are duties aligned, by the author of our exist ence, to social, no less than to individ ual man. For the fulfilment of those duties, governments are invested w ith power, and to the attainment of the end, the progressive improve ment of the condition of the govern ed, the exercise of delegated pow er, is a duty as sacred and indispensable, as the usurpation of power not grant ed is criminal and odious. Among the first, perhaps the very first instru ment for the improvement of the con dition of men, is knowledge; and to the acquisition of much of the knowl edge adapted to the wants, the com- forts and enjoyments of human life, public institutions and seminaries of learning are essential. So convinced of this was the first of my predecess ors in this office, now first in the memory, as, living, he was first in the hearts of our country, that once and again in his addresses to the Con gresses, with whom he co-operated ci the public service, h;> earnestly re commended the establishment of -eminaries oflearning, to prepare for all the emergencies <>f peace and war—a national university and a mil tary academy. With respect tothe latter, had he lived to the present day. inturninghis eyes tothe institution at West Point, he would have enjoyed the gratification of his most earnest wj-he*. But, in surveying the citv which has been honoured with his name, he would have seen the spot of earth which he had destined ami bequeathed tothe use and benefit of his country, as the scite lor an uni versity, still bare and barren. in assuming her station among the civilized nations of the earth, it would seem that our comity had con tracted th<* engagement to contribute her share of mind, of labor and of ex pen»<\ to the improvement of thus* parts of knowledge which lie beyond the reach of mdividiftil arqm-ilion and particularly to geograpical and astronomical science. Looking lc.uk to tin history only of thehalfcentn rv since the declaration of our inde pendence, and observing the gem r mu- emulation v t th which the gov. ernments of France, Great Britain, and Russia, have devoted the gen ius, the intelligence, the treasures of their respective nations to the com mon improvement of these species in these branches of science, is it not incumbent uponusto inquire, wheth er we are not bound by obligations of a high and honorable character, to contribute our portion of energy and exertion, to the common stock? — The voyages of discovery, prosecu ted in the course oft hat time, at the expense of those nations, have not only redounded to their glory, but to the improvement of human knowl edge. We have been partakers of that improvement, and owe for it a sacred debt, not only of gratitude, hut of equal or proportional exer in the same common cause. Os the cost of these undertakings, if the mere expenditures of outfit, equip ment, and completion of the expedi tions, were to he considered the on ly charges.it would be unworthy of a great and generous nation to take a >econd thought One hundred ex peditions on circumnavigation, like those of Cook and La Perouse, would not burden the the Exchequer of the nation fitting them out, so much as the ways and means of de fraying a single campaign in war.— But if we take into the account the lives of those benefactors of man kind, of which their services in the cause of their species were the pur chase, how shall the cost of those heroic enterprizes be estimated ? And w hat compensation can be made to them, or to their countries, for them? Is it not by bearing them in affectionate remembrance? Is it riot -‘till more by imitating their ex ample? by enabling countrymen of our own to pursue the same career, and to hazard their lives in the same cause. In inviting the the attention of Congress to the subject of Internal Improvements, upon a view thus en larged, it is not my design to recom mend the equipment ofan expedition for circumnavigating the globe lor purposes of scientific research and inquiry. W r c have objects of useful investigation nearer home, and to which our cares may he more bene ficially applied. The interior t>f our i wn territories has yet been very im perfectly explored. Our coasts along many degrees of latitude upon the shores of the Pacific ocean, though much frequented by our spirited com mercial navigators, have been barely visited by our public ships. The River of the West, first fully discov ered and navigated by a countryman of our own, still bears the name of the ship in which he ascended its wa ters, and claims the protection of our armed national flag at it- mouth.— With the establishment of a military post there, or at some other point of that coast, recommended by mv pre decessor, and already matured, in the deliberations of the last Con gress, 1 would suggest the expedien cy of connecting the equipment of a public ship for the exploration ofthe whole North-west coast of this con tinent. The establishment of an uniform standard of weights and measures was one ofthe specific objects con templated in the formation of our Constitution, and to fix that stan dard w as one of the powers delega ted by express term-, in that instru ment, to Congress. The govern ments of Great Britain and France have scarcely ceased to tie occupied with inquiries and speculations on the -ame subject, since the existence of our constitution, and w ith them it has expanded into profound, labo rious, and expensive researches into the figure ofthe earth, and the eom parative length ofthe pendulum vi brating seconds in various latitudes from the Equator to the Pole. These researches have resulted in the com position and publication of several works highly interesting to the cause of science. The experiments are yet in the process of performance. Some of them have recently been made on our own shores, within the walls of our own Colleges, and partly by one of our own fellow-citizens. It would be honorable to our country if the sequel ofthe same experiments should be countenanced by the patronage of our government, a- they have hith erto been by those of France and Britain. Connected with the establishment of an University, or separate from it, might lie undertaken the erection of an astronomical observatory, with provision for the support of an as tronomer. to be in constant attend ance of observation upon the pheno mena of the heavens; and for the periodical publication of his obser vations. It is with no feeling of oride, ; « an American, that the re mark may he made, that on the comparatively small territorial sur face of Europe, there are existing upwards of one hundred and thirty of these light-houses of the skies ; while throughout the whole Ameri can hemisphere, there is not one. If wi reflect a moment upon the dis coveries , which, in tbe last four cen turies, have been made in the physi cal constitution of the universe, by the me ins of the-*' buildings, and of observers stationed in them, shall we doubt of their usefulness to eve ry nation ? And while scarcely a year < pa-sesover our heads without bring-! mg some m-w astronomical discove-j rv to hgli' whi'b we must fain re-i ceive at second hand from Europe, are we not cutting ourselves off from the means of returning hght lor light, while we have neither obser vatory nor observer upon our half ot the globe, and the earth revolves in perpetual darkness to our unscarch ing eyes ? When, on the 25th of October, 1791, the first President of the U. States announced to Congress the result ofthe first enumeration ofthe inhabitants of this Union, he inform ed them that the returns gave the pleasing assurance that the popula tion of the United States bordered on four millions of persons. At the distance of thirty years from that time, the last enumeration, five years since completed, the present population bordering upon ten mil lions. Perhaps, of all the evidences of a prosperous and happy condition of human society, the rapidity of the increase of population is the most unequivocal. But the demonstration of our prosperity rests not alone upon this indication. Our commerce, our w a Ith, and the extent of our terri tories, have increased in correspond ing proportions ; and the number of independent communities associated in our Federal Union, has, since that time, nearly doubled. The legisla tive representation of tbe States and people, in the two Houses of Con gress, has grown with the growth of (heir constituent bodies. The house which then consisted of sixty-five members, now numbers upwards ot two hundred. The Senate which consisted of twenty-six members, ha now forty-eight. But the Executive, and still more the Judiciary Depart ments, are yet in a great measure confined to their primitive organiza tion, and are now not adequate to the urgent wants of a still growing commnnitv. The naval armaments which at an early period forced themselves upon the necessities of the Union, soon led to the establishment of a Depart ment ofthe Navy. But the Depart ments of Foreign Affairs, and ofthe Interior, which, early after the for mation of the government had been united in one, continue so united at thi- time, to the unquestionable det riment of the public service. The multiplication of our relations with the nations and governments of the old world, haskeptpace withthat ot our population and commerce, while w .thin the last ten years anew fami ly of nations, in our ow n hemisphere, has arisen among the inhabitants of the earth, with whom our inter course, commercial and political, would of itself furnish occupation to an active and industrious Depart ment. The constitution of the Ju diciary, experimental and imperfect as it was, even in the infancy of our existing government, is yet more in adequate to the administration of national justice at our present matu rity. Nine years have elapsed sin< e a predecessor in this office, now not the last, the citizen who perhaps, ol all others throughout the Union, contributed most to the formation and establishment of our constitu tion, in his valedictory address to Congress immediately preceding his retirement from public life, urgently recommended the revision of the Ju diciary, and the establishment of an additional Executive Department.— The exigencies of the public service, and its unavoidable deficiencies, as now in exercise, have added yearly cumulative weight to the considera tions presented by him as persuasive tothe measure ; and in recommending it to your deliberations, I am happy to have the influence of his high au thority, in aid of the undoubting con victions of my own experience. The laws relating to the adminis tration of the Patent office are de serving of much consideration, and, perhaps, susceptible of some im provement. The grant of power to regulate the action of Congress on this subject, has specified both the end to be attained, and the means bv which it is to be effected. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries. If an ho nest pride might be indulged in the reflection, that on tbe records of that office are already found invention the usefulness of which has scarcely been tran e cended in the annals of human ingenuity, would not its ex ultation be allayed by the inquiry, whether the laws have effectively insured to the inventors the reward destined to them by the Constitu tion, even a limited term of exclu sive right to their discoveries ? On the 21th of December, 1799, it was resolved by Congress that a marble monument should lie erected bv the United States in the Capitol, .it the City of Washington ; that the family of General Washington should lie requested to permit his body to be deposited under it; anil that the monument he so designed as to com memorate the great events of hi; military and political life. In remind ing Congress of th;s resolution, and that the monument contemplated by it remains yet without execution, 1 shall indulge only the remarks, that the works in the Capitol are ap proaching to completion : That the consent of the fair ly desired by the resolution was requested and obtain ed That a monument has been rc rentlv cfwlH in tht-ritv at the ex pense of the Nation, over iuu re-, mains of another distinguished Pat riot ot the Revolution , and that u spot has been reserved within the walls where you are deliberating for the benefit of this and future ages, in which the mortal remains may he deposited of him whose spirit hovers over you. and listens with delight to every act of the Representatives ol' his Nation which can toed to ex ait and adorn l.is and their country. Pile Constitution under which you are assembled is a charter of limited powers ; after full and solemn deli beration upon all or any of the ob jects, which, urged by an irresistible sense of my own duty, 1 have re commended to your attention should you come to the conclusion, that, however desirable in themselves, the enactment of laws for effecting them, would transcend the powers committed to you by that venerable instrument which w e aro all bound to support; let no consideration in duce you to assume the exercise of pow ers not granted to you by the peo ple. But if the power to exercise ex clusive legislation in all cases what soever over the District of Columbia; if the power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debt s, and pro v ide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States : if the power to re gulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes; to fix the standard ol weights and measures ; to establish post-offices and post roads ; to declare war ; to raise and support armies; to provide and main tain a Navy; to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations res pecting the Territory or other pro perty belonging to the United States; and to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying these powers into execution: If these powers, and others enumera ted in the Constitution may be ef fectually brought into action by laws promoting the improvement of Ag riculture, Commerce, and Manufac tures, the cultivation and encourage ment ot the Mechanic and ofthe ele gant Arts, the advancement of Lite rature, and the progress of the Sci ences, ornamental and profound, to r; train from exercising them for the benefit ot the People themselves, would be to hide in the earth the talent committed to our charge ‘ < uld be treachery to the most sa cred of trusts. The spirit of improvement isaboad upon the earth. It stimulates the heart, and sharpens the faculties, not ot our fellow-citizens alone, but of the nations of Europe, and of their rulers. While dwelling with pleas *n t satisfaction upon the superior ex cellence of our political institution-, let us not be unmindful that liberty is Power; that the nation blest with the largest portion ofliberty, must, in proportion to its numbers, be the most powerful nation upon earth; and that (lie tenure of power by man, is, in the moral purposes of bis Creator, upon condition that it shall be exer cised to ends of bcnificence, to im prove the condition of himself and his fellow-men. W hile foreign na tions, less blessed w ith that freedom which is power, than ourselves, are advancing with gigantic strides in the career of public improvement, were we to slumber in indolence, or fold up our arms and proclaim to the world that we are palsied, by the will of our constituents, would it not be to cast away the bounties of Prov idence, and doom ourselves to per petual inferiority? In the course of the year now drawing to its close, we have beheld, uuder the auspices, and at the expense of one State of this Union, anew University un- folding its portals to the sons of Science, and holding up the torch of human improvement to eves that >eek the light. We have sccq, under the persevering and enlighten ed enterprise of another State, the waters of our western Lakes mingled with those ofthe ocean. If under* takings like these have been accom plished in the compass of a few years, hv the authority of single members of our Confederation, can we, the Representative Authorities of tne whole Union, fall behind our fellow servants in the exercise of the trust committed to us for the benefit of our common sovereign, by the accom plishment of works important to the whole, and to which niether the au thority nor the resources of Uriy one State can be adequate. Finally fellow-citizens, I shall a awail with cheering hope, and faithful co-operation,'the result of your deliberations; assured that, w ithout encroaching upon the {low ers reserved to the authorities ofthe respective States, or to the People. \ <>u will, with a due sense of your ob ligations to your country, and of the high responsibilities weighing up on vourselve live efficacy to the means comittcd to you for the com mon good. And may He who search es the hearts ofthe children of men prosper your exertions to secure the blessings of peace, and promote the highest welfare of our country. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS The ftrrt Message of John Quincy Ad mi* to tbe Conx r <'»» of the United Staten h Licit tv havrgiti n at length in thin our brut mini her, ia an able and inti ntting national diwu ment, well worthy, Mire niijrliteapt<t, to lie ranked among the pruiulmt productions of hi« predi is—-or*, on aitv idmilar <M»'a»4ax».