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SOUTHERN
RECORDER.
VOL. II.
MILLEDGEVILLE, TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 1821.
No* i,
PUBLISHED WEEKLY,
(or* TUESDAYS)
BY S. GRAN*I'l»WD V It .If. ORME,
f.mt three dollars, ir* advance, or four
DOLLARS AT THE EXPIRATION OF THE
YEAR,
ID* Advertisements conspicuously inserted at
the mislntnary rates-
From the London Observer of November SW.
MR. PHILLIPS’ SPEECH
LDclitcred at the Annual Meeting of the London
Hibernian School Society, held at Sligo.]
Sir.—I have very great pleasure in
ncceding to the request of your zealous
Secretary, and proposing a resolution of
congratulation on the success of this insti
tution, and of approbation of the sacred
principles on which it has been founded.
I confess, that until I perused the report
with which he was so polite as to furnish
me, I had a very imperfect idea of the
value of this institution, or of the great
gratitude which we owe to our generous
English brethren, who have so nobly and
disinterestedly established it amongst us.
It is an emanation of that glorious spirit
which has spread their name among the
nations ofthe earth, and made that name
synonymous with every virtue, 1 had
no idea that no less a number than 50,000
of the infant population of this kingdom,
including two thousand children of our
own country, who now crowd this hall
with pious gratitude, were thus gratui
tously receiving from them the blessed
fruits of education and religion. How
gratifying it is to turn from the abomina
ble and infernal peijuries by which the
public mind is now hourly polluted, and
the public heart afflicted and the public
morals insulted, to the contemplation of
•uch a subject! Fifty-eight thousand chil
dren, raised from the mire of ignorance
nnd superstition—redeemed from a state
of almost brutal barbarism, and led thro’
the temple of knowledge, even to the
very altar of God, is a spectacle which I
envy not the maD who can behold with
out enthusiasm. In this country it bor
rows from circumstances even an adven
titious interest, for surely there never
was a country more ripe for its exhibi
tion—never was there a laud more full
of tine intelligence, obscured and dark
ened, or of nobler impulse, more miser
ably perverted. The mind of Ireland
has by no means hitherto bad fair deve-
lopement. Acute but inactive—magni
ficent but uncultivated, the passing stran
ger beholds the people as he does their
country, with admiratioa it is true, but
still with mournful admiration, at their
neglected grandeur, and tbeir unproduc
tive loveliness 1 It has been to little pur
pose that the genius of the nation has
occasionally burst the bondage that en
thralled it; that nature, as it were to
vindicate herself, has shot some spirit or
light athwart the gloom, in whose lustre
the land became for a moment visible—
it was but for a moment, nnd the cloud it
touched scarcely retained a tinge of the
profitless phenomenon. There was no
permanent source whence its radiance
could be fed ; and the mere glimmerings
of unassisted nature struggled but faintly
through the denseness ofthe atmosphere
To rescue the country from this foul dis
grace—to dispel the mist of barbarism
and ignorance, with their attendant train
of vices and crimes—to elevate the pea'
santry from vice and superstition to
moral practice and an holy contempla'
tion, your institution has been founded
A glorious work, nnd worthy of a Chris
tian ! A work characterised by the most
ges silent, and her temples fallen—an
Ottoman slave enthroned amidst her ru
ins, and a degenerate people crouching
to the Turk, even, oh shame 1 even with
in sight of Marathon l Yet, there, where
Mahomet now revels in contented ignor
ance, Socrates was heard and Solon le
gislated, and echo listened to the thun
der of Demostnencs. Look incur own
day to a part of our own empire, the
once neglected Scotland—the country
from whose lake and moor and mountain,
the imperial conqueror strode without a
thought. What is she at this day ? A
lam! of less crime, because of more intel
ligence than any in the world ; wherc-
vei* her name is mentioned, literature
hails it ; wherever her people (read,
temperance and industry attest their pre
sence ; a primeval piety consecrates her
church ; peace and plenty meet upon
her plains, and the laurel which her ge
nius and her heroism has won, is inter
twined with the palm-leaf of an immacu
late morality. Let Scotland then, even
ifshe stood alone, prove the advantage
of an educated peasantry ; and should
the sceptic awake not at her voice, may
the spirit of Bums pass across his slum
ber, and burst upon him in the blaze of
its refutation.
But I feel I am injuring the cause of
this institution, when 1 view it either in
the light of temporal policy, or of tem
poral fame, Yes, though 1 am convinced
that the most perminent foundations of a
people’s prosperity are only to be laid in
the popular civilization—though 1 am
confident that crime decreases, & indus
try advances in exact proportion to th.e
progress of knowledge, still l acknowl
edge in your ambition a much nobler ob
ject, in comparison of which the fame
and wealth nnd dignities of this world
are but as the rainbow’s gem that spar
kies and disappears. Oil! you are right
when lighting up the torch ofknowledge,
to invoke no flame but that of heaven to
illumine it. The lights of earth are
transient and uncertain—vapors that only
dazzle, to mislead nnd shine the bright
est on the eve of their extinction ; but
the beam of heaven is steady and etcr-
il—it enters the soul—it expands and
ravishes, and lifts it to a region where
human vanity has no voice, and human
plendours are bat darkness. You are
right in making the Bible the primmer of
the infant—place it in bis hand by day—
place it on his pillow by night. Full of
glorious thought and glowing images, it
will inspire the fancy—full of noble sen
timentand virtuous precept, it will form
the principles—full of holy zeal and
heavenly inspiration, it will guide exact
and purify the faith ; and it is a wise
philosophy which associates it with that
season whose impressions fade not eveD
in nature’s winter. When the darin
nlidel introduces its mysteries, in order
to rob those children of its morals, ash
him, What is this world but a mystery
Who can tell how nature performs her
simplest operations ? Ask him to tell you
how the flower acquires its perfume, the
agle his vision*or the comet its rosplen
dence ? Ask him to tell you how those
glorious planets roll round us in their
lucid circle, or how that miraculous or
der is manifested which holds through
out creation, even from the minutest
worm that grovels in the dust, up to the
pinion that plays amid the lightning
These are mysteries, and yet we see
them ; and surely we may trust the word
of hirn who iu his own good time will
teach us their solution. Meanwhile
amid the bigot’s cant, and the polemick
tiny of every pastor of every persua
sion—you have introduced the Bible un
spotted by a single pen of this world.—
You have allowed the saints, the sages,
and the martyrs of Christianity, to enrol
with their own hands the records of their
wisdom, their sanctity, and their for
titude. You have expunged the com
ment whether of council or synod, or
conclave, or convocation and left the
sacred historians to tell, in the phrase
of an inspired .simplicity, the miracles,
the sufferings, ,«nd the triumphs of the
gospel, from the conception ofthe Cross!
Sir, if this produms proselytes, such con
version can |*ave its origin only in the
truth. In one sense, indeed, you do
profess to proselytize, hut it is from vice
to virtue, from idleness to industry, from
gnorancc to knowledge, from sin to sal
vation. Go on then, and may prosperity
attend you, and when your enemies are
imourous, lie your only answer this
Behold—fifty-eight thousand subjects
restored to the state—behold fifty thou-
and souls 'introduced to their Uedoera-
” Proceed and prosper. Let the
acred stream of vonr benevolence flow
on, and though momentary impediments
may oppose its progress, depend upon
it will soon surmount them—the
mountain rill, and the rivers ofthe valley
will in time and in their turn became
tributary—the roses of Sharon will
bloom upon its banks—the maids of Sion
will not weep by its waters—the soil it
has fertilized will be reflected on its sur
face, and as it glides along in the glory
of the sunbeams, the sins of the people
will become regenerated in its baptism.
glowing benevolence, and not less re
wisest and'soundest policy, for you may* railing, suffer those lmle children
depend upon it, that, sooner or later, na- come unto the Lord. J hey will bless
lional good cannot fail to flow from a mo
ral regeneration. The sobriety, the
temperance, the good faith, the industry
naturally consequent upon early culture
will, in time, 11 like a rioh stream, ^run
back and hide their fountain.” The
principles of freedom, by being better
understood, will become, of course, more
fondly cherished ; the impolicy, ns well
as the impiety of crime, by being more
•clearly proved, "ill be, ol course, more
sedulously avoided. An educated slave
an educated criminal, are moral con
tradictions. In the very dawn of know
led-e, the phantoms that affright, and the
vices that despoil us, gradually disap
pear ; and it is only when its light is va
nished, that vou find ignorance and su
perstitionn crawling from their cavern
and amid spectral slopes and horned ap
parition, taking their incubus station up
on the bosom of Society. If truths like
these needed an example, all history
eloquent on the subject. No barbarous
country ever rose to greatness and con
tinned barbarous. No peasantry ever
yet became educated without becoming
comparatively virtuous-the spirit ot
enquiry consequent upon literature, and
the spirit of genuine freedom, have been
in general co-existent, and flourished
and decayed together. Turn your eyes
to Athens in the ancient tune—the tem
ple alike of liberty and letters—the seat
ofthe arts—the mount of the muses—the
immortal shrine of all that could const*
tute the heathen’s immortality, where
even battle smoothed his rugged front
you with their lips, in their lives, and in
their deaths—the God to whom you have
turned them will bless you—the country
to which you have restored them will
bless you, and should your own little ones
ever mourn a parent, the Great Spirit
will remember the deed, and surely save
them from the perils of their orphanage.
In the discharge then of this sacred duty,
which you have thus voluntarily under
taken, listen not to the imputation of any
unworthy motive ; remember that ca
lumny is the shadow of merit, and that
though it ever follows, it never over
takes it.
Were the solitary charge which hos
tility has flung on, even true, it is, in my
mind, under your circumstances, not a
crime but a virtue. You use no weapon
but the bloodless gospel—you assume
no armour but the nakedness of truth ;
and in a good cause, and w ith an earnest
conviction I would rather court than a-
void this accusation of proselytism. The
foreign and pious potentate who made
the charge should he the very last to ut
ter it ; for debased, ns 1 admit atid de
plore, that the Irish peasant politically
is, still he and his predecessors, as far
as in them lay, have left him illiterate,
irnbruted, and debased—fallen in his
mental debasement even below the level
of his political degradation. But tiie ac
cusation is untrue. You have not bor
rowed even a rag from the establish
ment—the word ascendency is npt heard
within your walls. You have studiously
excluded every book of controversy
ON THE PUNISHMENT OP PIRACY.
IN SENATE OF THE U. STATES, FEB. 9, 1921.
Mr. Smith from the committee on the Ju
diciary, to which was referred the resolution
“ to enquire into the propriety of so modi
fying the. law punishing piracy, as to autho
rise the President of the United States, in
such cases as he may deem expedient, to
commute capita] punishments for confine
ment in penitentiary houses,” made the fol
lowing report:
The object of the resolution is to alter the
criminal code of the United States so far as
to place within the power of die President
ofthe United States the complete control
over the punishment now affixed by law to
the crime of piracy, ami to soften it down
from death to the less rigorous punishment
of confinement in punitentiury houses.
As we have drawn most of our impressi
ons of the. utility and efficacy of penitentia
ries, from the practical operations of this
system in the severalstates where it has been
adopted, it may not lie thought improper to
give the result of certain official enquiries
into the condition, usefulness,and advanta
ges, of some of these institutions, in states
where much zeal and diligence had been dis
played to cherish them.
Sometime in the year 1317, the grand ju
ry of Pennsylvania visited the penitentiary
in that city, upon which they made the fol
lowing report:
“ That while they notice, with pleasure,
the high degree of" order and cleanliness,
they are compelled, hy a sense of duty, to
present, as nn evil of considerable magnitude,
the present very crowded s*ate of the peni
tentary ; the number of pi isoners of all class
es continues to increase, so that from twen
ty to forty are lodged in rooms eighteen feet
square—so many are thus crowded toge
ther, that the institution already begins to as
sume the character of an European prison,
and a seminary for every vice, in which the
unfortunate being, who commits a first of-
fencp, and knows none of the arts of metho
dized villainy, can scarcely avoid the conta
mination which loads to extreme depravity.”
The same grand jury further stated, “ that
of four hundred and fifty-one copy ids now
in tho penitentiary of Pennsylvania, one
hundred and sixty-one had been confined
there before.” It is believed that nn insti
tution, of this character, ever received more
attention, as respects its comforts and means
for promoting reformation of offenders.
The commissioners appointed to examine
into the state of the New-York prison, n6t
long sitice, in their report say—“ It has, for
some time past, not only failed ofeffectin
tho object chiefly’ iu view, but lias subjected
the Treasury to a series of disbursements,
too oppressive to be continued, if they can in
any way he prevented.”
The commissioners ofthe prison of Mas
sachusetts, in a report, complain—“that the
prison is so crowded as to defeat the object
for which tho institution was created.”—
These commissioners, after enumerating
what they consider to be the advantages a-
rising to the commonwealth say—“ hut there
appears great reason to suppose that the ad
vantage first mentioned is more than coun
terbalanced by the greater hardihood, and
more settled corruption, which a promiscu
ous association among lire convicts must pro
duce, particularly the younu.”
These appear to be fair fct impartial repre
sentations, made hy men whose duty it ivas
to represent things as they were, iu order to
bring to the pulic view their true character.
And if this is the state and effect of those
prisons, after twenty years of experience and
prudent management, upon convicts whose
offences are not of the most atrocious class,
hut little hope cun he entertained that pirates
can be reformed by such means.
In the catalogue of human offences, if
there is any one supremely distinguished for
its enormity over others, it is piracy. It
can only he committed hy those whose
hearts have become base by habitual depra
vity. It is called by jurists an offence against
the universal laws of society. A pirate is
h out is kumani generis. He Is at war witli
his species, and has renounced the protecli-
I on of all civilized governments, and abandon-
death’s head, a battle axe, U an hour glass."
These are the ensigns of his profession. He
does not select the enemies of his native
country «s the only objects of his conquest,
but attacks, indiscriminately the defenceless
of every nation—prowls every ocean in
quest of plunder, and murders, or jeopardiz
es the lives of ull who fall within ids power,
without regard to nation, to age, or to sex.
With such a blood-stained front, a pirate can
have tui claim to the clemency of a govern
ment, the protection of which he has volun
tarily renounced, and against which he has
so highly offended.
Our general policy and political instituti
ons are administered su mildly that we seem
to have forgotten the protection due to the
public, uiul call that punishment which the
law prescribes for offences, however enor
mous they may he against the public safety
and public morals, cruel, and degrading to
the national character. The laws punishing
piracy with death have had from the legis
lative department all the consideration due
to so important a subject, at a time when no
undue influence could interpose.
Tile executive clemency has more than
sufficient range for its exercise without the
aid sought for hy this resolution. Whate
ver may be the public feeling against a pi
rate previous to Ids trial and conviction, as
that takes place, the feeling subsides and be
comes enlisted on the part of the criminal*
There is not a favorable trait in Ids ease but
what is brought up and mingled with ns ma
ny circumstances of pity and compassion as
his counsel can condense iu a petition, which
every body subscribes to without any know
ledge of the facts—and this is presented to
the Executive, upon which alone he is to
judge tho case. All the attrocious circum
stances are kept out of view. There is no
one hardy enough to tel! that this criminal
and Ids associates had boarded a defenceless
ship, and after plundering all that was valu
able, had, with the most unrelenting cruel
ty, butchered the whole crew and passen
gers—or crowded them into a small boat, in
the midst of the sea, without provisions or
clothing, and set them adrift, where their
destruction was inevitable—or, the better to
secure t heir purpose, had shut all, both male
and female, under deck, and smile the ship, lo
elude detection, or to indulge an igatiuble
thirst of brutality.
The object of capital punishment is to
prevent the offender from committing fur
ther offences, or to deter others front doing
so by the example. If it is commuted for
temporary confinement, it enn effect neither
any valuable purpose. The temptation
is so strong, and detection so difficult and so
rare, that hut few, it is feared, can he deter
red. The punishment of death is inflicted
upon pirates hy all civilized nations—not
withstanding which, it is a growing evil—E-
very sea is now crowded with them, nnd, in
stead of diminishing, ought to increase the
reasons for inflicting capital punishment.
The committee are of opinion that capital
punishment is tho appropriate punishment
for piracy ; and that it would he inexpedient
to commute it for confinement in penilen
tiary houses.
Monday, February 12.
The Senate resumed the consideration of
the bill to establish a system of bankruptcy.
A number of amendments were made to its
detuils, and others were offered, oo which,
ns well as on the merits of the. bill, a good
deal of debate took place, in which Messrs.
Van Dyke, Talbot, Oils, Mills and Holmes
of Maine, chiefly participated.
Mr. Talbot closed his remarks against the
bill by offering the following motion :
Resolved, That the bill to establish an uni
form system of Bankruptcy throughout the
United States he committed to the. eomuiit-
<nw w»».» -—--- , You have rejected no one on account ofj ed himsclf again to the savage state of nature,
and the warrior s sword < g | jy g cree d, and vou have invited the *ccu-l Ilis flag consists of “ a black field, with a
with rose*! Behold her now , ner *a-1
tee on the Judiciary; with instruction to re
port amendments thereto, which shall se
cure to all classes of the community, other
than tho descriptions of persons contained in
the first section of the bill, the privilege, at
their election, of becoming voluntary bank
rupts, with the consent and approbation iff
a major part in value of all the creditors of
such voluntary bankrupt, previously obtain
ed and duly certified—and further providing
that such bankrupt shall he subjected to the
same proceedings, nnd liable lo the same
penalties, fthes and forfeitures, and be enti
tled to all the privileges, benefits, and ad
vantages, aB are provided for, and made ap
plicable lo, a)i other bankrupts, by the regu
lations of the said bill.
To allow this motion, and an amendment
offered hy Mr. Holmes, of Maine, (not affect
ing the principle of the bill,) to be printed,
The hill was laid on the table—and
The Senate adjourned.
Tuesday, February 13,
THE BANKRUPT BILL.
The Senate lesumed the consideration of
the hill to establish an uniform system of
Bankruptcy—the question being on the mo
tion, made by Mr. Talbot,to recommit the
hill, w ith instructions so to modify it as to al
low all other classes, as well as merchants,
to become bankrupts, on their voluntary ap
plication to avail themselves of the provisi
ons of tho act.
Mr. Van Dyke and Mr. Lanman oppos
ed the motion, the latter at some leiigih—
and Mr. Talbot advocated it.
Tile question being taken on agreeing to
the motion, it was decided in the negative,
by tho following vote :
YEAS Messrs. Barbour, Chandler,
Holmes, of Maine, Johnson, of Ivy. Macon,
Mart’ll, Pleasants, Buggies, Smith, Stokes,
Talbot,Walker, of Ala. Walker,of Geo.—13.
NAYS—Messrs. Dickerson, Eiliott, Gail
lard, Holmes of Mbs. Horsey, Hunter, King
of N. Y. Knight, Lanman, Lloyd, Lo writ,
Mills,Noble, Otis, Palmer, Parrott, Roberts,
Sanford, Thomas, Tichenor, Trimble, Van
Dyke, Williams, of Miss. Williams, of Ten.
—24.
So the proposition to recommit te amend
the tiiil was rejected.
The question was then stated on the fol
lowing amendment, submitted yesterday by
Mr. Holmes, of Maine, as a new section :
“ Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That
wherever any person, resident within the U.
Slates, not being a merchant or person actu
ally using the trade of merchandize by buy-
ing nnd selling in gross or by retail, nor deal
ing in cEi hange, nor as a banker, broker, fac
tor, underwriter, or marine insurer, shall do
or suffer any act or thing which is herein
described, or declared to be an act of bank-
ruptcy, any one creditor, or a greater num
ber, being partners, whose single debt shall
amount to five hundred dollars, or any tiro
or more creditors w hose debts shall nmount
to one thousand dollars, may petition in
writing against such person in the tame man
ner, and the same proceedings shall be had
therein, as directed and prescribed in tho
second section of this act, and the commissi
oners designated by the judge shall, moreo
ver, issue a summons under their hands and
seal, notifying and commanding such person
to appear at a certain time and place before
said commissioners, to shew cause why he
or she may not be declared a bankrupt, and
the same commissioners shall cause person
al service to be made on such person, nnd
reasonable notice of the time and place to he
given, and if such person shall not appear,
or, appearing, shall consent to a commission
o( bankruptcy, then, and not otherwise, such
person may he declared a bankrupt, nnd
shall be subject to all the provisions of this
act.
Mr. Van Dyke deemed the arguments a-
gainst Mr. Talbot’s proposition as applica
ble to this amendment, and therefore did not
conceive jit necessary to add any thing oo
tids question, except to say that were he a
farmer he should not desire to place this
power into the hands of his creditor.
Mr, Holmes defended his amundment in
detail, and at some length.
Mr. Kino, of New-York, spoke against
'the proposition, and in support, briefly, of
the expediency and constitutionality of a sim
ple bankrupt system, applicable only to the
trading class.
Mr. Barbour Replied to Mr. Kino, and
argued in support of t he justice of extending
the hill to farmers and other classes, as well
as traders, to which, the consent ofthe debt
or being rendered necessary, obviated all
objection—stating in conclusion, that if the
amendment did not prevail, he should at
tempt nn amendment to confine the e pera-
tion of the bill entirely to dealings between
merchant and merchant, and to leave the
claims of others on them unimpaired.
Mr. Van Dyke argued to snow that the
amendment would produce an incongruity
in the system, and was in principle inexpedi
ent.
The question was then put on the amend
ment, and was decided In tbu negative, by
yeas and nays, as follows :
YEAS—Messrs. Barbour, Chandler, Ea
ton, Holmes, of Maine, Holmes, of Miss,
Knight, Macon, Pleasants, Rciggies* Smith,
Walker, of Alab. Walker of Geo. Williams,
ofTenn.—13.
NAYS—Messrs. Dickerson, Elliott, Gail-
lard, Horsey, Hunter, Johnson, of Ken.
Johnson, ofLnti. King of Alab. King, of N.
Y. Lanman, Lloyd, Lnwrie, Mills, Otis,
Parrott, Roberts, Sanford, Stokes, Talbut,
Thomas,Tichenor, 1 Trimble, Van Dyke, Wil
lianas, of Miss.-r-S4.
So this amendment tvns also rejected.
Mf. Harhour then moved the amend
ment which he bad intimated, and which
was to insert a clause providing that, in the
dividend of a bankrupt’s estate, the debts
due to those whose occupation excluded
iheni from the operation of the act, should
be first paid.
Mr. Barbour spoke briefly to shew that
as other classes were not to have tho bene
fits of the law, they ought not to suffer by it
and that, therefore, it ought to be coiiflnec
to debts between merchants, and not affect
the lien of the fanner.
Mr. Lloyd argued that this amendment
so far from having (he effect to preserve or
guard the interest of the farmers, would des
troy qjl the chance which the bill now gave
them of dei iv ing any good from it, and would
in fact be absolutely injurious to their inte
rest.
Mr. Barbour replied,and Mr. Lloyd re
joined, in illustration and support of their
opinions on the effect of the amendment.
Mr. V an Dyke contended that the amend
ment was totally inconsistent with the prin
ciples of a bankrupt system.
The amendment was negatived—ayes 11.
The bill was then laid on the table, for tho
impose of receiving a report ncci ssary to
n: acted on to-day.
Wednesday, Feb. 14.
Soon after the meeting of the Senate,
this morning, the doors were closed, on
Executive business, nnd so remained
until the Senate repaired to the Cham
her of the House of Representatives for
ihe purpose of counting the votes for
President and Vice President of the U
States,
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE9.
ELECTION OP PRESIDENT AND VICE PRFMDENT.
Mr. C'lay, from the joint committee to
whom the subject had been referred,
reported the following resolution* :
Resolved, T hat the two Houses shall
assemble in the Chamber of the House
of Iteprescntatives, on Wednesday the
14th ofFebuary, 1821, and the Presi
dent of the Senate, seated on the right of
the Speaker of the House, shall be the
presiding officer ofthe Senate, and the
Speaker shall be the presiding officer of
the House ; that two persons be appoint
ed Tellers on the part of the House, to
make a list of the votes as they shall be
declared ; that the result shall be deliv
ered to the President of the Senate, who
shall announce the state of the vote, and
the persons elected, to the two Houses
assembled as aforesaid, which shall be
deefoed a declaration of the person* e-
lected President and Vice President of
the United States, and,-together with a
list ofthe votes, be entered ou the Jour
nals of the two Houses.
Resolved, That, if any objection be
made to the votes of Missouri) and the
counting or omitting to count which shall
not essentially change the result of the
election ; in that case they shall be re
ported by the President of the Senate in
the following manner ; Were the votes
of Missouri to be counted, the result
would be, for A. B. for President of the
United States, votes, if not count
ed, for A. B. as President ofthe United
States, —— votes; but in either event
A. B. is elected President ofthe United
States ; and in the aerne manner for Vice ■
President. • ^
Mr. Clay offered some remarks expla
natory ofthe considerations which go
verned the committee in recommending
the resolutions which bad been report- ")
ed. As convenience rendered it neces
sary for the Senate to meet this House
here, in its own hall, it was due to that
body, by courtesy and propriety, that the
President should be invited to preside,
he being the officer designated by the
Constitution to perform a certain duty
appertaining to the occasion which call
ed the two Houses together. As to the
second resolution, the state of the vote*
for President and Vice President wan
well known, though unofficially, and. an
the votes of Missouri could not affect
the result, it was considered by the com-*
niittee, to obviate the unpleasant difficul
ty which would otherwise arise in thw
joint meeting, better to provide for the
case in the manner proposed. Thin
course was deemed by the committee then
most expedient, under all the circurniiaa-
ces, nnd he hoped the House would a-
dopt it, the more especially as the Sen
ate had nlready concurred in it.
The question was taken on the first
resolution, and agreed (0 without a di
vision, though several noes were heard*
The question being stated on the se
cond resolution—
Mr. Randolph said he could not con
sent to this special verdict, as it had beew
called, io the case of Missouri. He
could not recognize in this House or the
other House, singly, or oonjointly, the
power lo decide on the rotes of any
state. Suppose, ho said, you strike out
Missouri and insert South Carolina,
which ulso has a provision in its consti
tution, repugnant to the Constitutiqi} of
tlje United States ; or Virginia, or Mas
sachusetts, which hnd a test, he believ
ed, in its constitution ; was there any lean
power to decide on their votes, than oa
those of Missouri ? He maintained that
the Electoral College was at independ
ent of Congress, as Congress of them &
and we have no right, said he, to judge
of their proceedings. Mr. R. said; he
would rather see an interregnum, or sew
no votes counted at aU, than to see a prin
ciple adopted which went to the very
foundation nn which the Presidential of
fice rested. Suppose a case, in which
some gentleman of one house or the oth
er should choose to turn up his nose at
the vote of some state, and say that if it
be so and so, such a person is elected,
and if no and so wbat-you-call-em is elect
ed—did not every body see the absurdi
ty of such a proposition ? Mr. B. added
other remarks illustrative of his opinion
of the course proposed by the resolution
—deeming it not onl/erroneous, but er
roneous in a matter of vital importance
—in the ascertainment of the person
who had been elected bythe people Chief
Magistrate of this nation—the most im
portant officer under the constitution—
the monarch—for, wheever,.in any coun
try, commands the army and navy, and
collects and distributes the revenue, is a
king, call him what you will. The time
of the House was precious, and he would
not consume it, by saying all hq thought'
and felt on the subject. ,, t ,
Mr. Trimbit was far from desiring to
consume tbc time of the House, or to em
barrass the House, but be could not give
his consent to this resolution. If any
thing was due to state rights, this reso
lution ought not to be adopted ; as it
would, however immaterial in the pre
sent case, be cited heroaAer as a prece
dent ; and precedents were becoming
important things in the public transac
tions. The House might set an exam
ple by this vote, as ruinous in it* conse
quences as any decision which could be
made. It was about to declare, not what
was the true vote for President ofthe U.
States, but to state it hypothetically.—
Mr. T. argued at some length against
such a course. Suppose some member
in joint meeting should ask the Presi
dent of the Senate how many votes were
given—he must answer in the words of
the resolution, and therefore would not
state the fact, according to the law. It
was the duty ofthe two Houses to enun
ciate the true state of the vote for Pre
sident and Vice President, pod the pro
posed annunciation would ng$ be the fact.
He concluded by saying that be would
rather that the votea of Missouri were
left out altogether, than adopt the course
proposed.
Mr. Randolph observed that the gen
tleman was under some mistake on one
point. The Constitution of the Unitod
States provides, not that the person hay
ing a majority of votea should ho Presi
dent, but a majority of the votes of the
Electors appointed. Now, he desired
to know whether the Electors of Mis
souri were appointed or not.
Mr. Floyd said ho was aware that the
question to agree to the resolution, aw
tantamount to a motion to reject* f