_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I have inadvertently omitted so long to inform you that in March last
Mr. Cornelius Vanderbilt, of New York, gratuitously presented to the
United States the ocean steamer _Vanderbilt_, by many esteemed the
finest merchant ship in the world. She has ever since been and still is
doing valuable service to the Government. For the patriotic act in
making this magnificent and valuable present to the country, I recommend
that some suitable acknowledgment be made.