_New Hampshire._--Silas Betton, Clifton Claggett, David Hough, Samuel
Hunt, Samuel Tenney.
_Vermont._--William Chamberlain, M. Chittenden, James Elliot, Gideon Olin.
_Massachusetts._--Phanuel Bishop, Jacob Crowninshield, Manasseh Cutler,
Richard Cutts, Thomas Dwight, William Eustis, Seth Hastings, Simeon
Larned, Silas Lee, Nahum Mitchell, Eben. Seaver, Tompson J. Skinner,
William Stedman, Samuel Taggart, Samuel Thatcher, Joseph B. Varnum, P.
Wadsworth, Lemuel Williams.
_Rhode Island._--Nehemiah Knight, Joseph Stanton.
_Connecticut._--Simeon Baldwin, Samuel W. Dana, John Davenport, Calvin
Goddard, Roger Griswold, John C. Smith, Benjamin Tallmadge.
_New York._--George Clinton, George Griswold, Josiah Hasbrouck, H. W.
Livingston, Andrew McCord, Samuel L. Mitchill, Beriah Palmer, John
Patterson, Oliver Phelps, Samuel Riker, Erastus Root, Peter Sailly,
Thomas Sammons, Joshua Sands, David Thomas, George Tibbits, Philip Van
Cortlandt, Killian K. Van Rensselaer, Daniel C. Verplanck.
_New Jersey._--Adam Boyd, Ebenezer Elmer, William Helms, James Mott,
James Sloan, Henry Southard.
_Pennsylvania._--Isaac Anderson, David Bard, Robt. Brown, Thomas Bonde,
Joseph Clay, Frederick Conrad, Wm. Findlay, Andrew Gregg, John A. Hanna,
Joseph Heister, John Hoge, Michael Leib, John B. Lucas, Jno. Rea, Jacob
Richards, John Smilie, John Stewart, Isaac Van Horne, John Whitehill.
_Delaware._--Cæsar A. Rodney.
_Maryland._--John Archer, Walter Bowie, John Campbell, John Dennis,
William McCreery, Nicholas E. Moore, Joseph H. Nicholson, Thomas Plater.
_Virginia._--Thomas Claiborne, Matthew Clay, John Clopton, John Dawson,
John W. Eppes, Edwin Gray, Thomas Griffin, David Holmes, John Geo.
Jackson, Walter Jones, Joseph Lewis, Andrew Moore, Anthony New, Thomas
Newton, John Randolph, Thomas M. Randolph, John Smith, James Stephenson,
Philip R. Thompson, Abram Trigg, Alexander Wilson.
_North Carolina._--N. Alexander, Willis Alston, jr., Wm. S. Blackledge,
James Gillespie, James Holland, William Kennedy, Nathaniel Macon, Samuel
D. Purviance, Richard Stanford, Marmaduke Williams, Joseph Winston,
Thomas Wynns.
_South Carolina._--William Butler, Levi Casey, John B. Earle, Wade
Hampton, Benjamin Huger, Thomas Lowndes, Thomas Moore, Richard Wynn.
_Georgia._--Joseph Bryan, Peter Early, Samuel Hammond, Daniel Meriwether.
_Mississippi._--William Lattimore.
_Tennessee._--G. W. Campbell, Wm. Dickson, John Rhea.
_Kentucky._--Geo. M. Bedinger, John Boyle, John Fowler, Matthew Lyon,
Thomas Sanford, Matthew Walton.
_Ohio._--Jeremiah Morrow.
MONDAY, October 17, 1803.
This being the day appointed by a Proclamation of the President of
the United States, of the sixteenth of July last, for the meeting of
Congress, the following members of the House of Representatives appeared,
produced their credentials, and took their seats, to wit:
_From New Hampshire_--Silas Betton, Clifton Claggett, David Hough,
Samuel Hunt, and Samuel Tenney.
_From Massachusetts_--Phanuel Bishop, Manasseh Cutler, Jacob
Crowninshield, Richard Cutts, Thomas Dwight, William Eustis, Seth
Hastings, Nahum Mitchell, Ebenezer Seaver, William Stedman, Samuel
Taggart, Joseph B. Varnum, Peleg Wadsworth, and Lemuel Williams.
_From Rhode Island_--Nehemiah Knight, and Joseph Stanton.
_From Connecticut_--Samuel W. Dana, John Davenport, Calvin Goddard, Roger
Griswold, and John C. Smith.
_From Vermont_--William Chamberlin, Martin Chittenden, James Elliot, and
Gideon Olin.
_From New York_--Gaylord Griswold, Josiah Hasbrouck, Henry W. Livingston,
Andrew McCord, Samuel L. Mitchill, Beriah Palmer, Thomas Sammons, Joshua
Sands, David Thomas, Philip Van Cortlandt, and Daniel C. Verplanck.
_From Pennsylvania_--Isaac Anderson, David Bard, Robert Brown, Joseph
Clay, Frederick Conrad, William Findlay, Andrew Gregg, John A. Hanna,
Joseph Heister, William Hoge, Michael Leib, John Rea, Jacob Richards,
John Smilie, John Stewart, Isaac Van Horne, and John Whitehill.
_From Delaware_--Cæsar A. Rodney.
_From Maryland_--John Campbell, Wm. McCreery, Nicholas R. Moore, Joseph
H. Nicholson, and Thomas Plater.
_From Virginia_--Thomas Claiborne, Matthew Clay, John Dawson, John W.
Eppes, Peterson Goodwyn, Edwin Gray, Thomas Griffin, David Holmes, John
G. Jackson, Walter Jones, Joseph Lewis, jun., Thomas Lewis, Anthony New,
Thomas Newton, jun., John Randolph, jun., Thomas M. Randolph, John Smith,
James Stephenson, and Philip R. Thompson.
_From Kentucky_--George Michael Bedinger, John Boyle, John Fowler,
Matthew Lyon, Thomas Sanford, and Matthew Walton.
_From North Carolina_--Nathaniel Alexander, Willis Alston, jun., William
Blackledge, James Holland, William Kennedy, Nathaniel Macon, Richard
Stanford, Marmaduke Williams, Joseph Winston, and Thomas Wynns.
_From Tennessee_--George Washington Campbell, William Dickson, and John
Rhea.
_From South Carolina_--William Butler, Levi Casey, John Earle, Wade
Hampton, Benjamin Huger, Thomas Moore, and Richard Winn.
_From Ohio_--Jeremiah Morrow.
And a quorum, consisting of a majority of the whole number, being
present, the House proceeded, by ballot, to the choice of a Speaker; and
upon examining the ballots, a majority of the votes of the whole House
was found to be in favor of NATHANIEL MACON, one of the Representatives
from the State of North Carolina: Whereupon, Mr. MACON was conducted
to the chair, from whence he made his acknowledgments to the House, as
follows:
“_Gentlemen_: Accept my unfeigned thanks for the honor which
you have conferred on me. The task which you have assigned
me will be undertaken with great diffidence, but my utmost
endeavors shall be exerted to discharge the duties of the Chair
with fidelity. In executing the rules and orders of the House,
I shall rely with confidence on the liberal and candid support
of the House.”
The House proceeded, in the same manner, to the appointment of a Clerk;
and upon examining the ballots, a majority of the votes of the whole
House was found in favor of JOHN BECKLEY.
The oath to support the Constitution of the United States, as prescribed
by the act entitled “An act to regulate the time and manner of
administering certain oaths,” was administered by Mr. NICHOLSON, one of
the Representatives from the State of Maryland, to the SPEAKER; and then
the same oath or affirmation was administered by Mr. SPEAKER to all the
members present.
WILLIAM LATTIMORE having also appeared, as the Delegate from the
Mississippi Territory, the said oath was administered to him by the
SPEAKER.
The same oath, together with the oath of office prescribed by the said
recited act, was also administered by Mr. SPEAKER to the Clerk.
_Ordered_, That a message be sent to the Senate, to inform them that a
quorum of this House is assembled, and have elected NATHANIEL MACON, one
of the Representatives for North Carolina, their Speaker; and that the
Clerk of this House do go with the said message.
A message from the Senate informed the House that a quorum of the Senate
is assembled, and ready to proceed to business; and that, in the absence
of the VICE PRESIDENT of the United States, the Senate have elected the
Honorable JOHN BROWN their President, _pro tempore_.
_Resolved_, That Mr. J. RANDOLPH, jun., Mr. R. GRISWOLD, and Mr.
NICHOLSON, be appointed a committee on the part of this House, jointly,
with such committee as may be 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.
A message from the Senate informed the House that the Senate have
appointed a committee on their part, jointly, with the committee
appointed on the part of this House, 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.
_Resolved_, That unless otherwise ordered, the daily hour to which the
House shall stand adjourned, during the present session, be eleven
o’clock in the forenoon.
Mr. JOHN RANDOLPH, Jr., from the joint committee appointed to wait on the
President of the United States, and notify him that a quorum of the two
Houses is assembled, and ready to receive any communication he may be
pleased to make to them, reported that the committee had performed that
service, and that the President had signified to them that he would make
a communication to this House, to-day, in writing.
A communication was received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES to
the two Houses of Congress. The said communication was read, and referred
to the committee of the whole House on the state of the Union. [See
Senate proceedings of this date, for the Message, _ante_ page 4.]
TUESDAY, October 18.
Several other members, to wit: from Pennsylvania, JOHN B. C. LUCAS;
from Maryland, DANIEL HEISTER; from Virginia, JOHN CLOPTON, and JOHN
TRIGG; from North Carolina, SAMUEL D. PURVIANCE; and from Georgia, DAVID
MERIWETHER, appeared, produced their credentials, were qualified, and
took their seats in the House;
_President’s Message._
The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the state of
the Union; and, after some time spent therein, the Committee rose and
reported the following resolutions:
1. _Resolved_, That so much of the President’s Message as
relates to the regulations proper to be observed by foreign
armed vessels within the jurisdiction of the United States; to
the restraining of our citizens from entering into the service
of the belligerent powers of Europe; and to the exacting from
all nations the observance, towards our vessels and citizens,
of those principles and practices which all civilized people
acknowledge; be referred to a select committee.
2. _Resolved_, That so much of the President’s Message as
relates to the adopting of measures for preventing the flag
of the United States from being used by vessels not really
American, be referred to the Committee of Commerce and
Manufactures.
3. _Resolved_, as the opinion of this committee, That so much
of the Message of the President of the United States as relates
to our finances, ought to be referred to the Committee of Ways
and Means.
The House proceeded to consider the said resolutions, and the same being
again read, were agreed to by the House.
_Ordered_, That Mr. JOHN RANDOLPH, jr., Mr. NICHOLAS R. MOORE, Mr.
GAYLORD GRISWOLD, Mr. CROWNINSHIELD, Mr. BLACKLEDGE, Mr. RODNEY, and Mr.
JOHN RHEA, of Tennessee, be appointed a committee pursuant to the first
resolution.
WEDNESDAY, October 19.
Another member, to wit, PETER EARLY, from Georgia, appeared, produced his
credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.
_Mourning for Samuel Adams._
Mr. J. RANDOLPH observed that it had lately been announced to the public
that one of the earliest patriots of the Revolution had paid his last
debt to nature. He had hoped that some other gentleman, better qualified
for the task, would have undertaken to call the attention of the House to
this interesting event. It could not, indeed, be a matter of deep regret
that one of the first statesmen of our country has descended to the grave
full of years and full of honors; that his character and fame were put
beyond the reach of that time and chance to which every thing mortal is
exposed; but it became the House to cherish a sentiment of veneration for
such men--since such men are rare--and to keep alive the spirit to which
they owed the constitution under which they were then deliberating. This
great man, the associate of Hancock, shared with him the honor of being
proscribed by a flagitious ministry, whose object was to triumph over the
liberties of their country, by trampling on those of her colonies. With
his great compatriot he made an early and decided stand against British
encroachment, whilst souls more timid were trembling and irresolute. It
is the glorious privilege of minds of this stamp to give an impulse to a
people and fix the destiny of nations.
Mr. R. said, that he felt himself every way unequal to the attempt of
doing justice to the merits of their departed countryman. Called upon by
the occasion to say something, he could not have said less. He would not,
by any poor eulogium of his, enfeeble the sentiment which pervaded the
House, but content himself with moving the following resolution:
_Resolved, unanimously_, That this House is penetrated with a
full sense of the eminent services rendered to his country in
the most arduous times by the late Samuel Adams, deceased; and
that the members thereof wear crape on the left arm for one
month, in testimony of the national gratitude and reverence
towards the memory of that undaunted and illustrious patriot.
Mr. ELLIOTT spoke as follows:
Mr. Speaker: If any apology could be necessary for a new member,
unversed in Parliamentary proceedings, to offer for rising so early in
the session, it would be, that the topic which arrests his attention is
connected with the illustrious and ever memorable name of Samuel Adams.
The eloquence of the gentleman from Virginia I shall not attempt to
rival; his remarks were peculiarly impressive, and the more so from
his remarking that he was unable to do justice to the subject. I have
been extremely affected by his calling the attention of the House to
the circumstance that the name of that patriot was united with that
of John Hancock, in an exemption from the general pardon which the
British Government offered to those American revolutionists, whom they
dared to style rebels. The longer I should address the House upon this
subject, the more feeble would be my language, as the greater would be my
sensibility. I shall, therefore, only further observe, that I shall most
cordially support the motion of the gentleman from Virginia.
The question was then taken up on Mr. RANDOLPH’s motion: which was agreed
to unanimously.
Mr. NICHOLSON observed that, on occasions like the present, it had been
usual for the House to adjourn. He, therefore, moved an adjournment;
which was carried.
THURSDAY, October 20.
Several other members, to wit: from Massachusetts, SAMUEL THATCHER; from
New York, JOHN SMITH; and from Maryland, JOHN ARCHER, appeared, produced
their credentials, were qualified, and took their seats in the House.
The House then proceeded, by ballot, to the appointment of a Chaplain to
Congress, on the part of this House; and, upon examining the ballots, a
majority of the votes of the whole House was found in favor of the Rev.
WILLIAM PARKINSON.
FRIDAY, October 21.
Two other members, to wit: from New York, JOHN PATTERSON and ERASTUS
ROOT, appeared, produced their credentials, and took their seats in the
House.
_Resolved_, That the resolution of the tenth of December, one thousand
eight hundred and one, authorizing Thomas Claxton to employ an additional
assistant, two servants, and two horses, be, and the same is hereby,
continued in force during this and the next session: and that the said
Thomas Claxton be allowed a further sum of one dollar and twenty-five
cents, to be paid in like manner, to enable him to increase the number of
his attendants.
A message from the Senate informed the House that the Senate have
appointed the Rev. Dr. GANTT, a Chaplain to Congress, on their part.
SATURDAY, October 22.
_Appropriation for the Louisiana Treaty._
The following Message was received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES:
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States_:
In my communication to you of the 17th instant, I informed you
that conventions had been entered into with the Government of
France for the cession of Louisiana to the United States.
These, with the advice and consent of the Senate, having now
been ratified, and my ratification exchanged for that of the
First Consul of France, in due form, they are communicated to
you for consideration in your legislative capacity. You will
observe that some important conditions cannot be carried into
execution, but with the aid of the Legislature; and that time
presses a decision on them without delay.
The ulterior provisions, also suggested in the same
communication, for the occupation and government of the
country, will call for early attention. Such information
relative to its government, as time and distance have permitted
me to obtain, will be ready to be laid before you within a
few days. But, as permanent arrangements for this object may
require time and deliberation, it is for your consideration
whether you will not, forthwith, make such temporary provisions
for the preservation, in the meanwhile, of order and
tranquillity in the country, as the case may require.