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CLAIMS ON FRANCE ADJUSTED.

temporary suspension of commercial business in many places, and a great number of petitions from citizens in various parts of the Union were addressed to the president, praying for the restoration of the deposites to the bank. But with his usual firmness of purpose, he maintained the position which he had taken, and the deposites were not restored. When the temporary panic had passed away, however, business speedily recovered its usual activity.

In his message to congress at the opening of the session of 1834-5, the president adverted to certain claims on the French government for spoliations on our commerce, committed under the Berlin and Milan decrees of Napoleon, which had been adjusted by a treaty fixing the amount at 25,000,000 francs, but had never been paid. A suggestion was thrown out in the message as to the propriety of making reprisals on French property in case of further delay. The French government of course took fire at this intimation, and assumed an attitude which seemed to threaten war. Neither nation, however, was in a situation to render this desirable; and the president, having in his message of 1835, without compromising his own dignity or that of his country, given such expla nations of his previous declarations as he thought consistent with truth and propriety, the French ministry gladly availed themselves of the opportunity thus afforded of satisfying the American claims without delay.

In the winter of 1836, the Seminole Indians commenced hostilities in Florida, ravaging the plantations, and killing great numbers of the inhabitants. A considerable force of regular troops and volunteers was sent against them without success, until it became necessary to order the greater part of the regular army to the defence of the southern border. The war, however, has not yet been terminated, (October, 1836.) The Creeks and several other tribes having united their arms with those of the Seminoles, were reduced to submission, and the greater part of them transported west of the Mississippi; but the Seminoles are still engaged in hostilities with the people of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Great numbers of them have been destroyed, and others captured and transported to the western territories of the

What was its effect in congress ?-On business?-What occasioned an apprehension of war with France ?-How was it averted?-What Indians commenced war in 18363-What is said concerning this war?

EXTINCTION OF THE PUBLIC DEBT.

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United States; but the nature of the country affords them great facilities for retreat and concealment; and the resolution which they evince, while it renders this the most obstinate of any of the numerous Indian wars in which the United States have been engaged, gives little reason to hope for its termination without effecting their removal en masse to the regions beyond the Mississippi.

During the present administration, the whole of the public debt of the United States has been extinguished; and in the summer of the present year, (1836,) congress passed a bill for distributing the surplus revenue among the several states of the Union, which received the sanc tion of the president, and became a law.

A

In the cursory view which we have thus taken of the events of the last eight years, we have carefully abstained from expressing any opinion on the character of the measures adopted by the government. That, as we have already observed, belongs to the future historian. desire to render this brief history complete, has induced us to record these events, while a no less anxious desire to preserve its impartiality has determined us to leave to the unerring awards of time, the characters and motives of our contemporaries.

APPENDIX.

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.

WE, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America.

ARTICLE I.

SECT. I. All legislative powers herein granted, shall be vested in a congress of the United States, which shall consist of a senate and house of representatives.

SECT. II.-1. The house of representatives shall be composed of mem bers chosen every second year, by the people of the several states; and the electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state legislature.

2. No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of the state in which he shall be chosen.

3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states which may be included within this Union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each state shall have at least one representative: and until such enumeration shall be made, the state of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three; Massachusetts, eight; Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, one; Connecticut, five; New York, six; New Jersey, four; Pennsylvania, eight; Delaware, one; Maryland, six; Virginia, ten; North Carolina, five; South Caro lina, five; and Georgia, three.

4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any state, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.

5. The house of representatives shall choose their speaker and other officers, and shall have the sole power of impeachment.

SECT. III.-1. The senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators from each state, chosen by the legislature thereof, for six years; and each senator shall have one vote.

2. Immediately after they shall be assembled, in consequence of the first election, they shall be divided, as equally as may be, into three classes. The seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year; of the second class, at the expiration of the fourth year; and of the third class, at the expiration of the sixth year; so that one-third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation or otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of any state, the executive thereof may make temporary

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appointments until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies.

3. No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state for which he shall be chosen.

4. The vice-president of the United States shall be president of the senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.

5. The senate shall choose their other officers, and also a president pro tempore, in the absence of the vice-president, or when he shall exercise the office of president of the United States.

6. The senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the president of the United States is tried, the chief justice shall preside; and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present.

7. Judgment, in cases of impeachment, shall not extend farther than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honour, trust, or profit, under the United States; but the party convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment according to law.

SECT. IV.-1. The times, places, and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof; but the congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing

senators.

2. The congress shall assemble at least once in every year; and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.

SECT. V.-I. Each house shall be judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members; and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorised to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties, as each house may provide.

2. Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its meinbers for disorderly behaviour, and, with the concurrence of twothirds, expel a member.

3. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may, in their judg ment, require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either house, on any question, shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal.

4. Neither house, during the session of congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting.

SECT. VI.-1. The senators and representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the United States. They shall, in all cases, except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest, during their attendance at the session of their respective houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in any other place.

2. No senator or representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased, during such time; and no person holding any office under the United States, shall be a member of either house during his continuance in office.

SECT. VII-1. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the house of representatives; but the senate may propose or concur with amendments, as on other bills.

2. Every bill, which shall have passed the house of representatives and the senate, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the president of the United States; if he approves, he shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it with his objections to that house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered; and if approved by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in all such cases, the votes of both houses shall be deter mined by yeas and nays; and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the president within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the congress, by their adjournment, prevent its return; in which case, it shall not be a law.

3. Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence of the senate and house of representatives may be necessary, (except on a question of adjournment,) shall be presented to the president of the United States; and, before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or, being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the senate and house of representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.

SECT. VIII.-The congress shall have power

1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises; to pay the debts, and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States:

2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States:

3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes:

4. To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies, throughout the United States:

5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures:

6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States:

7. To establish post-offices and post-roads:

8. 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:

9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme court: To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations:

10. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water:

11. To raise and support armies; but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years:

12. To provide and maintain a navy:

13. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces:

14. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions:

15. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia, and for governing such parts of them as may be employed in the service of the United States; reserving to the states respectively the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia, according to the discipline prescribed by congress:

16. To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases whatsoever, over Buch district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of congress, become the seat of the