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Message of the President of the United States to the 20th Congress, 1st session,
Message of do. second session,

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Convention between the United States and Great Britain, relative to the North-
eastern Boundary,

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Note of Ambassadors to the Reis Effendi, announcing treaty of London,

Letter of Sultan to his Viziers concerning do

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Constitution of Greece,

Answer of the Porte to the Russian Manifesto,

Declaration of the Greek Government relative to Boundaries,

Letter of English resident to Greek Government, requiring suspension of hos-

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tilities,

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261

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Decree naming Don Miguel Lieutenant of Portugal,
Protocol of Vienna, October 18th. 1827,

Letter from Don Miguel to Emperor of Brazil,

Correspondence between British and Brazilian Governments, relative thereto,

283

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UNIV 00

PUBLIC DOCUMENTS.

I.-DOMESTIC.

Message of the President of the United States to the Twentieth Congress.-First Session.

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate,

and of the House of Representatives: A REVOLUTION of the seasons has nearly been completed, since the Representatives of the People and States of this Union were last assembled at this place, to deliberate and to act upon the common important interests of their constituents. In that interval, the never. slumbering eye of a wise and be neficient Providence has continued its guardian care over the welfare of our beloved country. The blessing of health has continued generally to prevail throughout the land. The blessing of peace with our brethren of the human race, has been enjoyed without interruption; internal quiet has left our fellow citizens in the full enjoyment of all their rights, and in the free exercise of all their faculties, to pursue the impulse of their nature, and the obligation of their duty, in the improvement of their own condition. The productions of the soil, the exchanges of commerce, the vivify. ing labours of human industry, have combined to mingle in our cup a

portion of enjoyment as large and liberal as the indulgence of heaven has perhaps ever granted to the imperfect state of man upon earth; and as the purest of human felicity consists in its participation with others, it is no small addition to the sum of our national happiness, at this time, that peace and prosperity prevail to a degree seldom experienced over the whole habi. table globe; presenting, though as yet with painful exceptions, a foretaste of that blessed period of promise, when the lion shall lie down with the lamb, and wars shall be no more. To preserve, to improve, and to perpetuate the sources, and to direct, in their most effective channels, the streams which contribute to the public weal, is the purpose for which government was instituted. Objects of deep importance to the welfare of the Union are constantly recurring, to demand the attention of the Federal Legislature; and they call with accumulated interest, at the first meeting of the two Houses, after their periodical renovation. To present

to their consideration from time to time, subjects in which the interests of the nation are most deeply involved, and for the regulation of which the legislative will is alone competent, is a duty prescribed by the constitution, to the performance of which the first meeting of the new Congress is a period eminently appropriate, and which it is now my purpose to discharge.

Our relations of friendship with the other nations of the earth, political and commercial, have been preserved unimpaired; and the opportunities to improve them have been cultivated with anxious and unremitting attention. A negotiation upon subjects of high and delicate interest with the government of Great Britain, has terminated in the adjustment of some of the questions at issue upon satisfactory terms, and the postponement of others for future discussion and agreement. The purposes of the convention concluded at St. Petersburg, on the 12th day of July, 1822, under the mediation of the late Emperor Alexander, have been carried into effect, by a subsequent convention concluded at London on the 13th of November, 1826, the ratifications of which were exchanged at that place on the 6th day of February last. A copy of the proclamation issued on the nineteenth day of March last, publishing this convention, is herewith communicated to Congress. The sum of twelve hundred and four thousand nine hundred and sixty dollars, therein stipulated to be paid to the claimants of indemnity under the first Article of the Treaty of Ghent, has been duly received, and the Commission instituted conform ably to the act of Congress of the second of March last, for the dis

tribution of the indemnity to the persons entitled to receive it, are now in session, and approaching the consummation of their labours. This final disposal of one of the most painful topics of collision between the United States and Great Britain, not only affords an occasion of gratulation to ourselves, but has had the happiest effect in promoting a friendly disposition, and in softening asperities upon other objects of discussion. Nor ought it to pass without the tribute of a frank and cordial acknowledgment of the magnanimity with which an honourable nation, by the reparation of their own wrongs, achieves a triumph more glorious than any field of blood can ever bestow.

The conventions of 3d July, 1815, and of 20th October, 1818, will expire by their own limitation on the 20th of October, 1828. These have regulated the direct commercial intercourse between the United States and Great Britain, upon terms of the most perfect reciprocity; and they effected a temporary compromise of the respective rights and claims to territory westward of the Rocky Mountains. These arrangements have been continued for an indefinite period of time, after the expiration of the above-mentioned conventions; leaving each party the liberty of terminating them, by giving twelve months notice to the other. The radical principle of all commercial intercourse between independent nations, is the mutual interest of both parties. It is the vital spirit of trade itself; nor can it be reconciled to the nature of man, or to the primary laws of human society, that any traffic should long be willingly pursued, of which all the advantages are on one side, and all the bur.

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