lic law; because it announces the great doctrine of the equality and independence of nations upon the seas; and because it declares the determination of the government and the people of the United States to uphold those principles, and to maintain that doctrine, through good report and through evil report, forever. We shall negotiate no more, nor attempt to negotiate more, about impressment. We shall not treat hereafter of its limitation to parallels of latitude and longitude. We shall not treat of its allowance or disallowance in broad seas or narrow seas. We shall think no more of stipulating for exemption, from its exercise, of some of the persons composing crews. Henceforth the deck of every American vessel is inaccessible for any such purpose. It is protected, guarded, defended by the declaration which I have read, and that declaration will stand. 2

Sir, another most important question of maritime law, growing out of the case of the "Creole," and other similar cases, was the subject of a letter to the British plenipotentiary, and of an answer from him. An honorable member from South Carolina (Mr. Calhoun) had taken, as is well known, a great interest in the matter involved in that question. He had expressed his opinion of its importance here, and had been sustained by the Senate. Occasion was taken of Lord Ashburton's mission to communicate to him and to his government the opinions which this government entertained; and I would now ask the honorable member if any similar cause of complaint has since arisen. [Mr. Calhoun said he had heard of none.] I trust, sir, that none will arise hereafter. I refer to the letter to Lord Ashburton on this subject, as containing what the American government regarded as the true principle of the maritime law, and to his very sensible and proper answer.

Mr. President, I have reached the end of these remarks, and the completion of my purpose; and I am now ready, sir, to put the question to the Senate, and to the country, whether the northeastern boundary has not been fairly and satisfactorily settled; whether proper satisfaction and apology have not been obtained for an aggression on the soil and territory of the United States; whether proper and safe stipulations have not been entered into for the fulfillment of the duty of the government, and for meeting the earnest desire of the people in the suppression of the slave trade; whether, in pursuance of these stipulations, a degree of success in the attainment of that object has not been reached wholly unknown before; whether crimes, disturbing the peace of nations, have not been suppressed; whether the safety of the southern coasting trade has not been secured; whether impressment has not been struck out from the list of contested questions among nations; and finally, and more than all, whether any thing has been done to tarnish the luster of the American name and character?

Mr. President, my best services, like, those of every other good citizen, are due to my country; and I submit them, and their results, in all humility, to her judgment. But standing here to-day, in the Senate of the United States, and speaking in behalf of the administration of which I formed a part, and in behalf of the two-houses of Congress who sustained that administration, cordially and effectually, in every thing relating to this day's discussion, I am willing to appeal to the public men of the age, whether, in 1842, and in the city of Washington, something was not done for the suppression of crime, for the true exposition of the principles of public law, for the freedom and security of commerce on the ocean, and for the peace of the world.

APPENDIX.

Mr. Wheaton to Mr. Webster.

BERLIN, November 15, 1842. SIR,-Your dispatch, No. 36, inclosing a copy of the treaty recently concluded at Washington, between the United States and Great Britain, has just reached me.' I beg leave to congratulate you, sir, on the happy termination of this arduous negotiation, in which the rights, honor, and interests of our country have been so suc cessfully maintained. The arrangement it contains on the subject of the African slave trade is particularly satisfactory, as adapted to secure the end proposed by the only means consistent with our maritime rights. This arrangement has decided the course of the French government in respect to this matter. Its embassador in London notified to the conference of the five great powers the final determination of France not to ratify the treaty of December, 1841, and, at the same time, expressed her disposition to fulfill the stipulations of the separate treaties of 1831 and 1834, between her and Great Britain. The treaty of 1841, therefore, now subsists only between four of the great powers by whom it was originally concluded; and as three of these (Austria, Prussia, and Russia) are very little concerned in the navigation of the ocean and the trade in the African seas, and have, besides, taken precautions in the treaty itself to secure their commerce from interruption by the exercise of the right of search in other parts, this compact may now be considered as almost a dead letter.

The policy of the United States may consequently be said, on this occasion, perhaps for the first time, to have had a most decisive influence on that of Europe. This will probably more frequently occur hereafter; and it should be an encouragement to us to cultivate our maritime resources, and to strengthen our naval arm, by which alone we are known and felt among the nations of the earth.

Convention between Her Majesty and the King of the French for the Suppression of the Traffic in Slaves.-[EXTRACT.]

ARTICLE I. In order that the flags of her majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and of his majesty the King of the French, may not, contrary to the law of nations and the laws in force in the two countries, be usurped to cover the slave trade, and in order to provide for the more effectual suppression of that traffic, his majesty the King of the French engages, as soon as may be practicable, to station on the west coast of Africa, from Cape Verd to 160 30′ south latitude, a naval force of at least twenty-six cruisers, consisting of sailing and steam vessels; and her majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland engages, as soon as may be practicable, to station on the same part of the west coast of Africa a naval force of not less than twenty-six cruisers, consisting of sailing vessels and steam vessels; and on the east coast of Africa such number of cruisers as her majesty shall judge sufficient for the prevention of the

trade on that coast; which cruisers shall be employed for the purposes above mentioned, in conformity with the following stipulations.

ARTICLE II. The said British and French naval forces shall act in concert for the suppression of the slave trade. It will be their duty to watch strictly every part of the west coast of Africa within the limits described in Article I., where the slave trade is carried on. For this purpose, they shall exercise fully and completely all the powers vested in the crowns of Great Britain and France for the suppression of the slave trade, subject only to the modifications hereinafter mentioned as to British and French ships.

ARTICLE III. The officers of her majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and of his majesty the King of the French, having respectively the command of the squadrons of Great Britain and France, to be employed in carrying out this Convention, shall concert together as to the best means of watching strictly the parts of the African coast before described, by selecting and defining the stations, and committing the care thereof to English and French cruisers, jointly or separately, as may be deemed most expedient; provided al ways, that in case of a station being specially committed to the charge of cruisers of either nation, the cruisers of the other nation may at any time enter the same for the purpose of exercising the rights respectively belonging to them for the suppression of the slave trade.

RELATIONS WITH MEXICO.

Message from the President of the United States, transmitting Copies of Papers upon the Subject of the Relations between the United States and the Mexican Republic, July 14, 1842.

To the House of Representatives of the United States: In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 12th instant, requesting copies of papers upon the subject of the relations between the United States and the Mexican Republic, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, and the documents by which it was accompanied.

WASHINGTON, July 14, 1842.

To the President of the United States:

JOHN TYLER.

SIR, The Secretary of State, to whom was referred the resoution of the House of Representatives of yesterday, requesting the President to cause to be communicated to that House, so far as might be compatible with the public interest, copies of all the correspondence between the governments of the United States and of Mexico, since the appointment of the present envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States to Mexico; of the instructions given to that minister at and since his departure upon his mission, and of his dispatches to this government, and particularly of any complaint of the government of Mexico, alleging the toleration, by the government of the United States, of hostile interference by their citizens in the war between Mexico and Texas, and of any answer, on the part of this government, to such complaint, has the honor to lay before the President the papers mentioned in the accompanying list."

All which is respectfully submitted.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, July 13, 1842.,

DANIEL WEBSTER.

Mr. Velazquez de Leon to Mr. Webster.-[TRANSLATION.]

NEW YORK, June 24, 1842. The undersigned, in addressing the Hon. Daniel Webster, Secretary of State, has the honor to inform him that, although he holds in his power the appointment and credentials for presenting himself and acting as chargé d'affaires of Mexico in the United States, he has not thought proper to present himself for

that purpose, until he had received the answer to the observations which he had addressed to his own government on that subject; but as he has received recently, and during this delay, the two annexed documents for his excellency the President and the Hon. Daniel Webster, he hastens to send them on, in order that, upon their arriving as soon as possible at their destination, the honorable Secretary of State may give such answer as the government of the United States may judge proper; which answer the undersigned will transmit to the Mexican government, according to his instructions to that effect.

The undersigned avails himself of this occasion to renew to the Hon. Daniel Webster, Secretary of State, the assurances of his high consideration..

JOAQUIN VELAZQUEZ DE LEON

Hon. DANIEL WEBSTER, Secretary of State.

Mr. Webster to Mr. Velazquez de Leon.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, June 29, 1842. SIR, Your letter of the 24th of this month, transmitting one addressed to this department by the Secretary of State and Foreign Relations of the Mexican Republic, was duly received,

The President has long desired to see here a representative of that government, the residence of such a functionary being esteemed likely to foster and promote the peace and interests of the two countries. We are happy to hear that an appointment has at length been made; and all just respect will be paid to your credentials, whenever it shall be your pleasure to present them. Until such presentment be made, however, no regular diplomatic intercourse can be had between this department and yourself. Whatever answer may be judged proper to the letter of Mr. De Bocanegra to this department will be transmitted through the minister of the United States at Mexico. I am, sir, your obedient servant,

Señor Don JOAQUIN Velazquez de Leon.

DANIEL WEBSTER.

J

Mr. De Bocanegra to Mr. Webster.-[TRANSLATION.] NATIONAL PALACE, Mexico, May 12, 1842. The undersigned, Secretary of State and Foreign Relations, enjoys the satisfaction of addressing the honorable Secretary of State of the United States of America, in the name and by the express order of his excellency the President of the Mexican Republic. The relations of amity and good harmony which have happily subsisted between this and your great nation might have been disturbed in a lamentable manner, since the year 1835, when the revolution of Texas broke out, if the