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Congress was in session when the decision of the Chambers reached Washington ; and an iminediate communication of this apparently final

decision of France, not to fulfil the stipulations of the treaty, was the course naturally to be expected from the President. The deep tone of! dissatisfaction which pervaded the public mind, and the correspondent excitement produced in Congress by only a general knowledge of the result, rendered it more than probable that a resort to immediate mea. sures of redress would be the consequence of calling the attention of that body to the subject. Sincerely desirous of preserving the pacific relations which had so long existed between the iwo countries, I was anxious to avoid this course, if I could be satisfied that by doing so, neither the interest nor the honor of my country would be compromitted. Without the fullest assurances upon that point, I coulel vot hope to acquit myself of the responsibility to be incurred, in suffi-ring Congress to adjourn without laying the subject before them. Those received by me were believed to-be of that character.

That the feelings produced in the United States by the news of the rejection of the appropriation, would be such as I have described them to have been, was foreseen by the French Governnient, and prompt measures were taken hy it to prevent the consequences. The King, in person, expressed through our Minister at Paris, his profound regret at the decision of the Chambers, and promised to send, forthwith, a national ship, with despatches to his Minister here, authorizing hini to give such assurances as would satisfy the Government and People of the United States, that the treaty would yet be faithfully executed by France. The national ship arrived, and the Minister received his instructions. Claiming to act under the authority derived from them, he gave to this Government, in the name of his, the most solemn assurances

that as soon after the new elections as the charter would permit, the French Chambers would be convened, and the altempt to procure the necessary appropriations renewed; that all the constitutional powers of the King and his Ministers should be put in requisition to accomplish the ubject; and he was understood, and so expressly informed by this Government at the time, to engage, that the question should be pressed to a decision at a period sufficiently early 10 permit information of the result to be communicated to Congress at the commencement of their next session. Relying upon these assurances, 'I incurred the responsivility, great as I regarded it to be, of suffering Congress to separate without communicating with them upon the subject.

The expectations justly fouuded upon the promises thus solemnly made to this Government by that of France, were not realized. The French Chambers met on the 31st of July, 1834, soon after the election ; and although our Minister in Paris urged the French Ministry to bring the subject before them, they declined doing so. He next insisted that the Chambers, if prorogued without acting on the subject, should be reassembled at a period so early that the action on the trenty might be known in Washington prior to the meeting of Congress. This reasonable request was not only declined, but the Chanibers were prorogued to the 29th of December, a day so late that their decision, however urgentis pressed, could not, in all probability, be obtained in time to reach Washington before the necessary adjournment of Congress by the con

stitution. The reasons given by the Ministry for refusing to convoke the Chanibers at an earlier period, were afterwards showe not to be insuperable, by their actual couvocation on the 1st of December, under a special call, for domestic purposes—which fact, however, did not become known to this Government until after the commencement of the last session of Congress.

Thus disappointed in our just expectations, it became my imperative duty to consult with Congress in regard to the expediency of a resort to retaliatory measures, iu case the stipulations of the treaty should uot be speedily complier with; and to recominend such as, in my judgment, the occasion called for. To ihis end, an unreserved communication of the case, in all its a specif, became indispensable: To have shrunk, in making it, from saying all that was necessary to its correct understand. ing, and that the truth would justify, for rear of giving offence to others, would have been unworthy of us. To have gone, on the other hand, a single step further, for the purpose of wounding the pride of a Government and people with whom we had so many motives for cultivating relations of amity and reciprocal advantage, would have been unwise and improper. Admonished by the past of the difficulty of making even the simplesi statement of our wrongs without disturbing the sensibilities of those who had, by their position, become responsible for their redress, and earnestly desirous of preventing further obstacles from that source, 1 went out of my way to preclude a construction of the message, by which the recommendation that was made to Congress might be regarded as a menace to France, in not only disavowing such a design, but in declaring that her pride and her power were too well known to expect any thing

from her fears. The message did not reach Paris until more ihan a month after the Chambers had been in session ; and such was the insensibility of the Ministry to our rightful claims and just expectations,

that our Minister had been informed that the matter, when introduced, would not be pressed as a cabinet measure,

Although the message was not officially communicated to the French Government, and notwithstanding the declaration to the contrary which it contained, the French Ministry decided to consider the conditional recommendatiou of reprisals, a menace, and an insult, which the honor of the nation made it incumbent on them to resent. The measures resorted to by then to evince their sense of the supposed indignity, were, the immediate recall of their Minister at Washington, the offer of passports to the American Minister at Paris, and a public notice to the Legislative Chambers, that all diplomatic intercourse with the United Stales had been suspended.

Having in this manner vindicated the dignity of France, they next proceeded to illustrate her justice. To this end, a bill was immediately introduced into the Chamber of Deputies, proposing to make the appropriations necessary to carry into effect the treaty. As this bill subsequently passed into a law, the provisions of which now constitute the main subject of difficulty belween the two nations, it becomes my duty in order to place the subject before you in a clear light, to trace the history of its passage, and to refer, with soine particularily, to the proceedings and discussions in regard to it. The Minister of Finance, in his opening speech, alluded to the measures which had been adopted to resent the

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supposed indignity, and recommended the execution of the trenty as a measure required by the honor and justice of France. He, as the organ of the Ministry, declared the message, so long as it had not received the

sanction of Congress, a mere expression of the personal opinion of the President, for which neither the Government nor Pemple of the United States were responsible, and that an engagement had been entered into, for fulfilment of which the honor of nce was pledged. Entertain. ing these views, the single condition which the French Ministry proposed

to annex to the payment of the money, was, that it should not be made until it was ascertained that the Government of the United States had done nothing to injure the interests of France ; or, in other words, thai no steps had been authorized by Congress of a hostile character towards France.

What the disposition or action of Congress night be, was then unknown in the French Cabinet. But, on the 14th of January, the Senate resolved that it was, at that time, inexpedient to adopt any legislative measures in regard to the state of affairs between the United States and France, and no action had occurred on this subject in the House of Representatives. These facts were known in Paris prior to the 28th of March, 1835, when the couomittee, to whom the bill of indemnification had been referred, reported it to the Chamber of Deputies. That committee substantially reechoed the sentiments of the Ministry, declared that Congress had set aside the proposition of the Presideut, and recommended the passage of the bill, without any other restriction than that originally proposed. Thus was it known to the French Ministry and Chambers, that if the position assumed by them, and which had been so frequently and solemnly announced as the only one compatible with the honor of France, was maintained, and the bill passed as originally proposed, the money would be paid, and there would be an end of this unfortunate controversy.

But this cheering prospect was soon destroyed, by an amendment introduced iuto the bill, at the moment of its passage, providing that the money should not be paid until the French Government had receiver satisfactory explanations of the President's message, of the 2d December, 1834 ; and what is still more extraordinary, the President of the Council of Ministers adopted this a mendment, and consented to its incorporalion in the bill. In regard to a supposed insult which had been formally resented by the recall of their Minister, and the offer of passports to ours, they now, for the first time, proposed to ask explanations. Sentimenis and propositions, which they had declared could not justly be imputed to the Government or People of the United States, are set up as obstacles to the performance of an act of conceded justice to that Governnient and People. They had declared that the honor of France required the fulfilment of the engagement into which the King had entered, vuless Congress adopted the recommendations of the nessage. They ascertained that Congress did not adopt them, and yet thai fulfilment in refused, uuless they first obtain from the President explanations of an opinion characterized by theniselves as personal and inoperative.

The conception that it was my intention to menace or insult the Government of France, is as unfounded as the attempt to extort from the fears of that nation what her sense of justice may deny would be vaio and ridiculous. But the constitution of the United States imposes on the President the duty of laying before Congress the condition of the county, in its foreign and domestic relations, and of recommending such measures as may, in his opinion, be required by its interests. From the performance of ihis duty he cannot be deterred by the fear of wounding the sensibilities of the people or Government of whom it may become necessary to speak; and the American People are incapable of submitting to an inter ferance, by any Goveroment on earth, however powerful, with the free performance of the domestic duties which the constitution has imposed on their public functionaries. The discussions which intervene between the several departments of our Government belong to ourselvesi and for any thing said in them, our public servants are only responsible to their own constituents, and to each other. If, in the course of their consultations, facts are erroneously stated, or unjust deductions are made, they require no other inducement to correct them, however informed of their error, than their love of justice, and what is due to their own character; but they can never submit to be interrogated upon the subject as a matter of right, by a foreign power.

When our discussions terminate in acts, our responsibility to foreign powers commences, not as individuals, but as a nation. The principle which calls in question the President for the language of his message, would equally justify a foreign power in demanding explanation of the language used in the report of a committee, or by a member in debate.

This is not the first time that the Government of France bas taken exception to the messages of American Presidents. President Washington, and the first President Adams, in the performance of their duties to the American People, fell under the animadversions of the French Directory. The objection taken by the Ministry of Charles X. and removed by the explanations made by one Minister upon the spot, has already been adverted to. When it was understood that the Ministry of the present King 100k exception to my message of last year, putting a construction upon it which was disavowed on its face, our late Minister at Paris, in answer to the 'note which first announced a dissatisfaction with the language used in the message, made a communication to the French Government, under date of the 29th of January, 1835, calculated to remove all impressions which an unreasonable susceptibility had crealed. He repeated, and called the attention of the French Government to, the disavowal contained in the message itself, of any ivtention to intimidate by menace-he truly declared that it contained, and was

intended 10 contain, no charge of ill faith against the King of the French, and properly distinguished between the right to complain, in unexceptable terms, of the omission to execute an agreement, and an accusation of bad inotives in withholding such execution--and demonstrated, that the vecessary use of that right ought not to be considered as an offensive imputation. Although this coinniunication was made without instructions, and entirely on the Minister's own responsibility, yet it was afterwards made the act of this Government by my full approbation, and that approbation, was officially made known on the 25th of April, 1835, to the French Government. It, however, failed to have any effect. The law, after this friendly explanation, passed with the obvoxious amendment, supported by the King's Ministers, and was finally a pproved by the King.

The People of the United States are justly attached to a pacific system in their intercourse with foreign nations. It is proper, therefore, that they should know whether their Government has adhered to it. In the present instance, it has been carried to the utmost extent that was consistent with a becoming self-respect. The note of the 29th of January, to which I have before alluded, was not the only one which our Minister took upon himself the responsibility of presenting on the same subject, and in the same spirit. Finding that it was intended to make the payment of a just debt dependent on the performance of a condition which he knew could never be complied with, he thought it a duty to make another attempt to convince the French Government, that whilst selfrespect and regard to the dignity of other nations would always prevent us from using any language that ought to give offence, yet we could never admit a right in any foreign Government to ask explanations of, or to interfere in any manner in, the communications which one branch of our public councils made with another : that in the present case, no such language had been used, and that this had in a former note been fully and voluntarily stated, before it was conteinplated to make the explanation a condition: and that there might be no misapprehension, he stated the terms used in that note, and he officially informed them that it had been approved by the President; and that, therefore, every explanation which could reasonably be asked, or honorably given, had been already made that the contemplated measure had been anticipated by a voluntary aud friendly declaration, and was therefore not only useless, but might be deemed offensive, and certainly would not be complied with, if annexed as a condition.

When this latter communication, to which I specially invite the attention of Congress, was laid before me, I entertained the hope that the means it was obviously intended to afford, of an honorable and speedy adjustment of the difficulties between the two nations, would have been accepted ; and I therefore did not hesitate to give it my sanction agd full approbation. This was due to the Minister who had made himself responsible for the act; and it was published to the People of the United States, and is now laid before their Representatives, to show how far their Executive has gone in its endeavors to restore a good understavding between the two couutries It would have been, at any time, communicated to the Government of France, had it been officially requested.

The French Government having received all the explanation which honor and principle permitted, and which could in reason be asked, it was hoped it would no longer hesitate to pay the instalments now due. The agent authorized to receive the money was instructed to inform the French Minister of his readiness to do so. In reply to this notice, he was told that the money could not then be paid, because the formalities required by the act of the Chambers had not been arranged.

Not having received any official information of the intentions of the French Government, and anxious to bring, as far as practicable, this unpleasant affair to a close before the meeting of Congress, that you might have the whole subject before you, I caused our Chargé d'Affaires at Paris to be instructed to ask for the final determination of the French Government; and in the event of their refusal to pay the

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