discernment displayed in the selection of the envoy, (honorable Mr. PARKS was the commissioner sent from Maine to Massachusetts,) while he took peculiar pleasure in congratulating the minister himself on the success of his mission. Mr. F. here remarked that the statement of this fact reminded him of another similar occurrence. It was scarcely two years since a commis. sioner was sent from another State of this Union to one of its sister States, on a mission of the deepest interest. (Alluding to the mission of the honorable B. W. LEIGH, from Virginia to South Carolina.] This mission, so hon orable to the feelings which prompted it, as well as to the character of all concerned, was, in certain quarters, scouted and sneered at; indeed, it was a subject of constant ridicule. How much the Old Dominion will regret that she had not then known of the precedent which this discussion has brought to light. Mr. F. hoped that these prece dents would not be forgotten, but that the other States would profit by them Let them remember that, for the adjustment of rights and interests not confided by the constitution to the federal Government, they have the same right to send ministers from one to another that the federal Government has to send a minister to France or England for the adjustment of our external relations. And Mr. F. delighted to contemplate this exercise of State sovereignty. There was an imposing dignity in this mode of communicating on extraordinary Occasions between these sister republics. Mr. F. had very unexpectedly to himself taken part in this debate, and had already said more than he intended, yet he could not conclude without again expressing the pleasure which the discussion had afforded him: he hailed with joy the light which had so suddenly broken in upon us; it was, he trusted, the precursor of a brighter day. The clouds which had for a while overshadowed us were passing rapidly away, and he congratulated himself, his friends, and the country, on the prospect of a speedy restoration of those principles which had been so triumphantly maintained in the better days of the Republic. Before he sat down, Mr. F. begged once more to remind his friends from Maine of the elevated and delicate position now occupied by that State. She has taken high ground, and her rights and interests, as well as her principles and character, may depend on her maintaining it. She has already abundant cause to felicitate herself on the course she has pursued. But for the bold and decided stand which she took at the threshold of her controversy, encouraged and sustained by her | venerable mother, Massachusetts, she would have been long since dismembered, and part of her territory would have been tamely, surrendered to a foreign Power. Should she now relax or falter, this may yet be the case. Let her then look to this emergency, and be prepared to meet it. Let her plant herself on the broad basis of her original, inherent, and sovereign rights, and repeat to the federal Government that it has no right to cede one foot of her territory, and that she is resolved to preserve it entire and inviolable. And if the crisis should come, let her rely on her own sovereignty, and she will find it, as other States have already experienced, a protecting ægis-an impregnable tower-a strong and sure defence. After Mr. F. had concluded, Mr. GILLET said that, as there seemed to be some difficulty between the Representatives from Maine and Massachusetts, on this question, he would move to lay the resolution on the table. Mr. GRENNELL called for the yeas and nays; which were ordered. Mr. GILLET, however, withdrew his motion to lay the resolution on the table, and moved that the House [H. OF R. should proceed to the orders of the day. The motion was negatived--ayes 65, noes 80--and the debate proceeded. Mr. SMITH said, if he were influenced by the feelings, or some of the prominent considerations which had been expressed by his honorable colleague who had last spoken, [Mr. EVANS, ] in relation to the resolution of the honorable gentleman from Massachusetts, he certainly could not feel justified in giving the vote which his honorable colleague had indicated that he should give, nor in entertaining the conclusions which he does upon this subject. The House will remark, sir, that my colleague commenced his observations with an expression of entire indifference as to the fate of the resolution which the gentleman from Massachusetts has offered. Sir, were I indifferent to a resolution, involving matters of such vast importance to the people of Maine, being one of her Representatives, I could not vote in favor of it. But the gentleman next said that he does not think any thing can come out of the resolution, if passed; that he has no idea that the Executive will answer it, or will answer it in any other way than by saying that he has no information that can be communicated relative to the subject-matter of this resolution, without prejudice to the pending negotiation. Sir, if I entertained this conviction, I certainly should feel myself warring with my sense of duty to vote in favor of the resolution. Why pass it with such an expectation? Again, the gentleman says that he very much questions the propriety of the Executive's exposing the correspondence and other documents involved in the subject-matter of this resolution, at the present time, and while the negotiation is pending between this Government and Great Britain. Sir, could a better reason be given than such a conviction, to justify and demand that gentleman's vote against the resolution? I confess, I am unable to conceive of a stronger motive for opposing the resolution than the gentleman himself has thus avowed. And yet he expresses his determination to vote in favor, and advocates the adoption, of the resolution! Sir, the gentleman has further told the House, and in this I think him correct to a considerable extent, that great apathy now prevails in Maine upon this subject. It is so, in one point of view. And is not this another most satisfactory argument against the adoption of the resolution? Why force such a call upon the Executive at this time, if the people themselves, who are immediately interested, are not anxious upon the subject? I repeat, sir, that, if I were governed only by the arguments which the gentleman's own remarks furnish upon this subject, I could not with him vote in favor of the resolution. But it is true, there is a degree of apathy in Maine, and with the people of Maine, upon this subject, at the present time. Sir, the people of Maine take a proper view of its situation. They consider it in hands which are bound to control it. They consider it as still under negotiation, and in a state of progression. And while it is so, they do not desire to interpose obstacles to its right termination, nor to prejudice its progress. My colleague, as well as the gentleman from Massachusetts, knows, that the negotiation upon this subject is still pending between our Government and that of Great Britain; for the fact has been so announced in the opening message of the President to Congress at its present session, and the gentleman from Massachusetts has read to the House that part of the message. But, says my honorable colleague, [Mr. EVANS,] two years and a half have elapsed without any minister of this Government at the court of the British Government to attend to this negotiation. Sir, this is true. But, said Mr. S., I am greatly surprised that my honorable colleague should have mentioned this fact, either as a re proach upon the Executive of this nation, or a reason why this resolution for information should now pass. Whose fault has it been, let me ask, during these two years and a half to which the gentleman alludes, that our Government has been thus long without a representative in England? Has it been the fault of the Executive of this nation? or of the State of Maine? or rather, I should ask, has it been the fault of the people of Maine? Does not my honorable colleague, as well as the honorable mover of this resolution, know full well that two attempts certainly have been made by the Executive of this nation to have our Government represented at the British court, and that it is no fault of his that the interests of Maine and Massachusetts have not been attended to there? Sir, let me tell my colleague, and this House also, that the people of Maine understand right well, and most correctly, as I believe, that the want of a national representative at the British court, on the part of our Government, during those two and a half years past, has operated as a most serious, if not principal, obstacle in the adjustment of this most important boundary question, in which Maine is so deeply interested. They understand, also, that, in this omission to be represented abroad, the national Executive is free of all blame, and that upon other heads the censure should fall. Sir, continued Mr. S., I can see no practical good to be accomplished by this resolution. I am equally ignorant, with the mover of it, and with my colleague, of the nature of any information which the Executive can possess upon the subject, proper to be communicated to this House and to the public at this time. The nego tiation is pending still. But the honorable gentleman from Massachusetts says that State is deeply interested in the negotiation; that Maine has heretofore sought the aid of Massachusetts in this matter, and that Massachusetts freely pledged herself to Maine, and most solemnly, to stand by her, and help her to maintain her rights in this controversy, at all times and under all circumstances. And the gentleman here declares that Massachusetts has been true to her pledges thus given, and he here renews those pledges of continued fidelity in every event to come. [DEC. 24, 1834. chusetts persists in crowding his resolution upon the Executive at this time, vote for its passage. But, said Mr. S., I protest against the idea that there is any thing in the possession of the Executive in connexion with this matter that could, if all were made known to the world, do dishonor to Maine or to the national Government. The only reason existing at the present time, of which he could conceive, why the whole correspondence and documents relating to the matter might not be properly spread before this House and before the world is, that a negotiation upon the subject of them is still pending between our Government and a foreign Government, and that this negotiation may be greatly prejudiced by such a premature publication. In all other respects, I have no fears whatever. There is no concealment and no disguise upon the matter, which is not for the common benefit of all the States in the Union--all of which are interested in the pending negotiation. As to the interference, sir, of Massachusetts with the affairs of Maine, and upon which one of my honorable colleagues has expressed himself in terms that he feels to be justly merited, I have not, said Mr. S., much of feeling. The contrary winds--the counter winds-the political trade winds of Massachusetts, which are felt oc casionally sweeping over the affairs of Maine, like the counter and trade winds which are met with upon the natural ocean, serve a most salutary purpose. They admonish the yeomanry of Maine, with great accuracy, of the direction in which their true interests are to be pur sued. And so long as Massachusetts will keep up this sort of interest, Maine will continue to be found, as she has been for years past, true to her real interests and principles. Sir, I am not sure, nevertheless, that there would not have been more propriety and more of hon orable courtesy on the part of the gentleman from Massachusetts in this matter, if he had consulted with at least a portion of the delegation from Maine in relation to his resolution before having proposed it. I did suppose, sir, that the honorable gentleman could have found one, certainly, of that delegation, in whom he could have reposed confidence upon the matter. But even that one of my honorable colleagues entirely disclaims all knowledge of the honorable mover's intentions, before the resolution was offered; and the gentleman from Massachusetts admits, in fact, that he consulted none of the delegation from Maine in relation to it. To me, sir, it seems that, in a matter of this character, there would have been more of courtesy if the gentleman from Massachusetts had adopted a different course. I have not, however, on account of this, any strong feelings. But regarding the disposition and pledges of the State of Massachusetts upon this boundary question: regarding what she is said to have done, and is willing to do with Maine in relation to it hereafter--and altogether repu diating the idea that there is any thing in this whole subject-matter which need be concealed, except upon the ground that the negotiation upon it is still pending between our Government and Great Britain: regarding, moreover, the gentleman's assurance, which is very properly imbodied in his resolution, that he seeks nothing which the President may not deem altogether proper to be communicated at this time, I am willing, for one, that his resolution should pass. And it is with reference to the alleged interest of that State in this subject, to her past pledges and support of Maine, and to her pledges of continued fidelity, he has offered a resolution calling for certain information touching the immediate rights and interests of Maine, without intending any disrespect to any one. This call is also made subject to the very proper condition, which I will regard as made in sincerity, that the President shall communicate only such information, if any, as cannot prejudice the negotiation that is now pending. Sir, all this implies a suspicion that there may be information possessed by the Executive upon the subject-matter of the negotiation which the President will think proper to communicate to this House and to the public at this time. I cannot conceive of its being so. I do not believe it is 80. But as the gentleman from Massachusetts thinks otherwise, and is anxious to be informed how the fact is; as he alleges the deep interest of his State in the matter; as he has recapitulated her past pledges to Maine, and asserts her constant fidelity to them, and now renews them in the most solemn manner, to stand by Maine, in this controversy, under all circumstances; as he is willing Mr. EVANS said he did not perceive that any thing to appeal to the discretion of the Executive upon the which had fallen from his colleague called very particupropriety of communicating at this time either more or larly for a reply. He could not, however, refrain from less, or none at all, of the supposed information upon the expressing his surprise that his honorable colleague had subject; and as he (Mr. S.) also had entire confidence found fault with the reasons which he had assigned for in the discretion of the President to communicate the wishing the adoption of the resolution. Considering, documents sought, if any there be, or to withhold them, sir, that we are travelling the same road, and are both in as the interests of Maine, Massachusetts, and the nation, favor of the resolution, I should suppose that my honoramay, in his opinion, require, he (Mr. S.) would, from ble colleague would have felt glad of my vote, as I cerhese considerations alone, if the gentleman from Massa-tainly do of his, without stopping to quarrel with my reasons for it. Why, sir, my reasons are my own, and are satisfactory to me, and doubtless his are the same to him. Nevertheless, he has analyzed them very minutely: and he says every one of them ought to lead me to vote against the resolution, as they certainly would him, if he entertained them. What are the reasons? First, that I was indifferent to the subject. I did say that I felt indifferent to the passage of the resolution, because I felt convinced that it would not bring the information. I was not indifferent as to whether we procured the information or not; I am earnest for that; but, entertaining so slight a hope of success, I am quite indifferent to the effort. Nevertheless, something may come of it. It may be worth the trial; but my colleague thinks where there is not much prospect of success, he would not only not make the effort himself, but would impede any body else who might be sanguine enough to undertake it. This is not my habit, sir; and, discouraged as I am of attaining any thing, I am willing to make the experiment. Again: my colleague says I admitted that it might not be compatible with the public interests to furnish the information. Perhaps it may be so; but I do not know that it is, for the very reason that I do not know what the negotiation is. It is probable that a portion of the correspondence ought not to be made public, and that is not called for. But much of it, doubtless, may be communicated safely, and all may in confidence. If I cannot get the whole, I will take what I can get, and feel grateful for a little. But my colleague seems to say no; if I cannot have the whole, I would not ask for any. I may be allowed, too, to remind my colleague that the doctrine in Maine at the time of which I spoke, some seven years ago, was, that Maine was entitled, of right, to a knowl. edge of all the negotiations then pending; and there was a great hue and cry, because the then Secretary of State refused to furnish the Governor with the whole correspondence between our Government and Great Britain. The reason was the same then as now--"not compatible with the public interests." But that did not satisfy Maine, then highly belligerent. We have another Secretary now, sir, and Maine is pacific. As to the concealment which has been practised by the Government of Maine in reference to its movements upon this subject, my colleague utterly denies it, and says there is no desire to keep it locked up from public examination. I am happy to hear it. I have hope of reaching something at last. My honorable colleague was a member of the Legislature of that State some two years ago, and he cannot have forgotten, I think, that a resolution was adopted calling for the report of the com. missioners who were appointed to settle the controversy with the national Government, and that the Executive withheld the information. [Mr. SMITH stated in his speech, in reply, that no such call was made, and Mr. EVANS then explained, and said he never felt more confident of any thing than that such a call was made. Possibly he might be in error; it might have been that the resolutions were moved, and voted down by the majority, a thing which sometimes happens here, and thus the responsibility was shifted from the Governor to the majority of the House. Possibly that was the case.] We have endeavored, in every way possible, to get light upon this subject, but without success. My hon orable colleague said, "the people of Maine took a right view of this question." Now, as my honorable colleague is supposed to imbody in his own person a considerable portion of "public opinion” in Maine, I thought we should have it. The time has come, said I, for we have long desired to know what the people of Maine really did think about it. They view it," says he, "in a state of progression." Indeed! What sort of progression? But that [H. OF R. was all the information we got, sir, and so my high hopes have vanished. The apathy which I spoke of as existing in Maine, my colleague says, grows out of the confidence which the State has that the subject will be well managed by the administration of its choice. I think otherwise, sir. When excitement is necessary, excitement can be had; and when it is not deemed best to "embarrass" the general Government, by too close a scrutiny into its concerns, apathy can be made to prevail. My colleague understands how these things are done. Something was said by my honorable friend from Georgia, [Mr. FOSTER,] which will be heard with some astonishment in Maine. They will discover, sir, that they are rank "nullifiers," a doctrine which lately has been deemed very great heresy there. There was a time, sir, not many years ago, when that doctrine and the advocates of it, were quite popular in Maine. It was likely to get to be the politics of the State. I have some indistinct recollections-not very indistinct-of a certain speech of an honorable Senator from South Carolina [General Hayne] being printed and bound up, "as fine as gold and silk could make it," at the office of the leading press in the State, and transmitted with a highly complimentary letter to the distinguished author of it. I would not take "my corporal oath" that my honorable colleague over the way [Mr. SMITH] did not himself revise the proof sheets, or write the letter to which I have alluded. But, sir, times have changed. Nullification is dead there, sir-killed, to breathe no more. The proclamation came and swept it away like a tornado. There will be no more speeches printed on satin, nor bound in gold. But, sir, I leave nullification to my honorable friend from Georgia, and to my worthy colleagues. Mr. SMITH said that there was only a remark or two of his honorable colleague to which he would advert. The gentleman says that there has been a desire on the part of the Governor and Council of Maine, and of some others, to conceal the proceedings which have been had in relation to this boundary controversy. The gentleman was very careful to say, or rather not to say, that the Governor and Council of Maine had ever been called upon to disclose any portion of those proceedings. According to my recollection, sir, (and I think my honorable colleague's recollection will confirm my own upon the subject,) the Legislature of Maine have never made a call upon the Governor and Council of that State to disclose any of those proceedings. [Mr. EVANS here rose and said his recollection was not altogether distinct upon the subject, but he believed such a call had been attempted, and, if not carried, it was voted down by the majority with whom his colleague [Mr. SMITH] acted in the Legislature of Maine.] Sir, continued Mr. S., my honorable colleague knows full well that the people of Maine have never called for such a disclosure of those proceedings. And whatever the Legislature of that State has done, and whatever those who have constituted that Legislature and the other official organs of the State, for years past, have done, in relation to this subject, has been most satisfactorily and triumphantly sustained by the people of the State; and it is manifest that if there has been any improper concealment in the matter, of which I know nothing, my honorable colleague's remarks of censure strike at the people themselves, and not at their immediate Represent atives in the Legislature, whom they have sustained. Sir, I maintain that there is nothing for concealment in it, which might not be disclosed most creditably to Maine, if there were no negotiations still pending with Great Britain. Under any other condition of the affair, I could have no objection to spreading the whole of the proceedings of Maine, and of all connected with her in it, as well as those of the national Government, before this House and before the world. When I addressed this House a short time since, I remarked explicitly that I repudiated the idea that there was any thing to be concealed at this time upon any other ground than the fear of prejudicing the pending negotiation. And I now say that, having entire confidence in the discretion of the Executive to determine rightly whether any information can be properly communicated at this time or not, and not fearing that any can be disclosed at any time discreditable to the State or nation, and regarding the alleged interests of Massachusetts in the subject, and her relationships to Maine in it, if the honorable gentleman from Massachusetts insists upon the passage of the resolution, I am willing, for one, that it should pass, believing that to be the most judi cious course under the circumstances of the case as now presented. [DEC. 27, 1834. Mr. GRENNELL asked for the yeas and nays on the motion, and they were ordered. The question being then taken, it was decided in the negative, as follows: Yeas 77, nays 79. YEAS-Messrs. John Adams, J. J. Allen, W. Allen, Anthony, Bean, Bockee, Bouldin, Brown, Bunch, Burns, Bynum, Cambreleng, Carr, Casey, S. Clark, Clay, Day, Dickinson, Dunlap, Fowler, Fulton, Gillet, Thomas H. Hall, Halsey, Hamer, Joseph M. Harper, Hathaway, Henderson, Howell, Hubbard, Huntington, Inge, Jarvis, R. M. Johnson, Noadiah Johnson, Benjamin Jones, Kav. anagh, Kilgore, Kinnard, Lane, Lansing, Laporte, Luke Lea, Thomas Lee, Loyall, Lyon, Lytle, Joel K. Mann, Manning, May, McIntire, McKay, McLene, Miller, Robert Mitchell, Morgan, Murphy, Parks, Parker, Pearce, Peyton, Pierce, Pierson, Polk, Reynolds, Without coming to any decision on the question be- Schenck, Augustine H. Shepperd, Shinn, Standefer, fore it, W. Taylor, Francis Thomas, Thomson, Vanderpoel, NAYS-Messrs. John Quincy Adams, Heman Allen, Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to lay before this House (if, in his opinion, it is not incompatible with the public interest) any communications which may have been had between the Government of the United States and that of Great Britain, since the rejection by the former of the advisory opinion of the King of the Netherlands, in reference to the establishment and final settlement of the northeastern bound-dered. ary of the United States, heretofore in controversy between the two Governments. "And that he also be requested to communicate any information which he may possess of the exercise of practical jurisdiction, by the authorities of the British province of New Brunswick, over the disputed territory, within the limits of the State of Maine, according to the true line of boundary as claimed by the United States, and especially upon that part of the territory which has been incorporated by the Government of Maine into the town of Madawaska, together with such representations and correspondence (if any) as have been had by the Executive of that State with the Government of the United States on the subject." Mr. PARKS said that he did not intend to take up the time of the House. He had risen merely to reply to one or two remarks which the gentleman from Massachusetts had made in regard to himself. He was not, as that gentleman had intimated, deputed as a commissioner, by the State of Maine, to solicit aid from Massachu setts. He went to Massachusetts as the bearer of a com munication, and in no other capacity. Nor was it true that he had drawn up the report and resolutions which were adopted by the Legislature of Massachusetts on the occasion. They were drawn by a gentleman vastly more distinguished than he was, then and now a member of that Legislature. The gentleman from Georgia [Mr. FOSTER] had expressed great delight at the echo from Maine of State right principles; on that subject, Maine had never changed her principles, however some other States might have vacillated from one side to the other. If the gentleman could derive any satisfaction from the doctrines held by Maine, he was the last individual in the House who would attempt to deprive him of it. Mr. GILLET moved to lay the resolution on the table. The question being then on agreeing to the resolution, The question being taken, it was decided in the af firmative, as follows: YEAS-Messrs. John Quincy Adams, Heman Allen, J. J. Allen, Chilton Allan, Ashley, Banks, Bates, Baylies, Briggs, Chambers, Chilton, Claiborne, W. Clark, Clowney, Corwin, Coulter, Crane, Crockett, Darlington, A. Davis, Davenport, Deberry, Denny, Dickson, Evans, Fillmore, Foster, Philo C. Fuller, Fulton, Gamble, Garland, Gholson, Gordon, Gorham, Graham, Grennell, Griffin, Joseph Hall, H. Hall, Hard, Hardin, Harrison, Hazeltine, Hiester, William Jackson, E. Jackson, Janes, W. C. Johnson, H. Johnson, Lay, Letcher, Lincoln, Love, Lucas, Manning, Martindale, Marshall, Moses Mason, McCarty, McKay, McKennan, Miller, Miner, Muhlenberg, Phillips, Pickens, Pinckney, Pope, Potts, Ramsay, Reed, Roberston, A. H. Shepperd, Slade, Sloane, Smith, Spangler, Stewart, Philemon Thomas, Tompkins, Trumbull, Tweedy, Vinton, F. Whittlesey, Williams, Wilson, Wise-87. NAYS-Messrs. John Adams, William Allen, Anthony, Bean, Beaumont, Bockee, Boon, Bouldin, Brown, Bunch, Burns, Bynum, Cambreleng, Carr, Casey, S. Clark, Clay, Day, Dickerson, Dunlap, Ferris, Forester, Fowler, William K. Fuller, John Galbraith, Gillet, Thomas H. Hall, Halsey, Hamer, Joseph M. Harper, Hathaway, Henderson, Howell, Hubbard, Hunting ton, Inge, Jarvis, R. M. Johnson, Noadiah Johnson, B. Jones, Kavanagh, Kilgore, Kinnard, Lane, Lansing, Laporte, Luke Lea, Thomas Lee, Loyall, Lyon, Lytle, Joel K. Mann, Mardis, May, McIntire, LcLene, R. Mitchell, Morgan, Murphy, Parks, Parker, Patterson, D. J. Pearce, Peyton, F. Pierce, Pierson, Polk, Reyn olds, Schenck, Shinn, Standefer, W. Taylor, Thomson, Vanderpoel, Van Houten, Wagener, Ward, Wardwell, Webster-79. DEC. 29, 1834.] Relations, with France-Viva voce Election--Mexican Boundary Line. Mr. McKENNAN remarked that there was but a bare quorum in the House, and that this day belonged to a member from Ohio, [Mr. WHITTLESEY,] who was absent. He therefore moved that the House do now adjourn; but withdrew his motion at the suggestion of The SPEAKER, who laid before the House the following letter from the Secretary of the Treasury. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, December 26, 1834. SIR: In obedience to the first clause of the resolution of the House of Representatives passed on the 11th instant, directing the Secretary of the Treasury "to communicate to the House of Representatives, as soon as practicable, copies of the correspondence, not heretofore communicated, which had taken place between him and the president of the Bank of the United States, on the subject of the bank drafts," &c. I have now the honor to submit a copy of a letter on that subject received from the president of the Bank of the United States on the 28th ultimo, and the reply thereto by this Department on the 24th instant. In order to make the contents of both more intelligible, and to include all probably embraced by the resolution, I have taken the liberty to precede them by a copy of the Treasury circular, issued by this Department on the 5th ultimo, and to which these letters so frequently refer, with a copy of the communication of that date, transmitting it to the bank. I have the honor to remain, very respectfully, your obedient servant, LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. The Hon. the SPEAKER of the House of Representatives. Which letter, and the accompanying documents, on motion of Mr. HUBBARD, were laid on the table and directed to be printed. Mr. HUBBARD said this correspondence was of an important character; he therefore (by consent) moved that 10,000 additional copies be printed. After some conversation between Messrs. HUBBARD, FOSTER, MARTINDALE, and GARLAND, the motion was, with the assent of the mover, laid over to Monday. This motion was subsequently taken up and agreed to. The SPEAKER also laid before the House sundry other communications from the heads of Departments; all of which were referred and ordered to be printed. FRENCH RELATIONS. The following message was received from the President of the United States, by the hands of Mr. Donelson, his secretary, transmitting a report of the Secretary of State on French relations: To the House of Representatives of the U. S.: I transmit to the House a report from the Secretary of State, together with the papers relating to the refusal of the French Government to make provision for the execution of the treaty between the United States and France, concluded on the 4th of July, 1831, requested by their resolution of the 24th instant. ANDREW JACKSON. WASHINGTON, Dec. 27, 1834. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, Dec. 27, 1834. The Secretary of State, to whom has been referred the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 24th instant, requesting the President of the United States "to communicate to the House (if not, in his opinion, incompatible with the public interest) any communications or correspondence which may have taken [H. OF R. place between our minister at Paris and the French Government, or between the minister from France to this Government and the Secretary of State, on the subject of the refusal of the French Government to make provision for the execution of the treaty concluded between the United States and France on the 4th of July, 1831," has the honor of reporting to the President copies of the papers desired by that resolution. It will be perceived that no authority was given to either of the chargés d'affaires who succeeded Mr Rives to enter into any correspondence with the French Government in regard to the merits of the convention, or in relation to its execution, except to urge the prompt de. livery of the papers stipulated for in the 6th article, and to apprize that Government of the arrangement made for receiving payment of the first instalment. All which is respectfully submitted. JOHN FORSYTH. To the PRESIDENT of the United States. On motion of Mr. FOSTER, the message and documents accompanying it were referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and ordered to be printed. On motion of Mr. CAMBRELENG, an extra number of ten thousand copies of the above documents was ordered to be printed. On motion of Mr. REED, an extra number of five thousand copies of the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, in relation to the number and compensation of custom-house officers, was ordered to be printed. The House adjourned. MONDAY, DECEMBER 29. VIVA VOCE ELECTION. After transacting the usual morning business, The following resolution, offered on Wednesday last by Mr. REYNOLDS, was taken up for consideration: Resolved, That hereafter, in all elections made by the House of Representatives, for officers, the votes shall be given viva voce, each member in his place naming aloud the person for whom he votes. Mr. REYNOLDS said that, as the House was very thin, he would move to defer the consideration of the resolution till Monday next, and to make it the special order for that day. Mr. CLAY hoped that the gentleman would change the day, as the day named by him had been already set aside for another subject. Mr. McKENNAN called for a division of the question. He had no objection to the postponement of the resolution, but was opposed to making it a special order. Mr. REYNOLDS modified his motion, and the further consideration of the resolution was postponed to Tuesday week. MEXICAN BOUNDARY LINE. The following resolution, offered on Saturday last by Mr. BYNUM, was taken up for consideration: Resolved, That the Executive be requested to cause to be laid before this House, as soon as practicable, such information in relation to the relative positions of the province of Texas, one of the United Provinces of the Republic of Mexico, and the Government of the United States of North America, as may be in possession of either of the Departments, not deemed incompatible with the interests of either of the two Governments; also, what progress has been made in distinguishing the boundary lines between this Government and the Republic of Mexico, which were to be run in conformity with the stipulations made and entered into between the Government of Spain and that of the United States, as ratified by the latter in Congress, on the 22d February, |