Part 207

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two-thirds of both Houses concurring, That the first section of the third article of the Constitution of the United States be so altered and amended “that the judges of the courts thereof shall hold their offices for a term of years; that they shall be removed by the President of the United States on the address of the majority of the members present, of the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled; and that on all trials of impeachment for high crimes and misdemeanors, a majority of the Senate shall be competent to conviction.”

And the resolution was read, and referred to Mr. TIFFIN and others, the committee appointed the 25th of January last, on this subject, to consider and report thereon.

Death of Hon. John Dickinson.

Mr. WHITE.--Mr. President: It is with much pain and regret, sir, that I rise to announce to the Senate the irreparable loss our country has sustained in the death of one of her worthiest citizens and most distinguished patriots. Time has measured and told the days of another venerable sage of the Revolution. JOHN DICKINSON, the illustrious cotemporary and friend of Washington and Franklin, is now no more--his head and his heart devoted to the service and love of his country, till his locks were bleached by the frosts of more than seventy winters, have now descended in silence to the grave. No humble eulogy of mine shall attempt to approach his exalted merit. The happiness of his fellow-citizens was his only aim, and upon the grateful hearts of his countrymen is indelibly engraven the dearest memento of his wisdom and his worth. Those who shared his personal acquaintance will never forget his private virtues--volumes from his pen, that do honor to the age, that will be read and admired as long as the love of science and freedom shall be cherished, record his inflexible patriotism; and the liberties of this country, which he contributed so essentially in establishing, will I hope long, very long indeed, sir, continue to be the proud and unshaken monument of his fame. The feelings of every gentleman of this honorable body will I am sure be in unison on the motion I am about to propose; it is an humble tribute of respect to the memory of the deceased, in the form of the following resolution:

Resolved, unanimously, That the Senate is penetrated with the full sense of the merit and patriotism of the late JOHN DICKINSON, Esq., deceased, and that the members thereof do wear crape on the left arm for one month, in testimony of the national gratitude and reverence towards the memory of that illustrious patriot.

This resolution was immediately adopted.

WEDNESDAY, March 2.

Impressment of American Seamen.

The following Message was received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:

To the Senate of the United States:

In compliance with a resolution of the Senate, of November 30, 1807, I now transmit a report of the Secretary of State on the subject of impressments, as requested in that resolution. The great volume of the documents, and the time necessary for the investigation, will explain to the Senate the causes of the delay which has intervened.

TH. JEFFERSON.

MARCH 2, 1808.

* * * * *

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Feb. 29, 1808.

Agreeably to a resolution of the Senate of the 30th November last, the Secretary of State has the honor to submit to the President, for the information of the Senate, the statements herewith enclosed, from No. 1 to 18, inclusive.

No. 1. A statement of impressments from American vessels into the British service, since the last report made from this department on the 5th March, 1806, founded upon documents transmitted in the first instance to this office.

Those from No. 2 to 13 inclusive, being a series of returns and abstracts received from General Lyman, the agent of the United States at London, giving an account of the applications made by him in relation to seamen, from 1st April, 1806, to 30th June, 1807, and of the result of those applications, and exhibiting other particulars required by the resolution.

Not having received any returns from the West Indies since the date of the last report to the House of Representatives on this subject, nor from General Lyman for the quarter ending on the 1st January last, the Secretary of State has not the means at present of giving, with any degree of precision, the information asked for in the last clause of the resolution. From the returns in the office it would appear that four thousand two hundred and twenty-eight American seamen had been impressed into the British service since the commencement of the war, and that nine hundred and thirty-six of this number had been discharged, leaving in that service three thousand two hundred and ninety-two. General Lyman, in a letter dated on the 21st October, 1807, estimates the American seamen now detained in the British service at a number greatly beyond what is here stated; but he does not give the data on which his estimate is made.

All which is respectfully submitted.

JAMES MADISON.

The PRESIDENT of the United States.

The Message and papers were read, and ordered to lie for consideration.

FRIDAY, April 1.

Case of John Smith.

This being the day assigned for hearing counsel, the PRESIDENT said the Senate were ready to hear the counsel of JOHN SMITH, in any thing they had to offer why the resolution (for expelling him) should not be adopted.

Mr. ADAMS submitted it to the Senate, whether it was not most proper that the counsel should be permitted to show cause why the report should not be adopted. He remarked that in like cases the whole report, comprising the grounds on which the final resolution was founded, had been the subject of discussion, and of approbation or rejection. He considered this the correct course, that the world and posterity might know the grounds on which the Senate acted.

A short conversation ensued on this suggestion of Mr. ADAMS, in which the principles of the report were incidentally noticed. In reply to Mr. ADAMS’ remarks, it was said that it could not be expected that a deliberative body, however agreed in the guilt or innocence of the accused, would be able to unite in their agreement to a complicated report, embracing a variety of abstract and disputable principles.