raise this sum, is the exportation of the surplus productions of that country. Shut up the Mississippi, and this source is in a great measure dried up. But suppose this government to look upon the occlusion of the Mississippi without making an effort on that element, where alone it could be made successfully, to remove the blockading force, and at the same time to be vigorously pressing payment for the public lands; I shudder at the consequences. Deep-rooted as I know the affections of the western people to be to the Union, (and I will not admit their patriotism to be surpassed by any other quarter of the country,) if such a state of things were to last any considerable time, I should seriously apprehend a withdrawal of their confidence. Nor, sir, could we derive any apology for the failure to afford this protection from the want of the materials for naval architecture. On the contrary, all the articles entering into the construction of a navy— iron, hemp, timber, pitch, abound in the greatest abundance on the waters of the Mississippi. Kentucky alone, I have no doubt, raised hemp enough the last year for the whole consumption of the United States.

If, as I conceive, gentlemen have been unsuccessful in showing that the downfall of maritime nations is ascribable to their navies, they have been more fortunate in showing, by the instances to which they have referred, that without a marine, no foreign commerce could exist to any extent. It is the appropriate, the natural (if the term may be allowed) connexion of foreign commerce. The shepherd and his faithful dog are not more necessary to guard the flock that browse and gambol on the neighboring mountain. I consider the prosperity of foreign commerce indissolubly allied to marine power. Neglect to provide the one and you must abandon the other. Suppose the expected war with England is commenced, you enter and subjugate Canada, and she still refuses to do you justice-what other possible mode will remain to operate on the enemy but upon that element where alone you can then come in contact with him? And if you do not prepare to protect there your own commerce, and to assail his, will he not sweep from the ocean every vessel bearing your flag, and destroy even the coasting trade? But from the arguments of gentlemen, it would seem to be questioned if foreign commerce is worth the kind of protection insisted upon. What is this foreign commerce, that has suddenly become so inconsiderable? It has, with very trifling aid from other sources, defrayed the expenses of government ever

since the adoption of the present constitution; maintained an expensive and successful war with the Indians; a war with the Barbary powers; a quasi war with France; sustained the charges of suppressing two insurrections, and extinguishing upwards of forty-six millions of the public debt. In revenue it has, since the year 1789, yielded one hundred and ninety-one millions of dollars. During the first four years after the commencement of the present government, the revenue averaged only about two millions annually; during a subsequent period of four years, it rose to an average of fifteen millions annually, or became equivalent to a capital of two hundred and fifty millions of dollars, at an interest of six per centum per annum. And if our commerce is re-established, it will, in the course of time, nett a sum for which we are scarcely furnished with figures in arithmetic. Taking the average of the last nine years, (comprehending, of course, the season of the embargo,) our exports average upwards of thirty-seven millions of dollars, which is equivalent to a capital of more than six hundred millions of dollars, at six per centum interest, all of which must be lost in the event of a destruction of foreign commerce. In the abandonment of that commerce is also involved the sacrifice of our brave tars, who have engaged in the pursuit from which they derive subsistence and support, under the confidence that government would afford them that just protection which is due to all. They will be driven into foreign employment, for it is vain to expect that they will renounce their habits of life.

The spirit of commercial enterprise, so strongly depicted by the gentleman from New York, (Mr. Mitchell,) is diffused throughout the country. It is a passion as unconquerable as any with which nature has endowed us. You may attempt indeed to regulate, but you cannot destroy it. It exhibits itself as well on the waters of the western country as on the waters and shores of the Atlantic. I have heard of a vessel built at Pittsburgh having crossed the Atlantic and entering a European port (I believe that of Leghorn.) The master of the vessel laid his papers before the proper custom officer, which, of course, stated the place of her departure. The officer boldly denied the existence of any such American port as Pittsburgh, and threatened a seizure of the vessel as being furnished with forged papers. The affrighted master procured a map of the United States, and, pointing out the Gulf of Mexico, took the officer to the mouth of the Mississippi-traced the course of the Mississippi more than a

thousand miles to the mouth of the Ohio; and conducting him still: thousand miles higher, to the junction of the Alleghany and Monon gahela-"There," he exclaimed, "stands Pittsburgh, the port fron which I sailed!" The custom-house officer, prior to the productio of this evidence, would have as soon believed that the vessel ha performed a voyage from the moon.

In delivering the sentiments which I have expressed, I consid myself as conforming to a sacred constitutional duty. When t power to provide a navy was confided to Congress, it must have be the intention of the convention to submit only to the discretion of the body the period when that power should be exercised. That perio has, in my opinion, arrived, at least for making a respectable beginning And whilst I thus discharge what I conceive to be my duty, I deriv great pleasure from the reflection that I am supporting a measure ca culated to impart additional strength to our happy Union. Diversifie as are the interests of its various parts, how admirably do they har monize and blend together! We have only to make a proper use o the bounties spread before us, to render us prosperous and powerfu Such a navy as I have contended for, will form a new bond of cor nexion between the States, concentrating their hopes, their interest and their affections.

ON THE NEW ARMY BILL.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, JANUARY 8, 1813.

[WAR was declared against Great Britain on the 18th of June, 1812, and military operations commenced on our Northern frontier, which resulted at first in a series of unexpected and disgraceful disasters to our arms. In the midst of these reverses the election of President came on, and the supporters of the War narrowly escaped being defeated by the choice of DE WITT CLINTON, the Peace candidate, over the incumbent, JAMES MADISON. Congress having re-assembled, the majority immediately applied itself to the adoption of measures calculated to revive the drooping spirits and re-invigorate the arms of the country. First among these was a Bill to Increase the Army, by raising twenty additional regiments. The Bill being under discussion in Committee of the Whole, Mr. CLAY engaged in the debate, addressing the House on the general topics involved, and the merits of the War, as follows:]

I WAS gratified yesterday by the recommitment of this bill to a Committee of the Whole House, from two considerations; one, since it afforded me a slight relaxation from a most fatiguing situation; and the other, because it furnished me with an opportunity of presenting to the Committee my sentiments upon the important topics which have been mingled in the debate. I regret, however, that the necessity under which the Chairman had been placed of putting the question, precluded the opportunity I have wished to enjoy, of rendering more acceptable to the Committee any thing I might have to offer on the interesting points on which it is my duty to touch. Unprepared, however, as I am to speak on this day, of which I am the more sensible, from the ill state of my health, I will solicit the attention of the Committee for a few moments.

I was a little astonished, I confess, when I found this bill permitted to pass silently through the Committee of the Whole, and not selected, until the moment when the question was about to be put for its third reading, as the subject on which gentlemen in the opposition chose to lay before the House their views of the

interesting attitude in which the nation stands.

It did appear to me, that the Loan bill, which will soon come before us, would have afforded a much more proper occasion, it being more essential, as pro viding the ways and means for the prosecution of the war. But the gentlemen had the right of selection, and having exercised it, no matter how improperly, I am gratified, whatever I may think of the character of some part of the debate, at the latitude in which, for once, they have been indulged. I claim only, in return, of gentlemen on the other side of the House, and of the Committee, a like indulgence in expressing my sentiments, with the same unrestrained freedom. Perhaps, in the course of the remarks which I may feel myself called upon to make, gentlemen may apprehend that they assume too harsh an aspect; but I have only now to say, that I shall speak of parties, measures, and things, as they strike my moral sense, protesting against the imputation of any intention, on my part, to wound the feelings of any gentleman.

Considering the situation in which this country is now placed-a state of actual war with one of the most powerful nations on the earth-it may not be useless to take a view of the past, and of the various parties which have at different times appeared in this country, and to attend to the manner by which we have been driven from a peaceful posture, to our present warlike attitude. Such an inquiry may assist in guiding us to that result, an honorable peace, which must be the sincere desire of every friend to America. The course of that opposition, by which the administration of the government has been unremittingly impeded for the last twelve years, is singular, and, I believe, unexampled in the history of any country. It has been alike the duty and the interest of the administration to preserve peace. It was their duty, because it is necessary to the growth of an infant people, to their genius, and to their habits. It was their interest, because a change of the condition of the nation brings along with it a danger of the loss of the affections of the people. The administration has not been forgetful of these solemn obligations. No art has been left unessayed; no experiment, promising a favorable result, left untried, to maintain the peaceful relations of the country. When, some six or seven years ago, the affairs of the nation assumed a threating aspect, a partial non-importation was adopted. As they grew more alarming, an embargo was imposed. It would have accomplished its purpose, but it