as eminent contributors to the national welfare, as indispensable agents in the accumulation and diffusion of the national wealth, and as worthy representatives of the national character in the wide extent of their commercial relations. The The merchants of New York are and always have been the principal debtors of the Government, or its principal agents in the collection of its revenue. At the custom-house in that city, and from the hands of its merchants, there have already been collected between two and three hundred millions of dollars for the use of the country; more than one half of the imposts regularly accrue there; and upon the ability and integrity of the merchants of New York, therefore, the Government must mainly depend for its available resources. facts which are upon the records of the Treasury Department attest that, while the Government has always been a strict, and sometimes an inexorable, creditor, it has sustained only the most inconsiderable loss from the insolvency or fraud of its debtors in New York. Hitherto, they have rarely as individuals, and never collectively, urged claims to its indulgence, but have promptly and scrupulously fulfilled their engagements; occasionally, too, during periods of serious embarrassments. Even now, when overwhelmed with distress, they adhere strictly to their obligations, and not a bond, except by the voluntary permission of the collector, remains unpaid. Since the fire, the collector, in the use of a sound discretion, although in the exercise of an authority not strictly conferred by law, has permitted bonds to lie over, conformably to a suggestion of the Secretary of the Treasury that some seasonable measure of relief might be expected from Congress. The present bill is designed to satisfy that expectation. Having said thus much in justice to the city of New York, to the character of its merchants, and to their relation to the Government, I will ask the attention of the committee to some of the circumstances of the case which have determined my own judgment in regard to the expediency of the provision contained in the second section. The fire laid waste a section of the city occupied, by the merchants as a place of business. When I visited the scene a few days after the sad event, I, beheld, an area of fifty acres covered with smoking, ruins, and strewed with fragments of damaged goods partially res cued from the flames. I perceived at once that the immense mass of buildings which had been thus laid prostrate consisted almost entirely of warehouses, the occu pants of which I recollected to have been chiefly importing merchants, commission houses, or grocers, such as were always the holders of heavy stocks of goods, the aggregate value of which must have usually exceeded the largest estimate of the loss which is supposed to have been sustained. I was told that the work of destruction had been so rapid that, in addition to the loss of buildings and goods, many of the merchants had not been able to save their books, notes, and papers. Now, Mr. Chairman, viewing this fire as a commercial embarrassment, I wish to remark that no ordinary estimate of the value of buildings and goods destroyed can convey a sufficient idea of the actual suffering which has been produced, nor even of the positive pecuniary loss which has been and is yet to be sustained. These sufferers are almost exclusively merchants, who were holding a large amount of property, enjoying an extensive credit, and engaged in profitable business. In consequence of this fire, not only is their property destroyed, but, to a greater or less extent, their credit must be impaired, and their business, for a time at least, is stopped. All their previous engagements, nevertheless, remain to be fulfilled. The fire, while it has destroyed their property, has left the debts which they owe untouched. [H. or R. While it has burned their books, it has not finally balan- Without going into further details, Mr. Chairman, I leave you to judge, from this strictly accurate description, of the actual condition of the merchants who were immediate sufferers by the fire. Estimate if you can the necessary effect of these combined causes of suffering: destruction of property, diminution of credit, suspension of business, overhanging debts, failure of insurancefollow them out in their remote consequences, and contingent results, and tell me what sum of money will suf ficiently denote the real extent of the deplorable calamity? Set down the loss of buildings and goods at $25,000,000, and consider this as only the first item in the account. Estimate the value of the credit which such a capital in the hands of merchants in active business would usually command, and make that the second item. Calculate the accruing profits of the business in which all these merchants were engaged, and also determine what the privilege is worth to so many merchants item. Conjecture (for it can only be conjectural) the of being well established in business; let this be the third amount of the sacrifices of property which the pressure of debts, under such circumstances, and the suspension of demands against insurers, must occasion; and stop here: what is the aggregate? Could the figures be cast and the sum stated, I think it would be sufficient to convince the most incredulous that the immediate sufferers are entitled, at least, to the scanty, indulgence which the first section of the bill provides for them. I think it would also be a convincing and alarming proof that such immediate sufferers, but must, in its consequences, exan overwhelming calamity cannot be confined to the tend far beyond them. I think it would satisfy the gentleman from Kentucky that such an amount of loss may have given "a shock" to the business and credit of the whole city; and I am sure it must compel him, if he will undertake to estimate it, to carry his conceptions far beyond his ordinary standard of magnitude in money matters, and quite as much beyond the range of his previous acquaintance with the nature and extent of commercial transactions. When the ravages of the fire had ceased, and the inhabitants began to recover from the bewildering sensations of terror and alarm which at the instant overcame them, how did they regard their general situation? They saw, as they were collected on the spot, that though only a section of the city had been destroyed, the whole community was doomed to suffer by the calamity; that, though the wound was local, the stroke of the destroyer had been aimed at the heart; that, though it was an easy matter to complete the list of immediate sufferers, it was difficult to know where to begin or where to end in enumerating the many and many others who could not escape uninjured. The merchants, more especially, instantly perceived that not one of their number was a H. OF R.] Sufferers by Fire in New York. [FEB. 16, 1836. were men of business more unprepared for sudden reverses and severe pressure, and yet never, perhaps, has there been more signal occasion to apprehend both. The overtrading of the past year, the rage for wild speculation, the abused spirit of enterprise, have led, as it would seem, to almost every conceivable misapplication of capital, in whatever form it exists, and to an extension of the system of credit to so dangerous an extreme that it is difficult to imagine any mode of rescue from the evils which it must produce. The present state of the money market affords some indication of what may yet be expected; and let any member, who has the means of forming a correct judgment, turn his attention to the general situation, at the present moment, of men of business, and of the many who, in the use of the most unheard-of expedients, and under the impulse of the maddest passion for adventure, have forced their projects and extended their transactions so vastly beyond the views and purposes of men of business, properly so called; let him endeavor to form some idea of the unprecedented financial demands of the coming year, of the engagements to be met, the contracts to be fulfilled, the notes and bonds to be paid; let him consider the strained condition of the State banks, and the necessary effects of the approaching dissolution of the Bank of the United States, unless, indeed, they are to be obviated by a modified resuscitation of that important institution; let him anticipate the various vicissitudes which usually precede and follow a diminution of the value of the leading staples of the country and a general depreciation of real and personal property; let him notice the consequences already experienced at New Orleans of a suspension of the trade with Mexico; let him bear in mind the contingencies to which all branches of our foreign trade are constantly liable; and then let him judge of the influence-the combined influence, as it may prove-of all these causes of commercial embarrassment upon the straitened condition of the merchan's of New York. Let him then decide whether the circumstances are not, or may not be, such as to justify this Government in extending to its debtors, and all its debtors, in that distressed city, the same measure of indulgence which, amongst themselves, no creditor is sufficiently regardless of his honor or his interest deliberately to refuse. Let him decide whether, when all their other applications for assistance have been freely granted, their resort to the General Government shall be coldly, and sternly, and harshly repulsed. Let him consider whether, when the stroke which has fallen so heavily upon that city is unithat can be done for her relief must be alike regarded as a national benefit, he will assume the responsibility of deciding that this Government may safely, and wisely, and honorably, postpone the claims of its debtors, and refuse to listen to the united and urgent appeals of so many of its citizens. disinterested spectator of such a scene of ruin; but that, The crisis of their fate is still impending. The extent of the calamity is not yet developed in its results, and a period is approaching which must put to the severest test their ability to support themselves. Independently of their own fruitful sources of embarrassment, the signs of the times indicate a fearful tendency of events to aggravate and multiply the dangers of their situation. What is the state of things in the country at large? Greatly brightened, I delight to acknowledge, by the cheering intelligence which we have this day received, but still sufficiently perplexed to deserve anxious consideration. A year of unexampled prosperity has closed, and another year has commenced, of which they who survive its termination may be obliged to render a different account. A year has commenced fraught with results which must leave a durable impression upon the political and financial condition of the country. Never I have already noticed some of the objections that have been urged against this bill: there are others which may be supposed to deserve consideration. The gentleman from Kentucky, [Mr. HARDIN,] with his characteristic prompt. ness, commenced an attack upon the hill before, as it proved, he had become acquainted with its provisions; and, in the use of his accustomed weapons of sarcasm and invective, endeavored to array against it the untimely influence of sectional and political prejudice. In glancing at his objections, let me respectfully suggest to him, that, if it be the misfortune of these debtors, it surely is not their fault, that the city in which they reside has become the principal depository of the public revenue; and that the Government does not make the most profitable use of its funds which are there collected. If it be their misfortune, it surely is not their fault, that the State of which they are citizens possesses, under the constitution, 1 a vast share of political influence; and that this influence, here and elsewhere, has been, and is likely to be, applied to purposes which that gentleman does not approve. Upon this occasion, he ought to remember that the claim presented for his consideration is one totally disconnected with political or sectional considerations--the simple, naked, and (as I had hoped all would regard it) indisputable, irresistible claim of the sufferers by an unprecedented calamity, who claim no other service at his hands but such as is due to the circumstances to which this calamity has reduced them. He ought to remember that, if so large a proportion of the revenue is, and must continue to be, collected and deposited in the city of New York, it is of great importance to the interests of the Government to prevent the occurrence of general embarrassment and distress; one consequence of which will be, to endanger the security of the present deposites, and greatly to enhance the risk of bad debts, in respect to the bonds which remain unpaid. He ought to remember that, upon the prosperity of New York, the accruing resources of the Government are immediately dependent; and that, whatever the Government may now do for the temporary accommodation of the merchants of that city will be more than repaid to the national Treasury by the future results of their persevering and successful enterprise. The gentleman also owes it to himself, to his constituents, and to the country, not to forget that all sectional interests are merged in the welfare of the great commercial metropolis of the Union. He should not forget that such are the indissoluble relations of New York to all parts of the country, that they must share in its prosperity and misfortunes. He should not forget that, directly or indirectly, the planters, manufacturers, and traders of Kentucky have always something at stake in New York; and that he fails to consult their interests, and must be presumed to oppose their wishes, when, in a time of the greatest need, he refuses to extend the helping hand of the Government for the relief of those with whom, by all the ties of mutual dependence, his constituents and the people of the whole country are thus intimately connected. I am sure, sir, that I do not give to this consideration an undue importance. I am sure that neither the gentleman from Kentucky, nor any other gentleman who will allow himself to exercise a practical judgment upon this view of the subject, will disagree to the conclusion that the business of New York is, in effect, the business of the whole country; and that a sudden interruption and extensive derangement of the business of that city will prove a check to the prosperity of the whole country. The gentleman from Rhode Island [Mr. PEARCE] has tasked his ingenuity to produce popular objections to the object of this bill, and has perhaps been more successful than the gentleman from Kentucky in exciting the prejudices of some members against it. He has proved, I think, that the title of the bill is not sufficiently definite, but has erred in supposing that the object which he consideres to be implied in the title is, or ought to be, recognised in our legislation. The provisions of the bill are designed to extend the indulgence of the Government to those who are its debtors in the city of New York, and exclusively to such as are its debtors. It proposes to afford them the same indulgence which other creditors, under similar circumstances-which other creditors in New York, at this moment--have extended to their debtors. If it were proposed, if it were expedient, to attempt to relieve all sufferers by the fire, without reference to the peculiar relation which some of them sustain to the Government, the gentleman would do right to vindicate the claims of such as are not now provided for; and, if the bill were designed to be merely an act of charity, he might properly argue that the merchants of New York are the last who should receive, as he [H. or R. must well know they are the last who would accept, the bounty of the Government. But when the gentleman perceives that the single object of the bill (which I agree ought to be expressed in its title) is to make an equitable provision for the debtors of the Government, as such, he can hardly consider it a justifiable mode of defeating this object, to attempt to asperse, not their character, but their occupation, and to inveigh, not at all against the equity of their claims, in reference to the grounds upon which alone the claims are urged, but in a strain-I will not say of vulgar abuse--but of unmerited censure, against the necessary incidents of the rank in society to which the circumstances of these debtors have entitled them. I have no doubt that the recent fire has furnished many cases of such as are not debtors of the Government, whose claims to sympathy and relief are quite as strong as the gentleman represents them; and I hope and believe that those claims will be cheerfully recog nised by all to whom they can be properly addressed. It may be fortunate for such sufferers that the Government is not one of the creditors to whom they must now appeal for indulgence, but that they have only to resort to their neighbors, the merchants, for the ready acquiescence of the facilities they need. Yes, sir, to the abused and denounced merchants, upon whom the tradesmen and mechanics, so warmly and deservedly eulogized by the gentleman, are immediately dependent for credit and employment, and in whose stability (to which the proposed relief may prove essential) the only hopes of these tradesmen and mechanics are directly and deeply involved. Let me advise the gentleman, then, to consider whether he can do a greater injury to the very class of whose interests he aspires to be regarded as the especial advocate, than by acting himself, and endeavoring to persuade the committee to act, upon the supposition that their interests can be otherwise than injuriously affected by whatever is calculated to excite distrust, and to produce ill will, and to direct the force of the most illiberal prejudice against their only patrons and their best friends. Let him consider, further, whether, at this critical moment, when the working classes of New York have their all at stake upon the ability of the merchants to recover from the disaster which threatens to overwhelm them, he will not prove himself the true friend of the working classes, by advocating, upon this occasion, in reference to their proper object, the claims of the merchants. The gentleman from Rhode Island makes it another cause of complaint against the bill, that it not only provides for the relief of those who are almost exclusively merchants, but that some of them, also, do not happen to be American citizens. My answer to this objection is, very briefly, that they are, nevertheless, debtors of the Government, and, as such, entitled to share, without discrimination, in whatever policy the Government may see fit to adopt towards its debtors. It is the honorable characteristic of our commercial system, that it offers every facility for the introduction of foreign cap. ital; that it invites to our ports the ships and the merchants of all nations, (who do not refuse to reciprocate the privilege,) and that, in the distribution of burdens and benefits, it makes no distinction whatever between citizens and foreigners. New York has been built up by the aid of foreign capital and enterprise; the reve nue which has been there collected has been always contributed, in a considerable measure, by foreigners or their agents; and since, as the gentleman represents, the recent calamity has fallen so heavily upon the French and other foreign houses established in the city, the statement of that fact affords a sufficient reason for extending to them whatever benefit they may gain, as debtors of the Government, from the general operation of the bill. The gentleman from Rhode Island has made an elaborate investigation of precedents, and has shown, very conclusively, that they do not exhibit a uniform practice of the Government; but that, deciding every case upon its own merits, and with more or less consideration, Congress has sometimes granted and sometimes refused applications somewhat similar to this. From the number of such precedents, and from the fact that previous decisions have been thus contradictory, I can readily infer that there is an inherent defect in the existing laws, which, as I believe, and have stated, can only be remedied by the introduction of the warehousing system, under which such cases could not occur; but, as the precedents do not establish a general rule, and as the present case is marked by circumstances in many respects unprecedented, I do not see any thing that should deter us from the exercise of an independent judgment in deciding it. The gentleman from Rhode Island grounds another objection upon the fact that the relief afforded by this bill is so inconsiderable that it cannot be desirable. It is indeed fortunate for the merchants and for the Gov. ernment that the fire did not occur a few years sooner, when almost all imported goods were subject to duty, and in many instances a very heavy duty, and when of course the average amount of bonds remaining unpaid must have vastly exceeded the sum which is now payable. If the amount of duties upon goods destroyed by the fire, instead of being, as it is, less than a million of dollars, had not been less than five millions, and if the amount of duties upon other goods, payable at the moment, instead of being between three and four millions, had not been less than fifteen or twenty millions, I agree that the magnitude of the claims of the public debtors would have been such that the Government must have yielded to the necessity, the uncontrollable necessity, of the most liberal and extraordinary measure of relief. Still, the duty of the Government is not to be strictly measured by the magnitude of the claims; and, if it were, I can deduce no other conclusion from the gentleman's premises than that, under the existing circumstances of this case, we ought to do far more than the bill proposes a conclusion, to say the least, manifestly incompatible with the gentleman's avowed determination to do nothing. The relief afforded by the bill, I am free to admit, does not correspond to the exigency of the case. I hope that still more may be done; especially that another bill for the remission of duties upon goods burned may be reported and passed, and that the Secretary of the Treas ury may give such a direction to the public funds already collected and constantly accruing at New York, as to make them available for the greater accommodation of the mercantile community, from whom these funds have been derived.. An enlightened policy seems to me to justify and require such an administration of the finances at the present moment; and its results, I am well persuaded, must be extensively and permanently beneficial. I say, then, let all this be done, and let this bill be passed, in the first instance, as a measure of simple justice and manifest expediency, and as an earnest of the disposition of Congress to sanction the other measures which should succeed it. Let this bill, at least, be judged and decided upon its own merits; and, if there remains no other objection to it than that it does not afford sufficient relief, let that objection be removed, as has been just suggested, by further legislation, and by the arrangements of the Treasury Department. The gentleman from Rhode Island does not exaggerate the influence and importance of the city of New York. That city sustains a relation to the Government and the country which gives her a right at all times to claim from both the most favorable consideration. At [FEB. 17, 1836. the present moment her call upon the Government, specially warranted by the circumstances of her situation, is enforced by numerous and simultaneous demonstra. tions of the approbation of the country. It is not the call of New York alone. Philadelphia has seconded the call with a spirit worthy of the name she bears. Baltimore has instructed her representatives to sustain her honor by supporting any practicable measures of relief. Boston, speaking for Massachusetts, has invoked the members from that State to a like generous co-operation. The memorial of New Orleans is the spontaneous and emphatic utterance of the voice of the West. It is not the call of New York alone; but every where, along the coast and throughout the interior, wherever there has been an expression of public sympathy, it is coupled with an earnest appeal to Congress. us answer the appeal by an act that shall be worthy of the constituted guardians of the national interests and the national honor. Let WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17. REMOVAL OF CREEK INDIANS. Mr. GLASCOCK asked the consent of the House to submit the following resolution, which was read for information: Resolved, That the Committee on Indian Affairs be instructed to inquire into the expediency of adopting measures for the immediate removal of the Creek Indians to the allotted territory in treaty of the 24th of March, 1832. Mr. GLASCOCK said, in offering the resolution, he was influenced from circumstances and events which had recently transpired between a portion of the citizens of Georgia and the Creek Indians; and, although there had been a partial adjustment of the difficulties between the commanding officer in that quarter (General McDugald) and some of the principal chiefs, yet he felt assured there were many turbulent and disaffected Indians of the nation who could not be controlled, and would continue to commit their depredations on our citizens, and keep them in a continued state of alarm and excite. ment. Mr. G. said he had just been apprized, toc, that the Executive of the State had found it necssary to organize a battalion of volunteers, for the immediate de. fence and protection of our citizens in that quarter, the great expense of which might well be conceived; but it is due to that section of the State that it should be done, and he was gratified to find such a measure had been promptly accepted. But, Mr. G. said, he felt satisfied permanent peace and security would never be given to our frontier citizens, until there was a final removal of the whole nation to their allotted territory under the treaty of 1824, and it was with this view he offered the resolution suggesting the inquiry, and felt assured that some measure might be adopted by the present Congress to give satisfaction to our justly excited and exasperated fellow-citizens, and enable them again to pursue, in peace and tranquillity, their usual avocations; he therefore hoped the House would vote for the adoption of the resolution, that some immediate action might be had on the subject. The SPEAKER reminded the gentleman that the resolution was not before the House, and that the consent of the House to its reception must be first obtained before it could be debated. Objection being made, Mr. GLASCOCK moved a FEB. 17, 1836.] Suspension of the Rules-Sufferers by Fire in New York. [H. OF R. suspension of the rule, in order to enable him to submited from the day when the same were paid, and said pay. ments refunded." his proposition; which was negatived. SUSPENSION OF THE RULES. Mr. R. M. JOHNSON moved to suspend the rules, for the purpose of considering the bill providing for the pay. ment of the volunteers and military corps in the service of the United States; which was negatived. Mr. JOHNSON subsequently moved to suspend the rules in order to enable him to submit a motion, making the foregoing bill the special order for one hour to-morrow morning, after the reception of reports from committees. Mr. ASHLEY moved to amend the motion, so as to include the bill authorizing the President of the United States to accept the service of volunteers; which was negatived. The motion to suspend the rules was agreed to: Ayes 112, noes 38. Mr. JOHNSON then submitted the motion indicated; which was carried. Mr. MANN, of New York, moved to suspend the rules until one o clock, for the purpose of receiving petitions, excepting petitions for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia; which was negatived. CAPTAIN NATHAN HALE. Mr. JUDSON, from the select committee on that subject, moved to take up the joint resolution in relation to the monument proposed to be erected to the memory of Captain Nathan Hale, for the purpose of reading it a second time by its title, and committing it; which was agreed to. The resolution was then read a second time; when Mr. JUDSON moyed that it be committed to a Committee of the Whole on the state of Union. Mr. VINTON moved to commit the resolution to a Committee of the Whole House. He deprecated the practice of sending ordinary matters to the Committee on the state of the Union. He was not opposed to the present resolution, but had made the motion to refer it to a Committee of the Whole House, in order, if possible, to arrest the improper practice to which he had referred. Mr. JUDSON adverted to the patriotic character of the resolution, and urged the propriety of the motion which he had submitted. He regretted that the gentle man from Ohio [Mr. VINTON] should have selected this resolution as the occasion upon which to oppose what that gentleman considered an improper practice which had obtained in reference to the mode of proceeding upon measures before the House. Mr. EVANS coincided in the remarks of the gentleman from Ohio. In the present instance, he contended that it was incompetent for the gentleman from Connecticut [Mr. JUDSON] to submit this motion, under the authority of the select committee raised on the subject referred to. That committee had reported. Their functions had therefore ceased. The hour devoted to morning business having expired, the Chair announced the special order, being the bill for the relief of the SUFFERERS BY FIRE IN NEW YORK. On motion of Mr. CAMBRELENG, the House then resolved itself into a Committee on the Whole on the state of the Union, and took up the said bill. The question pending was the motion of Mr. HARDIN to strike out the first proviso in the first section, which is in the following words: "Provided, That those who are within the provisions of this section, but who may have paid their bonds subsequent to the late fire, shall also be entitled to the bene. fit of this section, and that the said bonds shall be renew Mr. GRAVES, who was entitled to the floor, addressed the Chair to the following effect: From the latitude allowed those who have preceded me in this debate, I hope it will not be considered out of order in me to speak to the merits of the whole bill. I have entertained the opinion, since the first Introduction of this bill, that we could not, in accordance with sound policy and correct principles of legislation, grant the relief proposed by it to the unfortunate victims of this most unprecedented calamity; much less extend the operations of the bill, as proposed in the second section, to all such merchants as are not included in the first, and who, though they had suffered no loss by the late fire, were indebted to the Government for duties at the port of New York, by bonds that fell due prior thereto. Laboring under the influence of that almost universal sympathy which was pervading the community for the objects of this affliction, I have felt a strong and sincere desire, if I could consistently with my convictions of duty, to give my support to this bill; yet, although I have given a most patient and impartial hearing to all that has been said in support of it, my opinions remain unchanged. The honorable member from Massachusetts, [Mr. PHILLIPS,] who last addressed the committee, in a very elaborate, able, and truly eloquent speech, has occupied all the grounds, in my humble conception, that can be urged in support of this measure, and that, too, in a manner most peculiarly felicitous. The first section of the bill provides: "That the collector of the port of New York be, and he is hereby, authorized, as he may deem best calculated to secure the interests of the United States, to cause to be extended (with the assent of the sureties thereon) to all persons who have suffered loss of property by the late conflagration at that place, the time of payment of all bonds heretofore given by them for duties, to periods not exceeding three, four, and five years, in equal instalments, from and after the day of payment specified in the bonds; or to allow the said bonds to be cancelled, upon giving to the said collector new bonds, with one or more sureties, to the satisfaction of the said collector, for the sums of the former bonds, respectively, payable in equal instalments, in three, four, and five years, from and after the day of payment specified in the bonds to be taken up or cancelled, as aforesaid, and the said collector is hereby authorized and directed to give up or cancel all such bonds upon the receipt of others described in this act; which last-mentioned bonds shall be proceeded with in all respects like other bonds which are taken by collectors for duties due to the United States: Provided, That those who are designed to be relieved by this section, and who may have paid their bonds subsequent to the late fire, shall also be entitled to the benefit of this sec. tion, and that the said bonds shall be renewed from the day when the same were paid." The second section provides "that the collector of the port of New York is hereby authorized and directed to extend the payment, in the manner prescribed in the first section of this act, of all other bonds given for duties at the port of New York prior to the late fire, and not provided for in the first section aforesaid, for six, nine, and twelve months, from and after the day of payment specified in the bonds: Provided, however, That nothing contained in this act shall extend to bonds which had fallen due before the seventeenth of December last." I, Mr. Chairman, gave my undivided and most special attention to each and every position taken by that honorable gentleman in the progress of his argument, and propose, as briefly as the nature of the case will admit, to review such of them as bear upon the real merits of this question. Before, however, I proceed to a con |