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result a disposition is manifested on the part of that nation, corresponding with the disposition of the United States, which, it may be hoped, will be improved into liberal arrangements on other subjects, on which the parties have mutual interests, or which might endanger their future harmony. Congress will decide on the expediency of promoting such a sequel, by giving effect to the measure of confining the American navigation to American seamen; a measure which, at the same time that it might have that conciliatory tendency, would have the further advantage of increasing the independence of our navigation, and the resources for our maritime defence.

In conformity with the articles in the Treaty of Ghent, relating to the Indians, as well as with a view to the tranquillity of our Western and Northern frontiers, measures were taken to establish an immediate peace with the several tribes who had been engaged in hostilities against the United States. Such of them as were invited to Detroit acceded readily to a renewal of the former treaties of friendship. Of the other tribes who were invited to a station on the Mississippi, the greatest number have also accepted the peace offered to them. The residue, consisting of the more distant tribes, or parts of tribes, remain to be brought over by further explanations, or by such other means as may be adapted to the dispositions they may finally disclose. The Indian tribes within, and bordering on the Southern frontier, whom a cruel war on their part had compelled us to chastise into peace, have latterly shown a restlessness, which has called for preparatory measures for repressing it, and for protecting the Commissioners engaged in carrying the terms of peace into

execution.

SENATE.

decision by the standard of comparative merit could seldom be attained. Judged, however, in candor, by a general standard of positive merit, the Army register will, it is believed, do honor to the establishment; while the case of those officers, whose names are not included in it, devolves, with the strongest interest, upon the Legislative authority, for such provision as shall be deemed the best calculated to give support and solace to the veteran and the invalid; to display the beneficence, as well as the justice, of the Government; and to inspire a martial zeal for the public service upon every future emergency.

Although the embarrassments arising from the want of an uniform National currency have not been diminished since the adjournment of Congress, great satisfaction has been derived in contemplating the revival of the public credit, and the efficiency of the public resources. The receipts into the Treasury, from the va rious branches of revenue, during the nine months ending on the 30th of September last, have been estimated at twelve millions and a half of dollars; the issues of Treasury notes of every denomination, during the same period, amounted to the sum of fourteen millions of dollars; and there was also obtained upon loan, during the same period, a sum of nine millions of dollars; of which the sum of six millions of dollars was subscribed in cash, and the sum of three millions of dollars in Treasury notes. With these means, added to the sum of one million and a half of dollars, being the balance of money in the Treasury on the first of January, there has been paid, between the first of January and the first of October, on account of the appropriations of the preceding and of the present year, (exclusively of the amount of the Treasury notes subscribed to the loan, and of the amount redeemed in the payment of duties and taxes,) the aggregate sum of thirty-three millions and a half of dollars, leaving a balance then in the Treasury estimated at the sum of three millions of dollars. Independent, however, of the arrearages due for military services and supplies, it is presumed that a further sum of five millions of dollars, including the interest on the public debt payable on the first of January next, will be demanded at the Treasury to complete the expenditures of the present year, and for which the existing ways and means will sufficiently provide.

The execution of the act for fixing the Military Peace Establishment, has been attended with difficulties which even now can only be overcome by Legislative aid. The selection of officers; the payment and discharge of the troops enlisted for the war; the payment of the retained troops, and their re-union from detached and distant stations; the collection and security of the public property in the Quartermaster, Commissary, and Ordnance Departments; and the constant medical assistance required in hospitals and garrisons, rendered a complete execution of the act impracticable on the first of May, the period more immediately contemplated. As soon, however, as cirThe National debt, as it was ascertained on the first cumstances would permit, and as far as it has been of October last, amounted in the whole to the sum of practicable, consistently with the public interests, the one hundred and twenty millions of dollars, consisting reduction of the Army has been accomplished; but of the unredeemed balance of the debt contracted bethe appropriations for its pay and for other branches fore the late war, (thirty-nine millions of dollars,) the of the military service, having proved inadequate, the amount of the funded debt contracted in consequence earliest attention to that subject will be necessary; of the war, (sixty-four millions of dollars,) and the and the expediency of continuing, upon the Peace Es-amount of the unfunded and floating debt, (including the tablishment, the staff officers who have hitherto been various issues of Treasury notes,) seventeen millions provisionally retained, is also recommended to the con- of dollars, which is in a gradual course of payment. sideration of Congress. There will, probably, be some addition to the public debt, upon the liquidation of various claims, which are depending; and a conciliatory disposition on the part of Congress may lead honorably and advantageously to an equitable arrangement of the militia expenses incurred by the several States, without the previous sanction or authority of the Government of the United States; but when it is considered that the new, as well as the old portion of the debt has been contracted in the assertion of the national rights and independence; and when it is recollected that the public expenditures, not being exclusively bestowed upon subjects of a transient nature, will long be visible in the

In the performance of the Executive duty upon this occasion, there has not been wanting a just sensibility to the merits of the American Army during the late war: but the obvious policy and design in fixing an efficient Military Peace Establishment did not afford an opportunity to distinguish the aged and infirm, on account of their past services; nor the wounded and disabled, on account of their present sufferings. The extent of the reduction, indeed, unavoidably involved the exclusion of many meritorious officers of every rank from the service of their country; and so equal, as well as so numerous, were the claims to attention, that a

SENATE.

President's Message.

number and equipments of the American navy, in the military works for the defence of our harbors and our frontiers, and in the supplies of our arsenals and magazines, the amount will bear a gratifying comparison with the objects which have been attained, as well as with the resources of the country.

The arrangements of the finances, with a view to the receipts and expenditures of a permanent Peace Establishment, will necessarily enter into the deliberations of Congress during the present session. It is true that the improved condition of the public revenue will not afford the means of maintaining the faith of the Government with its creditors inviolate, and of prosecuting, successfully, the measures of the most liberal policy, but will also justify an immediate alleviation of the burdens imposed by the necessities of the war. It is, however, essential to every modification of the finances, that the benefits of an uniform National currency should be. restored to the community. The absence of the precious metals will, it is believed, be a temporary evil; but, until they can again be rendered the general medium of exchange, it devolves on the wisdom of Congress to provide a substitute, which, shall equally engage the confidence, and accommodate the wants of the citizens throughout the Union. If the operation of the State banks cannot produce this result, the probable operation of a National Bank will merit consideration; and if neither of these expedients be deemed effectual, it may become necessary to ascertain the terms upon which the notes of the Government (no longer required as an instrument of credit) shall be issued, upon motives of general policy, as a common medium of circulation.

DECEMBER, 1815.

ally, the physical power of the Union in the cases designated by the Constitution.

The signal services which have been rendered by our Navy, and the capacities it has developed for successful co-operation in the national defence, will give to that portion of the public force its full value in the eyes of Congress, at an epoch which calls for the constant vigilance of all Governments. To preserve the ships now in a sound state; to complete those already contemplated; to provide amply the imperishable materials for prompt augmentations, and to improve the existing arrangements into more advantageous establishments, for the construction, the repairs, and the security of the vessels of war, is dictated by the soundest policy.

In adjusting the duties on imports, to the object of revenue, the influence of the tariff on manufactures will necessarily present itself for consideration. However wise the theory may be, which leaves to the sagacity and interest of individuals the application of their industry and resources, there are in this, as in other cases, exceptions to the general rule. Besides the condition which the theory itself implies, of a reciprocal adoption by other nations, experience teaches that so many circumstances must concur in introducing and maturing manufacturing establishments, especially of the more complicated kinds, that a country may remain long without them, although sufficiently advanced, and, in some respects, even peculiarly fitted for carrying them on with success. Under circumstances giving a powerful impulse to manufacturing industry, it has made among us a progress, and exhibited an efficiency, which justify the belief that, with a protection not more than is due to the enterprising citizens whose interests are now at stake, it will become, at an early day, not only safe against occasional competitions from abroad, but a source of domestic

Nothwithstanding the security for future repose, which the United States ought to find in their love of peace, and their constant respect for the rights of other nations, the character of the times particularly inculcates the lesson, that, whether to prevent or repel dan-wealth, and even of external commerce. In selecting ger, we ought not to be unprepared for it. This consideration will sufficiently recommend to Congress a liberal provision for the immediate extension and gradual completion of the works of defence, both fixed and floating, on our maritime frontier, and an adequate provision for guarding our inland frontier against dangers to which certain portions of it may continue to be exposed.

As an improvement in our Military Establishment, it will deserve the consideration of Congress, whether a corps of invalids might not be so organized and employed, as at once to aid in the support of meritorious individuals, excluded by age or infirmities from the existing establishment, and to procure to the public the benefit of their stationary services, and of their exemplary discipline. I recommend, also, an enlargement of the Military Academy, already established, and the establishment of others in other sections of the Union. And I cannot press too much on the attention of Congress, such a classification and organization of the militia as will most effectually render it the safeguard of a free State. If experience has shown, in the recent splendid achievements of militia, the value of this resource for the public defence, it has shown also the importance of that skill in the use of arms, and that familiarity with the essential rules of discipline, which cannot be expected from the regulations now in force. With this subject is intimately connected the necessity of accommodating the laws, in every respect, to the great object of enabling the political authority of the Union to employ, promptly and effectu

the branches more especially entitled to the public patronage, a preference is obviously claimed by such as will relieve the United States from a dependence on foreign supplies, ever subject to casual failures, for articles necessary for the public defence, or connected with the primary wants of individuals. It will be an additional recommendation of particular manufactures, where the materials for them are extensively drawn from our agriculture, and consequently impart and insure to that great fund of national prosperity and independence an encouragement which cannot fail to be rewarded.

Among the means of advancing the public interest, the occasion is a proper one for recalling the attention of Congress to the great importance of establishing throughout our country the roads and canals which can be best executed, under the national authority. No objects within the circle of political economy so richly repay the expense bestowed on them; there are none, the utility of which is more universally ascertained and acknowledged; none that do more honor to the Governments whose wise and enlarged patriotism duly appreciates them. Nor is there any country which presents a field, where nature invites more the art of man, to complete her own work, for his accommodation and benefit. These considerations are strengthened, moreover, by the political effect of these facilities for intercommunication, in bringing and binding more closely together the various parts of our extended confederacy. Whilst the States, individually, with a laudable enterprise and emulation, avail them

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selves of their local advantages, by new roads, by navigable canals, and by improving the streams susceptible of navigation, the General Government is the more urged to similar undertakings, requiring a national jurisdiction, and national means, by the prospect of thus systematically completing so inestimable a work. And it is a happy reflection, that any defect of Constitutional authority, which may be encountered, can be supplied in a mode which the Constitution itself has providently pointed out.

The present is a favorable season also for bringing again into view the establishment of a National seminary of learning within the District of Columbia, and with means drawn from the property therein subject to the authority of the General Government. Such an institution claims the patronage of Congress, as a monument of their solicitude for the advancement of knowledge, without which the blessings of liberty cannot be fully enjoyed, or long preserved; as a model, instructive in the formation of other seminaries; as a nursery of enlightened preceptors; and, as a central resort of youth and genius from every part of their country, diffusing, on their return, examples of those national feelings, those liberal sentiments, and those congenial manners, which contribute cement to our union and strength to the great political fabric, of which that is

the foundation.

In closing this communication, I ought not to repress a sensibility, in which you will unite, to the happy lot of our country, and to the goodness of a superintending Providence, to which we are indebted for it. Whilst other portions of mankind are laboring under the distresses of war, or struggling with adversity in other forms, the United States are in the tranquil enjoyment of prosperous and honorable peace. In reviewing the scenes through which it has been attained, we can rejoice in the proofs given, that our political institutions, founded in human rights, and framed for their preservation, are equal to the severest trials of war, as well as adapted to the ordinary periods of repose. As fruits of this experience, and of the reputation acquired by the American arms, on the land and on the water, the nation finds itself possessed of a growing respect abroad, and of a just confidence in itself, which are among the best pledges for its peaceful career. Under other aspects of our country, the strongest features of its flourishing condition are seen, in a population rapidly increasing, on a territory as productive as it is extensive; in a general industry and fertile ingenuity, which find their ample rewards; and in an affluent revenue, which admits of a reduction of the public burdens, without withdrawing the means of sustaining the public credit, of gradually discharging the public debt, of providing for the necessary defensive and precautionary establishments, and of patronizing, in every authorized mode, undertakings conducive to the aggregate wealth and individual comfort of our citizens.

It remains for the guardians of the public welfare, to persevere in that justice and good will towards other nations, which invite a return of these sentiments towards the United States; to cherish institutions which guarantee their safety and their liberties, civil and religious; and to combine, with a liberal system of foreign commerce, an improvement of the national advantages, and a protection and extension of the independent resources of our highly favored and happy

country.

In all measures having such objects, my faithful cooperation will be afforded. JAMES MADISON. WASHINGTONx, December 5, 1815.

SENATE.

The Message was read, and one thousand and fifty copies thereof ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate.

The resolution, authorizing Mountjoy Bayly to employ one assistant and two horses, was read the second time, and considered as in Committee of the Whole; and no amendment having been proposed, the President reported it to the House accordingly; and the resolution was ordered to be engrossed, and read a third time.

The resolution, for the appointment of Chaplains, was read the second time, and considered

as in Committee of the Whole; and no amendment having been proposed, the President reported it to the House accordingly; and the resolution was ordered to be engrossed, and read a third time.

WEDNESDAY, December 6.

JAMES TURNER, from the State of North Carolina, and JOHN CONDIT, from the State of New Jersey, respectively took their seats in the Senate.

Mr. ROBERTS presented the petition of Joseph C. Morgan, attorney in fact for Xaverio Nandi, late Chargé d'Affaires at Tripoli, stating that difficulties had arisen which prevented the settlement of said Xaverio Nandi's account, and praying that the proper officer of the Government may be authorized to settle and discharge the same; and the petition was read, and referred to a select committee, to consider and report thereon by bill or otherwise; and Messrs. ROBERTS, SANFORD, and HORSEY, were appointed the committee.

Mr. HUNTER presented the petition of Jacob Babbit, merchant, of the port of Bristol, in the State of Rhode Island, praying the remission of duties secured to be paid on a large quantity of sugar, which was totally destroyed by the unprecedented storm on the 23d of September last, as therein stated; and the petition was read, and referred to a select committee, to consider and report thereon by bill or otherwise; and Messrs. HUNTER, BIBB, and HOWELL, were appointed the committee.

The resolution for the appointment of Chaplains, was read the third time, and passed as follows:

Resolved, That two Chaplains, of different denominations, be appointed to Congress, during the present session, one by each House, who shall interchange weekly.

The resolution authorizing Mountjoy Bayly to employ one assistant and two horses, was read third time and passed.

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SENATE.

President's Message.

for the accommodation of Congress may be obtained, until the Capitol may be ready for their reception.

Resolved, That Messrs. HORSEY, LACOCK, and FROMENTIN, be the committee on the part of the Senate.

DECEMBER, 1

A message from the House of Represental informed the Senate, that a quorum of the H of Representatives is assembled, and have ele HENRY CLAY, one of the Representatives for State of Kentucky, their Speaker, and THO DOUGHERTY, their Clerk, and are ready to ceed to business. They have appointed a c

On motion, by Mr. VARNUM, Resolved, That each Senator be supplied, dur-mittee on their part, to join the committee ing the present session, with three such newspapers, printed in any of the States, as he may choose; provided the same be furnished at the usual rate for the annual charge of such papers; and provided, also, that if any Senator shall choose to take any newspapers other than daily papers; he shall be supplied with as many such papers, as shall not exceed the price of three daily papers.

On motion, by Mr. LACOCK, a committee was appointed agreeably to the forty-second rule for conducting business in the Senate; and Messrs. LACOCK, HOWELL, and DAGGETT, were appointed the committee.

On motion, by Mr. FROMENTIN, a committee was appointed agreeably to the twenty-second rule for conducting business in the Senate; and Messrs. FROMENTIN, SANFORD, and TICHENOR, were appointed the committee.

Mr. FROMENTIN submitted the following_motion for consideration, which was read, and ordered to the second reading:

Resolved, That a committee of three members be appointed, who, with three members of the House of Representatives, to be appointed by that House, shall have the direction of the money appropriated to the purchase of books and maps, for the use of the two Houses of Congress.

On motion, by Mr. LACOCK, it was read a second time by unanimous consent, and considered as in Committee of the Whole, and no amendment having been proposed, the President reported it to the House accordingly; and on the question, "Shall this resolution be engrossed and read a third time?" it was determined in the affirmative. It was then read a third time by unanimous consent, and passed; and Messrs. FROMENTIN, HUNTER, and GOLDSBOROUGH, were appointed the committee.

pointed on the part of the Senate, to wait on President of the United States, and inform h that a quorum of the two Houses is assembl and ready to receive any communications may be pleased to make to them. They con in the resolution of the Senate for the appoi ment of a joint committee on the arrangeme for the library, and have appointed a commit on their part. They also concur in the resol tion of the Senate for the appointment of a joi committee, to inquire and report of the state the new building on Capitol Hill, offered for t accommodation of Congress, and have appointe a committee on their part.

Mr. VARNUM reported, from the joint commi tee, that they had waited on the President of th United States, and that the President informe the committee, that he would make a commun cation to the two Houses this day at 12 o'clock. PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE.

The following Message was received from th
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:
Fellow-citizens of the Senate

and House of Representatives:

I have the satisfaction, on our present meeting, o being able to communicate to you the successful termi nation of the war which had been commenced against the United States by the Regency of Algiers. The squadron in advance on that service, under Commo dore Decatur, lost not a moment after its arrival in the Mediterranean, in seeking the naval force of the enemy then cruising in that sea, and succeeded in capturing two of his ships, one of them the principal ship, commanded by the Algerine Admiral. The high character of the American commander was brilliantly sustained action with that of his adversary, as was the accuson the occasion, which brought his own ship into close tomed gallantry of all the officers and men actually stration of American skill and prowess, he hastened to engaged. Having prepared the way by this demonthe port of Algiers, where peace was promptly yielded to his victorious force. In the terms stipulated, the rights and honor of the United States were particularly consulted, by a perpetual relinquishment, on the part of the Dey, of all pretensions to tribute from them. The impressions which have thus been made, strengthened as they will have been, by subsequent transactions with the Regencies of Tunis and of Tripoli, by the appearance of the larger force which followed under Commodore Bainbridge, the chief in command of the expedition, and by the judicious precautionary arex-rangements left by him in that quarter, afford a reasonable prospect of future security, for the valuable portion of our commerce which passes within reach of the Barbary cruisers.

Mr. HOWELL submitted a motion for the appointment of two Chaplains, of different denominations, to Congress, during the present session, one by each House, who shall interchange week ly; which was read, and passed to the second reading.

Mr. LACOCK submitted the following motion for consideration, which was read:

Resolved, That Mountjoy Bayly, Doorkeeper and Sergeant-at-Arms to the Senate, be, and he hereby is, authorized to employ one assistant and two horses, for the purpose of performing such services as are usually required by the Doorkeeper of the Senate; which pense shall be paid out of the contingent fund. Ordered, That it pass to the second reading.

TUESDAY, December 5.

It is another source of satisfaction that the Treaty of Peace with Great Britain has been succeeded by a

WILLIAM W. BIBE, from the State of Georgia, Convention on the subject of commerce, concluded by took his seat in the Senate.

the Plenipotentiaries of the two countries. In this

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result a disposition is manifested on the part of that nation, corresponding with the disposition of the United States, which, it may be hoped, will be improved into liberal arrangements on other subjects, on which the parties have mutual interests, or which might endanger their future harmony. Congress will decide on the expediency of promoting such a sequel, by giving effect to the measure of confining the American navigation to American seamen; a measure which, at the same time that it might have that conciliatory tendency, would have the further advantage of increasing the independence of our navigation, and the resources for our maritime defence.

In conformity with the articles in the Treaty of Ghent, relating to the Indians, as well as with a view to the tranquillity of our Western and Northern frontiers, measures were taken to establish an immediate peace with the several tribes who had been engaged in hostilities against the United States. Such of them as were invited to Detroit acceded readily to a renewal of the former treaties of friendship. Of the other tribes who were invited to a station on the Mississippi, the greatest number have also accepted the peace offered to them. The residue, consisting of the more distant tribes, or parts of tribes, remain to be brought over by further explanations, or by such other means as may be adapted to the dispositions they may finally disclose. The Indian tribes within, and bordering on the Southern frontier, whom a cruel war on their part had compelled us to chastise into peace, have latterly shown a restlessness, which has called for preparatory measures for repressing it, and for protecting the Commissioners engaged in carrying the terms of peace into

execution.

The execution of the act for fixing the Military Peace Establishment, has been attended with difficulties which even now can only be overcome by Legislative aid. The selection of officers; the payment and discharge of the troops enlisted for the war; the payment of the retained troops, and their re-union from detached and distant stations; the collection and security of the public property in the Quartermaster, Commissary, and Ordnance Departments; and the constant medical assistance required in hospitals and garrisons, rendered a complete execution of the act impracticable on the first of May, the period more immediately contemplated. As soon, however, as circumstances would permit, and as far as it has been practicable, consistently with the public interests, the reduction of the Army has been accomplished; but the appropriations for its pay and for other branches of the military service, having proved inadequate, the earliest attention to that subject will be necessary; and the expediency of continuing, upon the Peace Establishment, the staff officers who have hitherto been provisionally retained, is also recommended to the consideration of Congress.

In the performance of the Executive duty upon this occasion, there has not been wanting a just sensibility to the merits of the American Army during the late war: but the obvious policy and design in fixing an efficient Military Peace Establishment did not afford an opportunity to distinguish the aged and infirm, on account of their past services; nor the wounded and disabled, on account of their present sufferings. The extent of the reduction, indeed, unavoidably involved the exclusion of many meritorious officers of every rank from the service of their country; and so equal, as well as so numerous, were the claims to attention, that a

SENATE.

decision by the standard of comparative merit could seldom be attained. Judged, however, in candor, by a general standard of positive merit, the Army register will, it is believed, do honor to the establishment; while the case of those officers, whose names are not included in it, devolves, with the strongest interest, upon the Legislative authority, for such provision as shall be deemed the best calculated to give support and solace to the veteran and the invalid; to display the beneficence, as well as the justice, of the Government; and to inspire a martial zeal for the public service upon every future emergency.

Although the embarrassments arising from the want of an uniform National currency have not been dimine ished since the adjournment of Congress, great satisfaction has been derived in contemplating the revival of the public credit, and the efficiency of the public resources. The receipts into the Treasury, from the va rious branches of revenue, during the nine months ending on the 30th of September last, have been estimated at twelve millions and a half of dollars; the issues of Treasury notes of every denomination, during the same period, amounted to the sum of fourteen millions of dollars; and there was also obtained upon loan, during the same period, a sum of nine millions of dollars; of which the sum of six millions of dollars was subscribed in cash, and the sum of three millions of dollars in Treasury notes. With these means, added to the sum of one million and a half of dollars, being the balance of money in the Treasury on the first of January, there has been paid, between the first of January and the first of October, on account of the appropriations of the preceding and of the present year, (exclusively of the amount of the Treasury notes subscribed to the loan, and of the amount redeemed in the payment of duties and taxes,) the aggregate sum of thirty-three millions and a half of dollars, leaving a balance then in the Treasury estimated at the sum of three millions of dollars. Independent, however, of the arrearages due for military services and supplies, it is presumed that a further sum of five millions of dollars, including the interest on the public debt payable on the first of January next, will be demanded at the Treasury to complete the expenditures of the present year, and for which the existing ways and means will sufficiently provide.

The National debt, as it was ascertained on the first of October last, amounted in the whole to the sum of one hundred and twenty millions of dollars, consisting of the unredeemed balance of the debt contracted before the late war, (thirty-nine millions of dollars,) the amount of the funded debt contracted in consequence of the war, (sixty-four millions of dollars,) and the amount of the unfunded and floating debt, (including the various issues of Treasury notes,) seventeen millions of dollars, which is in a gradual course of payment. There will, probably, be some addition to the public debt, upon the liquidation of various claims, which are depending; and a conciliatory disposition on the part of Congress may lead honorably and advantageously to an equitable arrangement of the militia expenses incurred by the several States, without the previous sanction or authority of the Government of the United States; but when it is considered that the new, as well as the old portion of the debt has been contracted in the assertion of the national rights and independence; and when it is recollected that the public expenditures, not being exclusively bestowed upon subjects of a transient nature, will long be visible in the

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