21st CONGRESS.] No. 84. [1st SESSION. SURETIES OF A DEFAULTING DEPUTY POSTMASTER. COMMUNICATED to the house of representATIVES, FEBRUARY 8, 1830. Mr. MAGEE, from the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, to whom was referred a resolution requiring the committee to inquire into the expediency of reimbursing to the bail of Charles Josslyn, late postmaster at Greene, Chenango county, New York, an account paid by said bail, reported: That, on the 18th day of March, 1812, Jeduthur Gray, 2d, and Robert Morrell became the bail of the postmaster, Charles Josslyn. On the 8th May, 1818, six years after the execution of the first bond, Josslyn, at the request of the Postmaster General, procured new bail, to wit, Philo B. Palmer and John Watson. In February, 1824, Josslyn failed; the last bail, Palmer and Watson, were unable to pay the deficit; and, in 1826, a suit was instituted against Gray and Morrell, on the bond given in 1812. Judgment was obtained in the circuit court of the United States for the northern circuit of New York, and the amount paid by Morrell. It will be seen, from an examination of a statement furnished by the Post Office Department, that, on the 8th day of May, 1818, the time when the new bail was taken, there was a balance due from Josslyn of $83 76, which, with interest, was claimed by the Department, and paid by the bail. In September, 1818, Josslyn paid a draft of $80, being nearly the amount due on the 8th May previous. On the 1st April, 1819, he paid the further sum of $50, and continued to pay all drafts upon him as late as October 1, 1822. Had the accounts of Josslyn been closed at the time of payment of the last draft, there would have been only the balance of $44 06 due to the Department; but, by permitting him to retain the office for one year and four months without payment, there was due at the surrender of the office $185. If a balance had been struck on the 1st day of January, 1819, several months after taking new bail, there would have been due only $3 91. In the opinion of the committee, this case strongly addresses itself to the equitable interference of Congress; it is unjust, whatever may be the strict rule of law on the subject, to hold the first bail responsible for defalcations committed several years after they had a right to suppose themselves discharged from further responsibility by the taking new bail. The principal remained solvent until 1824, twelve years after the execution of the first bond, and six years after taking new bail; the payments made up to January 1, 1819, were received in discharge of the balance due on the 8th May, 1818, as, at that time, the quarterly accounts and the balance due exceeded the balance stated only $3 91. In the opinion of the committee, the neglect of the Department in not collecting amounts afterwards due, and permitting Josslyn to remain in office without payment, ought not to operate against the first bail, especially after the lapse of twelve years, and when, too, the amount due on the 8th May, 1818, was soon after paid by the postmaster. Believing the bail entitled to relief, the committee report a bill. 21st CONGRESS.] No. 85. [1st SESSION. INCREASE OF THE PENSION OF A MAIL CARRIER, WHO WAS SHOT IN THE CREEK NATION IN 1805. COMMUNICATED TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, FEBRUARY 10, 1830. Mr. JOHNSON, of Kentucky, from the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, to whom was referred the petition of Josiah H. Webb for an increase of his pension, reported: That they refer to the documents in this case, marked A, B, C, and D, as a part of this report, by which it appears to the satisfaction of the committee that said Webb is a poor man, and that he is so disabled by the wounds which he received while carrying the United States mail through the Indian country, as to be in a suffering condition. The present allowance of $50 being inadequate to provide him the necessaries of life, the committee, therefore, ask leave to report a bill to give to said Webb eight dollars per month, the pension of a common soldier when totally disabled. A. To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled: The undersigned petitioners beg leave most respectfully to represent to your honorable bodies that the pension allowed, by a late law of Congress, to Josiah H. Webb, who was wounded in the year 1805, while transporting the United States mail from Fort Stoddert to Athens, in the State of Georgia, is greatly inadequate to his wants and necessities. The undersigned are acquainted with the said Josiah H. Webb, and feel no hesitation in asserting that. his situation is almost entirely helpless, in consequence of the effects of the aforesaid wound. The undersigned therefore pray that a law be passed, increasing the yearly pension of the said Josiah H. Webb from $50 to $which latter sum, they are of opinion, would only amount to a bare competency. GREENE COUNTY, ILLINOIS, November, 1829. B. [Signed by a number of individuals.] GREENE COUNTY, ILLINOIS, November 16, 1829. Josiah H. Webb comes before me, declaring inability of physical powers of body, occasioned by a wound received in the United States service, as the carrier of the public mail. On examination, I found the ball should have entered the upper edge of the left hip, together with fracturing said hip, more or less, and passing out at the right lumbar region of his body. The above-mentioned wound is a source of much irritation on the slightest exposures, and necessarily incapacitates him from the discharge of any active personal duty which might be indispensably necessary for his support and maintenance. Wherefore I think he becomes a laudable subject of charity. O. B. HEATON, M. D. C. SIR: GENERAL POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT, February 8, 1830. In answer to your inquiries relative to the case of Josiah H. Webb, I have the honor to state that, in the month of August, 1805, Josiah H. Webb, who was then employed in carrying the United States mail from Athens, in Georgia, to New Orleans, while riding through the Creek nation of Indians for that purpose, and having the mail in charge, was shot by some unknown person, (supposed to be an Indian,) and very severely wounded. He was taken to Fort Stoddert, where, by the humane attention which was bestowed upon him, under the direction of the commandant, he partially recovered of the wound, but continued in a crippled state of body. His case appears to have excited great commiseration; and Congress, by an act passed April 21, 1806, appropriated $250 to defray the expense of his long confinement, he being at that time still in a state of entire disability at Fort Stoddert. In December, 1811, Congress provided further relief for him, by an act granting him a pension of $50 per annum for life, to commence from the 1st January, 1809. His disability appears to have arisen from the wound which he received in the faithful discharge of his public duty, and Congress appears to have recognised it as a case which called for relief from the public treasury. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. RICHARD M. JOHNSON, Chairman of the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads. W. T. BARRY. D. SIR: CARROLLTON, ILLINOIS, November 17, 1829. Mr. Josiah H. Webb has thrown himself upon the clemency of Congress for an increase of his pension, as you will see by the enclosed documents. The effect of his wound renders him unable to labor, and I have no hesitation in saying that it would be equitable and just that his pension should be increased to a sufficient sum for his entire support. The support and influence of yourself and our Senators are his only alternative. I hope you will use your influence in his behalf. To the Hon. JOSEPH DUNCAN. With much esteem, yours, THOMAS CARLIN. 21st CONGRESS.] No. 86. [1st SESSION. POST ROUTES ON WHICH THE MAIL IS TRANSPORTED ON SUNDAY. SIR: COMMUNICATEd to the house of represenTATIVES, MARCH 4, 1830. POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT, March 4, 1830. I have the honor to transmit, in accordance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 24th ultimo, a statement of the post routes within the United States on which the mail is transported on Sunday. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. A. STEVENSON, Speaker of the House of Representatives. W. T. BARRY. The mail is transported on the following post routes within the United States on Sunday: From Washington City, by Baltimore, Philadelphia, Trenton, N. J., New York city, Hartford, Boston, Portsmouth, N. H., Portland, and Brunswick, to Augusta, in Maine. From Washington City, by Warrenton, Culpeper Court-house, and Charlottesville, to Lynchburg, in Virginia. From Washington City, by Richmond and Petersburg, Va., Raleigh and Fayetteville, N. C., Georgetown and Charleston, S. C., to Savannah, in Georgia. From Fredericksburg, Va., by Halifax and Salem, N. C., Yorkville and Abbeville, S. C., and Petersburgh, Ga.. to Powelton, in Georgia. From Fayetteville, N. C., by Columbia, S. C., Augusta and Milledgeville, Ga., Montgomery, Blakely, and Mobile, Ala., to New Orleans, in Louisiana. From Huntsville, Ala., by Tuscumbia, Ala., Doak's Stand and Natchez, Miss., and St. Francisville, to New Orleans, in Louisiana. From Washington City and Baltimore, by Fredericktown and Cumberland, Md., Washington, Pa., Wheeling, Va., Zanesville, Ohio, Maysville, Lexington, and Louisville, Ky., Vincennes, Ia., Carlyle, Ill., and St. Louis, Mo. to Fayette, in Missouri. From Zanesville, by Columbus, to Cincinnati, Ohio. From New York city, by Albany, Canandaigua, and Buffalo, N. Y., and Erie, Pa., to Youngstown, in Ohio. COMMUNICATED TO THE HOUSE of representTATIVES, MARCH 4 AND 5, 1830. [1st SESSION. Mr. JOHNSON, of Kentucky, from the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, to whom had been referred memorials from inhabitants of various parts of the United States, praying for a repeal of so much of the Post Office law as authorizes the mail to be transported and opened on Sunday, and to whom had also been referred memorials from other inhabitants of various parts of the United States remonstrating against such repeal, made the following report: That the memorialists regard the first day of the week as a day set apart by the Creator for religious exercises, and consider the transportation of the mail and the opening of the post offices on that day the violation of a religious duty, and call for a suppression of the practice. Others, by counter-memorials, are known to entertain a different sentiment, believing that no one day of the week is holier than another. Others, holding the universality and immutability of the Jewish decalogue, believe in the sanctity of the seventh day of the week as a day of religious devotion, and, by their memorial now before the committee, they also request that it may be set apart for religious purposes. Each has hitherto been left to the exercise of his own opinion, and it has been regarded as the proper business of Government to protect all and determine for none. But the attempt is now made to bring about a greater uniformity, at least in practice; and, as argument has failed, the Government has been called upon to interpose its authority to settle the controversy. Congress acts under a constitution of delegated and limited powers. The committee look in vain to that instrument for a delegation of power authorizing this body to inquire and determine what part of time, or whether any, has been set apart by the Almighty for religious exercises. On the contrary, among the few prohibitions which it contains, is one that prohibits a religious test, and another which declares that Congress shall pass no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The committee might here rest the argument, upon the ground that the question referred to them does not come within the cognizance of Congress; but the perseverance and zeal with which the memorialists pursue their object seems to require a further elucidation of the subject; and, as the opposers of Sunday mails disclaim all intention to unite church and state, the committee do not feel disposed to impugn their motives; and whatever may be advanced in opposition to the measure will arise from the fears entertained of its fatal tendency to the peace and happiness of the nation. The catastrophe of other nations furnished the framers of the constitution a beacon of awful warning, and they have evinced the greatest possible care in guarding against the same evil. The law, as it now exists, makes no distinction as to the days of the week, but is imperative that the postmasters shall attend at all reasonable hours in every day to perform the duties of their offices; and the Postmaster General has given his instructions to all postmasters that, at post offices where the mail arrives on Sunday, the office is to be kept open one hour or more after the arrival and assorting the mail; but, in case that would interfere with the hours of public worship, the office is to be kept open for one hour after the usual time of dissolving the meeting. This liberal construction of the law does not satisfy the memorialists; but the committee believe that there is no just ground of complaint, unless it be conceded that they have a controlling power over the consciences of others. If Congress shall, by the authority of law, sanction the measure recommended, it would constitute a legislative decision of a religious controversy in which even Christians themselves are at issue. However suited such a decision may be to an ecclesiastical council, it is incompatible with a republican Legislature, which is purely for political, and not religious purposes. In our individual character we all entertain opinions, and pursue a corresponding practice, upon the subject of religion. However diversified these may be, we all harmonize as citizens, while each is willing that the other shall enjoy the same liberty which he claims for himself. But, in our representative character, our individual character is lost. The individual acts for himself; the representative for his constituents. He is chosen to represent their political, and not their religious views; to guard the rights of man, not to restrict the rights of conscience. Despots may regard their subjects as their property, and usurp the Divine prerogative of prescribing their religious faith; but the history of the world furnishes the melancholy demonstration that the disposition of one man to coerce the religious homage of another springs from an unchastened ambition rather than a sincere devotion to any religion. The prin ciples of our Government do not recognise in the majority any authority over the minority, except in matters which regard the conduct of man to his fellow-man. A Jewish monarch, by grasping the holy censer, lost both his sceptre and his freedom. A destiny as little to be envied may be the lot of the American people, who hold the sovereignty of power, if they, in the person of their representatives, shall attempt to unite, in the remotest degree, church and state. From the earliest period of time, religious teachers have attained great ascendency over the minds of the people; and in every nation, ancient or modern, whether Pagan, Mahometan, or Christian, have succeeded in the incorporation of their religious tenets with the political institutions of their country. The Persian idols, the Grecian oracles, the Roman auguries, and the modern priesthood of Europe, have all, in their turn, been the subject of popular adulation, and the agents of political deception. If the measure recommended should be adopted, it would be difficult for human sagacity to foresee how rapid would be the succession, or how numerous the train of measures which might follow, involving the dearest rights of all-the rights of conscience. It is perhaps fortunate for our country that the proposition should have been made at this early period, while the spirit of the Revolution yet exists in full vigor. Religious zeal enlists the strongest prejudices of the human mind, and, when misdirected, excites the worst passions of our nature, under the delusive pretext of doing God service. Nothing so infuriates the heart to deeds of rapine and blood; nothing is so incessant in its toils, so persevering in its determinations, so appalling in its course, or so dangerous in its consequences. The equality of rights, secured by the constitution, may bid defiance to mere political tyrants; but the robe of sanctity too often glitters to deceive. The constitution regards the conscience of the Jew as sacred as |