Mr. Macon addressed the Chair on the merits of the bill at some length. He believed the President to have been justified in issuing his proclamation by the Duc de Cadore's letter; but as subsequent information had been received from France, the question appeared to him to resolve itself into this: Was the sequestration of our vessels from the 1st November to the 2d of February a violation of our neutral rights or not? Had the decrees been so modified, under present circumstances, as that they had ceased to violate our neutral commerce? He conceived not, and should therefore vote against the bill. He deprecated the course of debate, and the irritation which prevailed in the House, as tending to bring this body into disrepute, &c.
Mr. P. B. Porter then said that, for the purpose of coming to a decision on the bill, and putting an end to a scene which was, to say the least of it, disreputable to the House, he moved for the previous question on engrossing the bill.
The previous question was taken and decided in the affirmative, and the bill ordered to a third reading—65 to 9.
The bill was then read a third time.
The previous question was required on its passage, and carried in the affirmative.
Mr. Randolph twice successively moved an adjournment. Motions negatived; the first 65 to 10, the second 66 to 8.
The question on the passage of the bill was then decided in the affirmative—yeas 64, nays 12, as follows:
Yeas.—Lemuel J. Alston, Willis Alston, jun., William Anderson, David Bard, William T. Barry, Burwell Bassett, William W. Bibb, Adam Boyd, Robert Brown, William A. Burwell, William Butler, Joseph Calhoun, Langdon Cheves, Matthew Clay, James Cochran, William Crawford, Richard Cutts, Joseph Desha, John W. Eppes, William Findlay, Meshack Franklin, Barzillai Gannett, Gideon Gardner, Thomas Gholson, Peterson Goodwyn, James Holland, Jacob Hufty, Richard M. Johnson, Thomas Kenan, John Love, Aaron Lyle, Samuel McKee, William McKinley, Pleasant M. Miller, Samuel L. Mitchill, John Montgomery, Nicholas R. Moore, Thomas Moore, Jeremiah Morrow, Gurdon S. Mumford, Thos. Newbold, Thos. Newton, John Porter, Peter B. Porter, John Rea of Pennsylvania, John Rhea of Tennessee, Matthias Richards, Samuel Ringgold, Erastus Root, Ebenezer Sage, John A. Scudder, Ebenezer Seaver, Adam Seybert, Samuel Shaw, Dennis Smelt, John Smilie, Geo. Smith, John Smith, Uri Tracy, George M. Troup, Charles Turner, jr., Robert Weakley, Robert Whitehill, and Robert Witherspoon.
Nays.—Abijah Bigelow, Barent Gardenier, Richard Jackson, jr., William Kennedy, Nathaniel Macon, Elisha R. Potter, John Randolph, Richard Stanford, Jacob Swoope, Archibald Van Home, Laban Wheaton, and Ezekiel Whitman.