And then the House adjourned.
Wednesday, November 4.
Several other members, to wit: From Vermont, James Fisk; from North Carolina, Wm. R. King and Israel Pickens; from Georgia, Bolling Hall; and from Kentucky, Anthony New, appeared, and took their seats.
A Message was received from the President of the United States. [For which, see Senate proceedings of this date, ante, page [567].]
The Message having been read was referred, with the documents accompanying it, to the Committee of the whole House on the state of the Union.
Thursday, November 5.
Constitution and the Guerriere.
Mr. Dawson rose and said:—Mr. Speaker, I take this early moment to present to you a resolution which I feel pleasure and pride in believing will meet the general approbation, not only of this House, but of the nation.
The President of the United States, in his Message, which was read on yesterday, has, in terms eloquent and appropriate, made mention of an engagement which has taken place between an American frigate and one of His Britannic Majesty's, which has rendered to the officers and crew of our frigate that justice which they so justly merited; an engagement in which American tars have proven to the world, that when commanded by officers of skill, valor, and fidelity, they are capable of contending with, and of vanquishing, those of any nation on the earth, upon any element—even on that element where British skill has so justly acquired so much celebrity, and that the American flag, when authorized by the constituted authorities of our country, will command respect on the high road of nations. Far, very far be it from me to boast—it ill becomes an individual or a nation, and is never the concomitant of true courage; but on the present occasion it seems to me proper that we should express our sentiments—our feelings, and thereby the feelings of the nation. I shall, therefore, without further comment, offer you the following resolution, observing that the facts stated have been ascertained at the proper department, and the proofs are on my table:
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, requested to present, in the name of Congress, to Captain Isaac Hull, a gold medal, with suitable emblems and devices; and that the sum of —— thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby, appropriated, to be distributed as prize money to the officers and crew of the United States' frigate the Constitution, of forty-four guns, according to the provisions of the act for the better government of the Navy of the United States; in testimony of the high sense entertained by Congress of the gallantry, good conduct, and services of Captain Hull, the officers, and crew, of the said frigate Constitution, in attacking, vanquishing, and capturing the British frigate the Guerriere, mounting fifty-four carriage guns, thereby exhibiting an example highly honorable to the American character, and instructive to our rising Navy.