NAYS.--William Chamberlain, Martin Chittenden, Clifton Claggett, Samuel W. Dana, John Davenport, Thomas Dwight, James Elliot, Calvin Goddard, Thomas Griffin, Gaylord Griswold, Roger Griswold, Seth Hastings, Joseph Lewis, jr., Thomas Lewis, Henry W. Livingston, Nahum Mitchell, Thomas Plater, Joshua Sands, John Cotton Smith, William Stedman, James Stephenson, Samuel Tenney, and Samuel Thatcher.
Mr. EUSTIS rose and observed, that within a few days past the House were called upon to take notice of an event which, perhaps, would be more interesting to posterity than to the present generation; the death of one of those illustrious patriots who, by a life devoted to his country, had bequeathed a name and an example to posterity which he would not attempt to describe. He had information that another of these sages, EDMUND PENDLETON, of Virginia, had paid the last tribute to nature.
On this occasion he begged leave to offer to the House the following resolution:
_Resolved_, That this House, impressed with a lively sense of the important services rendered to his country by EDMUND PENDLETON, deceased, will wear a badge of mourning for thirty days, as an emblem of their veneration for his illustrious character, and of their regret that another star has fallen from the splendid constellation of virtue and talents which guided the people of the United States in their struggle for Independence.
The resolution was immediately taken up, and agreed to--ayes 77.
Mr. MITCHILL called the attention of the House to a subject of considerable importance, growing out of our possessions on the Mississippi. He stated that the mail to Natchez was at present transported by a route circuitous and difficult of performance. The Cherokee country, which constituted a part of it, was so destitute of water and articles of subsistence, as to render it necessary for the conveyor of the mail to carry whatever himself or his horses required. Even the water used was carried in goat skins. A great portion of the country was likewise infested with robbers. The measure he proposed was to inquire by what means the carriage of the mail to the Natchez and New Orleans could be facilitated, so as to abridge the time now consumed, and lessen the dangers and difficulties attending the transportation. Mr. M. believed a route might be pursued whereby four hundred miles could be saved in the present distance to the Natchez. Mr. M. desired such an inquiry to be made into the means of accomplishing this important object, as should, while it tended to promote the great political and commercial interests of the country, convince the Indian tribes that our object was not to invade their rights. He further observed, that the usual voyage to New Orleans was about thirty days. If the route by land should be improved, that place might be probably reached in ten days. He therefore offered the following resolution: