Transcriber’s Note: A number of obvious printer’s errors (u for n, inconsistent spelling of Senators’ and Representatives’ names, punctuation, etc) have been amended. Other than that, the original text remains unchanged. ABRIDGMENT OF THE DEBATES OF CONGRESS, FROM 1789 TO 1856. FROM GALES AND SEATON’S ANNALS OF CONGRESS; FROM THEIR REGISTER OF DEBATES; AND FROM THE OFFICIAL REPORTED DEBATES, BY JOHN C. RIVES. BY THE AUTHOR OF THE THIRTY YEARS’ VIEW. VOL. III. NEW YORK D. APPLETON & COMPANY, 443 & 445 BROADWAY. 1861 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. EIGHTH CONGRESS.--FIRST SESSION. BEGUN AT THE CITY OF WASHINGTON, OCTOBER 17, 1803. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,--THOMAS JEFFERSON. PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE SENATE. _New Hampshire._--Simeon Olcott, William Plumer. _Vermont._--S. R. Bradley, Israel Smith. _Massachusetts._--Jonathan Mason, Timothy Pickering. _Rhode Island._--Christopher Ellery, Samuel I. Potter. _Connecticut._--James Hillhouse, Uriah Tracy. _New York._--De Witt Clinton, Theodorus Bailey. _New Jersey._--Jonathan Dayton, John Condit. _Pennsylvania._--George Logan, Samuel Maclay. _Delaware._--William H. Wells, Samuel White. _Maryland._--Robert Wright, Samuel Smith. _Virginia._--Wilson C. Nicholas, John Taylor. _North Carolina._--Jesse Franklin, David Stone. _South Carolina._--Pierce Butler, Thomas Sumter. _Georgia._--A. Baldwin, James Jackson. _Tennessee._--William Cocke, Joseph Anderson. _Kentucky._--John Breckenridge, John Browne. _Ohio._--Thomas Worthington, John Smith. MONDAY, October 17, 1803. The first session of the eighth Congress, conformably to the Constitution of the United States, commenced at the city of Washington, agreeably to the Proclamation of the President of the United States for that purpose; and the Senate assembled on this day. PRESENT: SIMEON OLCOTT and WILLIAM PLUMER, from New Hampshire; TIMOTHY PICKERING, from Massachusetts; JAMES HILLHOUSE and URIAH TRACY, from Connecticut; CHRISTOPHER ELLERY and SAMUEL I. POTTER, from Rhode Island; STEPHEN R. BRADLEY and ISRAEL SMITH, from Vermont; DE WITT CLINTON and THEODORUS BAILEY, from New York; JONATHAN DAYTON and JOHN CONDIT, from New Jersey; GEORGE LOGAN and SAMUEL MACLAY, from Pennsylvania; WILLIAM HILL WELLS and SAMUEL WHITE, from Delaware; ROBERT WRIGHT and SAMUEL SMITH, from Maryland; JOHN TAYLOR and WILSON CAREY NICHOLAS, from Virginia;