“Sir, if we do not unite with the President of the United States in an effort to compel the French Chamber of Deputies to carry out the provisions of this treaty, we shall become the scorn, the contempt, the derision and the reproach of all mankind!  Sir, this treaty has been ratified on both sides of the ocean; it has received the sign manual of the sovereign of France, through His Imperial Majesty’s principal Minister of State; it has been ratified by the Senate of this Republic; it has been sanctioned by Almighty God; and still we are told, in a voice potential, in the other wing of this capitol, that the arrogance of France,—­nay, sir, not of France, but of her Chamber of Deputies—­the insolence of the French Chambers, must be submitted to, and we must come down to the lower degradation of re-opening negotiations to attain that which has already been acknowledged to be our due!  Sir, is this a specimen of your boasted chivalry?  Is this an evidence of the existence of that heroic valor which has so often led our arms on to glory and immortality?  Re-open negotiation, sir, with France?  Do it, and soon you will find your flag insulted, dishonored, and trodden in the dust by the pigmy States of Asia and Africa—­by the very banditti of the earth.  Sir, the only negotiations, says the President of the United States, that he would encounter, should be at the cannon’s mouth!”

The effect produced by this speech was tremendous on all sides; and, for a while, the House was lost in the excitement it afforded.  The venerable orator took his seat; and, as he sank into it, the very walls shook with the thundering applause he had awakened.

On the 28th of June, 1836, the venerable ex-President James Madison, departed life at Montpelier, Va., in the eighty-sixth year of his age.  He had filled a prominent place in the history of our Government, from its first organization.  As a statesman, he was unsurpassed in critical acumen, in profundity of knowledge, in an understanding of constitutional Government, and its adaptation to the rights and interests of the people.  His writings are an invaluable legacy to his countrymen, and will be studied and quoted for ages to come.  “His public acts were a noble commentary upon his political principles—­his private life an illustration of the purest virtues of the heart.”

When a message from the President, announcing the death of Mr. Madison, was received in the House of Representatives, Mr. Adams arose and said:—­

“By the general sense of the House, it is with perfect propriety that the delegation from the commonwealth of Virginia have taken the lead in the melancholy duty of proposing the measures suitable to be adopted as testimonials of the veneration due, from the Legislature of the Union, to the memory of the departed patriot and sage, the native of their soil, and the citizen of their community.