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other nation. And while deeply penetrated with gratitude for the past, let us hope that His all-wise providence will so guide our counsels as that they shall result in giving satisfaction to our constituents, securing the peace of the country, and adding new strength to the united Government under which we live. MILLARD FILLMORE.

SPECIAL MESSAGES.

To the House of Representatives:

WASHINGTON, December 9, 1850.

I communicate to the House of Representatives a translation of a note of the 5th instant addressed to the Secretary of State by the minister of the Mexican Republic accredited to this Government, relative to a subject to which the attention of Congress was invited in my message at the opening of the present session.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

[The same message was sent to the Senate.]

WASHINGTON, December 12, 1850.

To the Senate of the United States:

I herewith transmit a report of the Secretary of State, with accompanying documents, relating to the African slave trade, in answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 28th of August last.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, December 13, 1850.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I have the pleasure of announcing to Congress the agreement on the part of Texas to the propositions offered to that State by the act of Congress approved on the 9th day of September last, entitled "An act proposing to the State of Texas the establishment of her northern and western boundaries, the relinquishment by the said State of all territory claimed by her exterior to said boundaries and of all her claims upon the United States, and to establish a Territorial government for New Mexico."

By the terms of that act it was required that the agreement of Texas to the propositions contained in it should be given on or before the 1st day of December, 1850. An authenticated transcript of a law passed *Incursions of Indians of the United States upon the population of the Mexican frontier.

by the legislature of Texas on the 25th day of November, agreeing to and accepting the propositions contained in the act of Congress, has been received. This law, after reciting the provisions of the act of Congress, proceeds to enact and declare as follows, viz:

Therefore, first. Be it enacted by the legislature of the State of Texas, That the State of Texas hereby agrees to and accepts said propositions; and it is hereby declared that the said State shall be bound by the terms thereof according to their true import and meaning.

Second. That the governor of this State be, and is hereby, requested to cause a copy of this act, authenticated under the seal of the State, to be furnished to the President of the United States by mail as early as practicable, and also a copy thereof, certified in like manner, to be transmitted to each of the Senators and Representatives of Texas in Congress. And that this act take effect from and after its passage.

Approved, November 25, 1850.

C. G. KEENAN,

Speaker of the House of Representatives.
JOHN A. GREER,
President of the Senate.

P. H. BELL.

From the common sources of public information it would appear that a very remarkable degree of unanimity prevailed, not only in the legislature, but among the people of Texas, in respect to the agreement of the State to that which had been proposed by Congress.

I can not refrain from congratulating Congress and the country on the success of this great and leading measure of conciliation and peace. The difficulties felt and the dangers apprehended from the vast acquisitions of territory under the late treaty with Mexico seem now happily overcome by the wisdom of Congress. Within that territory there already exists one State, respectable for the amount of her population, distinguished for singular activity and enterprise, and remarkable in many respects from her condition and history. This new State has come into the Union with manifestations not to be mistaken of her attachment to that Constitution and that Government which now embrace her and her interests within their protecting and beneficent control.

Over the residue of the acquired territories regular Territorial governments are now established in the manner which has been most usual in the history of this Government. Various other acts of Congress may undoubtedly be requisite for the benefit as well as for the proper government of these so distant parts of the country. But the same legislative wisdom which has triumphed over the principal difficulties and accomplished the main end may safely be relied on for whatever measures may yet be found necessary to perfect its work, so that the acquisition of these vast regions to the United States may rather strengthen than weaken the Constitution, which is over us all, and the Union, which affords such ample daily proofs of its inestimable value.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

To the Senate of the United States:

WASHINGTON, December 17, 1850.

I herewith transmit a letter from the Secretary of War, communicating a report of a board of officers to which, in pursuance of a resolution of the Senate passed on the 30th of September last, were submitted the questions proposed therein, relative to the expediency and necessity of creating additional grades of commissioned officers in the Army and of enacting provisions authorizing officers of the Army to exercise civil functions in emergencies to be enumerated and restraining them from usurping the powers of civil functionaries.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, December 30, 1850.

To the Senate of the United States: I herewith transmit to the Senate, in reply to their resolution of the 26th instant, a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers.* MILLARD FILLMORE.

To the House of Representatives:

WASHINGTON, January 3, 1851.

By a resolution passed by the House of Representatives on the 24th day of July, 1850, the President was requested to cause to be prepared and communicated to the House certain opinions of the Attorneys-General therein specified. On inquiry I learned that the force employed in the Attorney-General's Office was not sufficient to perform this work; consequently, I employed Benjamin F. Hall, esq., a counselor at law, on the 9th day of September last, to execute it, and requested him to commence it immediately. I informed him that I was not authorized to give any other assurances as to compensation than that it rested with Congress to provide and fix it. I believe Mr. Hall to be in all respects competent and well fitted for the task which he has undertaken, and diligent in the performance of it; and it appears to me that the most just mode of compensation will be to make a per diem allowance of $8 per day for the time actually employed, to be paid on the certificate of the AttorneyGeneral.

I also transmit herewith a portion of the manuscript prepared in pursuance of said resolution, with a letter from Mr. Hall to me indicating the mode in which he thinks the work should be prepared and printed, which appears to me worthy of consideration and adoption by the House. MILLARD FILLMORE.

*Correspondence with the Austrian chargé d'affaires respecting the appointment or proceedings of the agent sent to examine and report upon the condition and prospects of the Hungarian people during their struggle for independence.

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