JAMES MADISON.
NOVEMBER 17, 1812.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
I transmit to Congress copies of a letter from the consul general of
the United States to Algiers, stating the circumstances preceding and
attending his departure from that Regency.
JAMES MADISON
WASHINGTON, _December 11, 1812_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
I transmit to Congress copies of a letter to the Secretary of the Navy
from Captain Decatur, of the frigate _United States_, reporting his
combat and capture of the British frigate _Macedonian_. Too much
praise can not be bestowed on that officer and his companions on board
for the consummate skill and conspicuous valor by which this trophy has
been added to the naval arms of the United States.
I transmit also a letter from Captain Jones, who commanded the sloop
of war _Wasp_, reporting his capture of the British sloop of war
_Frolic_, after a close action, in which other brilliant titles will
be seen to the public admiration and praise.
A nation feeling what it owes to itself and to its citizens could never
abandon to arbitrary violence on the ocean a class of them which give
such examples of capacity and courage in defending their rights on that
element, examples which ought to impress on the enemy, however brave and
powerful, preference of justice and peace to hostility against a country
whose prosperous career may be accelerated but can not be prevented by
the assaults made on it.
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