30 ADDRESS. 



up. It passed the House by a large majority, and nothing was 

 wanting but the action of the Senate. 



We understand it is not deemed in order to refer minutely to 

 the proceedings of that body ; it is sufficient for our present pur- 

 pose to remark that the committee to whom the bill was referred, 

 though conceding the importance of the proposed enterprise, dif- 

 fered among themselves as to the precise character the expedition 

 should assume, and the time when it would be most proper to 

 despatch it; and that before these and some other unimportant 

 matters could be adjusted, the session drew near its close ; so that 

 the bill, or rather a modification of it, when at last introduced, was 

 preceded on the list by such a mass of business, that it could not 

 be reached by the Senate before its final adjournment. It was 

 from this cause alone, and not, as some have supposed, in con- 

 sequence of a vote of the Senate, that the bill was lost ; since, 

 to our certain knowledge, there were in that body at that time a 

 decided majority in favour of the expedition. 



Had it then been permitted to sail, well matured as it unques- 

 tionably was, results useful and honourable to our country must 

 have followed in its train. That it did not sail has been a subject 

 of regret to every enlightened mind in the least acquainted with 

 the subject, without reference to party, profession, or sectional 

 feelings. 



The strong and pressing considerations which called for it at 

 that period, have not been weakened by the lapse of years ; on 

 the contrary, they have increased in proportion to the augmenta- 

 tion of our tonnage, and the extent of our voyages into those 

 distant seas. What was once known only by the information 

 derived from others, has since been confirmed by personal expe- 

 rience, and by five years of adventures by sea and land, over a 

 large portion of the earth's surface, embracing every clime, from 

 the exuding tropics where reigns perennial spring, and where the 

 green foliage scarce fades into the seared leaf before the swelling 



