The first session of the twenty-fifth Congress of the United

States was opened on the 5th. instant, with a message from the new Pre- sident, MARTIN VAN BUREN. This document is, as usual, of great length; but it deals with one subject only—the financial embarrassments of the Government and the country, for the consideration of which Congress was especially convened three months before the usual time. Without a prefatory observation of any kind, the President goes at once to the chief, and, as he wishes it to be, the sole business of the extraordinary session. Briefly, but clearly, he recapitulates the events which led to the suspension of payment by the Banks and the Treasury itself; attributing the disastrous state of affairs to overtrading, caused by a redundancy of credit, to wild speculations in land, the losses occa- sioned by the great fire in New York, the importation of foreign wheat, and finally, to the " rapid growth among all classes, espe- cially in the great commercial towns, of luxurious habits, founded too often on merely fancied wealth, and detrimental alike to the industry, resources, and morals of the people." He warns the people that they must not expect effectual relief from the inter- fereece of the Executive ; whose principal duty in the present juncture is to provide for the recovery of the debts due to the Government, and the future safety of the revenue. A large party in the country demands the reestablishment of a National Bank in connexion with the Government; but to this scheme President VAN 13UREN avows resolute hostility. Twice have the people of the United States condemned it ; and he was himself elected on the clear understanding of opposition to a national bank. There is an end, therefore, to all doubts on this point, founded on the presumption that the recent commercial distress had shaken the policy of the Executive. The embarrassment arising from the failure of the State Banks to fulfil their engagements with the Government, and the danger of a recurrence of similar difficulties, have determined the President to render the Treasury indepen- dent of all banks whatsoever, and to carry on the financial business of the Government by means of its own officers. That this plait is practicable there can be no doubt; as, since the stop- page of the banks intrusted with the national deposits, it has

actually been put into successful operation by the Secretary of the Treasury. It is proposed to enlarge and perfect the system; and. the Secretary of the Treasury was to lay before Congress a report with details on the subject. The next important point to be considered is the kind of currency in which the transactions of the Government should be carried on. By law, specie, and the notes of specie-paying banks only can be received in payment of revenue ; and as there are now no specie-paying banks in the United States, the Government is compelled to demand coin. (It does not, however get it ; for the payment of Customhouse bonds has been postponed from month to month, and the President

recommends a still further extension of this indispensable indul- gence.) To put the security of the Government in future beyond question, it is proposed that gold and silver only shall be received or paid by the Treasury and its officers. Thus, it is presumed, an effectual safegard will be obtained against the implication of the Government in any commercial or financial difficulty. The increased expense of the new system is estimated at 60,000 dol- lars a year; and the quantity of specie required for the opera- tions of the Treasury not more than ten millions of dollars. For the present necessities of the Government, the President proposes to raise ten millions of dollars, by Treasury notes, to be paid by the receipts from the customs as they come in. He ob- jects to the imposition of new taxes on the people; and to a loan, which would be the commencement of a new national debt, at a time when, if its credits were available, there would be a large surplus in the treasury. In point of fact, however, there is little difference between raising money by treasury notes and a loan; the one as much as the other is the commencement of a new na- tional debt, for by both operatians the embarrassed Government becomes a borrower. The message concludes with the cheering assurance that the fine crops will afford the means of discharging the debts of the country, and that the existing difficulties will soon pass away. As a composition, President VAN BURE7sT'S message presents nothing remarkable. Its chief merit is clearness. Brevity would be too much to ask from an American President ; and, indeed, on the plan of fully developing his policy on the most interesting of all questions to his fellow citizens, we are not sure that Mr. VAN BUREN could have shortened his message. The portion of it which will strike Englishmen, is that which relates to the separation of the Government from banks of all descriptions. It may soon become a question in this country whether a similar plan might not be advantageously adopted by us. The facilities of forestalling the revenue given by the connexion of the Govern- ment with the Bank of England, and the various modes in which that connexion affects the currency, are evils which it would be desirable to avoid. But, in this country, the subject is surrounded with difficulties, which the American Government, owing to the limited extent of its transactions, has not to encounter—

Having given an outline of the contents of the message, we extract a few passages as specimens of the style in which the new President addresses his fellow citizens, and the manner in which he handles his subject. The following is the abrupt opening-

" The act of the 23rd of June 1836, regulating the deposits of the public money, and directing the employment of State, District, and Territorial Banks for that purpose, made it the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to discon- tinue the use of such of them as should at any time refuse to redeem their notes in specie, and to substitute other banks, provided a sufficient number could be obtained, to receive the public deposits upon the terms and conditions therein prescribed. " The general and almost simultaneous suspension of specie payments by the banks in May last, rendered the performance of this duty imperative, in respect to those which had been selected under the act ; and made it, at the same time, impracticable to employ the requisite number of others upon the prescribed conditions. The specific regulations established by Congress for the deposit and safe keeping i of the public monies having thus unexpectedly become in- operative, I felt t to be my duty to afford you an early opportunity for the ex- ercise of your supervisory powers over the subject."

The deathblow to the National Bank speculators-

" My own views of the subject are unchanged. They have been repeatedly and unreservedly announced to my fellow citizens, who, with full knowledge of them, conferred upon me the two highest offices of the Government. On the last of these occasions, I felt it due to the people to apprize them distinctly, that, in the event of my election, I should not be able to cooperate its the re- establishment of a National Bank. To these sentiments I have now only to add the expression of an increased conviction that the reestablishment of such a bank in any form, whilst it would not accomplish the beneficial purpose pro- mised by its advocates, would impair the rightful supremacy of the popular will, injure the character and diminish the influence of our political system,

and bring once more into existence a concentrated monied power, b he

spirit and threatening the permaneucy of our Republican unitised-op-%

• -• •

The duty of Government in a time of general commercial ent-/ ,

barrussrnent— - -

"Those who look to the action of this Government for specific aid to the - citizen, to relieve enib3rra:stnents arising from 'ass `s by r,:valsions in commerce and credit, lose bight of the ends for winch it r to created, and the powers with which it is clothed. It was eglishilaked to eati security le us all, is Her lawfsl ' and honourable pursuits, under thfit lasting aregatrd of Itaisublicaranstitutions. It was not intended to confer special favours on individual, or on may 'Classes of them; to create systems ot,egrkselffbre, mall tires, °Made, or Itontagage them, either separately or in connexion with individual citizens or organized asso- ciations. If its operation were to be directed for the benefit of any one class, equivalent favours must, in justice, be extended to the rest; and the attempt to bestow such favours with an equal band, or even to select those who should most deserve them, would never besuccessful. All communities are apt to look to Government for too much. Even in our own country, where its powers and duties are so strictly limited, we are prone to do so, especially at periods of sud. den imbarrassments and distress. But this ought not to be. The framers of our excellent constitution, said the people who approved it with calm and saga- cious deliberation, acted at the time on a sounder principle. They wisely judged that the less Government interferes with private pursuits, the better for the general prosperity. It is not its legitimate object to make men rich, or to repair, by direct grants of money or legislation in favour of particular pursuits, losses not incurred in the public service. This would be' substantially to use the property of some for the benefit of others. But its real duty—that duty, the performance of which makes a good government the most precious of human blessings—is to enact and enforce a system of general laws commensurate with, but not exceeding, the objects of its establishment ; and to leave every citizen and every interest to reap, ander its benign protection, the rewards of virtue, industry, and prudence."

Better times in prospect the Americans will pay us all they owe— a The difficulties and distresses, of the times, though unquestionably great, are limited in their extent, and cannot be regarded as affecting the perma- nent prosperity of the nation. Arising in a degree from the transactions of foreign and domestic commerce, it is upon them that they have chiefly fallen. The great agricultural interest has, in many parts of the country, suffered comparatively little; and, as if Providence intended to display the munificence dies goodness at the moment of our greatest need, io indirect contrast to the

evils occasioned by the waywardness of man, we have been blessed throughout our extended territory with season of general health and of uncommon fruit-

fulness. The proceeds of our great staples will soon furnish the means of liqui- dating debts at home and abroad, and contribute equally to the revival of com- mercial activity and the restoration of commercial credit. The Banks, esta- blished avowedly for its support, deriving their profits from it, and resting under obligations to it which cannot be overlooked, will feel at once the neces- sity and justice of uniting their energies with those of the mercantile interest. The suspension of specie payments, at such a time, and under such circum- stances as we have lately witnessed, could be no other than a temporary mea- sure; and we can scarcely err in believing that the period must soon arrive when all that are solvent will redeem their issues in gold and silver. Dealings abroad naturally depend on resources and prosperity at home. If the debt of merchants has accumulated, or their credit is impaired, these are fluctuations always incident to extensive or extravagant mercantile transactions. But the ultimate security of such obligations does not admit of question. They are guaranteed by the resources of a country the fruits of whose industry afford abundant means of ample liquidation, and by the evident interest of every suer. chant to sustain a credit, hitherto high, by promptly applying these means for its preservation."

The President reserves till the usual time of the meeting of Congress, in December, " the general information on the state of the Union which the Constitution requires him to give."