An engrossed bill, entitled "An act for the relief of the legal representatives of John Michael, deceased," was read the third time and passed.

Ordered, That the title be as aforesaid, and that the Clerk do carry the said bill to the Senate, and ask their concurrence therein.

On motion of Mr. Jennings,

Resolved, That the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads be instructed to inquire into the expediency of establishing a post route from Salem, in the county of Washington, to Paoli, in the county of Orange, in the state of Indiana.

On motion of Mr. Williams, of North Carolina,

Resolved, That the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads be instructed to inquire into the expediency of extending the mail route from Mount Pisgah, in Iredell county, to Wilkesborough, in North Carolina.

On motion of Mr. Henry,

Resolved, That the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads be instructed to inquire into the expediency of establishing a post route from Eddyville, Kentucky, by Waidesboro', to Paris, in Ten

nessee.

A message from the Senate, by Mr. Cutts, their Secretary:

Mr. Speaker: The Senate have passed the bill, entitled "An act to alter the times of holding the District Court at Mobile, in the district of Alabama;" also, the "Resolution in relation to an intended visit of the Marquis De La Fayette to the United States," with an amendment to each. The Senate have also passed a bill for the final adjustment of land claims in the state of Missouri and territory of Arkansas, derived from the Governments of France and Spain; in which amendments and last mentioned bill they ask the concurrence of this House. And then he withdrew.

The House again resolved itself into a committee of the whole on the bill to procure the necessary plans, estimates, and surveys, upon the subject of roads and canals; and, after some time spent therein, Mr. Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Foot, of Connecticut, reported that the committee had, according to order, again had the said bill under consideration, and made further progress therein, and directed him to ask leave to sit again.

Ordered, That the committee of the whole House have leave to sit again on the said bill.

And then the House adjourned.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 1824.

Mr. Little, from the Committee on Pensions and Revolutionary Claims, made an unfavorable report on the petition of John W. Lee; which was ordered to lie on the table.

Ordered, That the Committee on Pensions and Revolutionary Claims be discharged from the further consideration of the petition of Adam Goff; and that it be referred to the Committee on Private Land Claims.

On motion of Mr. Webster,

Resolved, That the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads be instructed to inquire into the expediency of providing by law, that the publishers of newspapers and other periodical journals may be allowed, in transmitting such newspapers, or journals, by mail, to accompany them with bills, or memorandums of account, on such conditions, and for such additional rates of postage, as may be thought proper.

On motion of Mr. M'Arthur,

Resolved, That the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads be instructed to inquire into the expediency of establishing a post route in the state of Ohio, from Chillicothe, in the county of Ross, by Greenfield and Leesburg, in the county, of Highland, Clarkesville, in the county of Clinton, to Lebanon, in the county of Warren.

The Speaker laid before the House a letter from William P. Du Val, Governor of Florida, accompanied by a printed copy of the "Acts of the Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida, passed at their Second Session, 1823;" which letter and acts were ordered to lie on the table.

The amendment proposed by the Senate to the bill, entitled "An act to alter the times of holding the District Court at Mobile, in the district of Alabama," was read, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

The amendments proposed by the Senate to the joint resolution in relation to an intended visit of the Marquis de Lafayette to the U. States, were read, and concurred in by the House.

Ordered, That the Clerk do acquaint the Senate therewith.

The bill from the Senate, entitled "An act for the final adjustment of land claims in the state of Missouri, and territory of Arkansas, derived from the Governments of France and Spain," was read the first and second time, and committed to the Committee on the Public Lands.

Ordered, That the Report of the Committee on the Public Lands, made on the 12th instant, on a proposition to revive and continue in force the provisions of "An act for the relief of the purchasers of public lands prior to the 1st July, 1820," be recommitted to the Committee on the Public Lands.

Ordered, That the report of the Committee of Claims on the petition of Nathaniel Childers, be committed to a committee of the whole House to-morrow.

Ordered, That the report of the Postmaster General, made on the 27th instant, in relation to an equalization of the compensation of Deputy Postmasters, be referred to the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads.

The House again resolved itself into a committee of the whole on the bill to procure the necessary estimates, plans, and surveys, upon the subject of roads and canals; and, after some time spent therein, Mr. Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Foot, of Connecticut, reported that the committee had, according to order, again had the said bill under consideration, and made futher progress therein, and directed him to ask leave to sit again.

Ordered, That the committee of the whole have leave to sit again on the said bill.

And then the House adjourned.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 1824.

Mr. Webster, from the Committee on the Judiciary, who were instructed to inquire into the expediency of repealing the 25th section of the act to establish the Judicial Courts of the United States, or so to modify the same, that the writ of error, therein provided for, may be awarded to either party, and without reference to the manner in which the question shall have been decided,” reported, that it is not expedient to repeal the said section, nor to modify it in the manner proposed; which report was ordered to lie on the table.

Mr. Webster, from the same committee, to which the subject was 'referred, reported a bill to alter the times of holding the Circuit Court of the United States for the district of South Carolina; which bill was read the first and second time, and committed to a committee of the whole House to-morrow.

Ordered, That the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from the consideration of the memorial of William Thornton, and that it be referred to the Committee of Ways and Means.

Mr. Williams, of North Carolina, from the Committee of Claims, made a report on the petition of Joseph Smith, of Alexandria, accompanied by a bill for his relief; which bill was read the first and second time, and committed to a committee of the whole House to

morrow.

Mr. Williams, from the same committee, also made a report on the petition of Stephen Brace, accompanied by a bill for his relief; which bill was read the first and second time, and committed to a committee of the whole House to-morrow.

Mr. Rich, from the same committee, made another unfavorable report on the petition of John Armstrong; which was read, and ordered to lie on the table.

Ordered, That the Committee on Military Affairs be discharged from the consideration of the petition of Priscilla Adams, and that leave be given to withdraw the same.

Mr. McLane, of Delaware, from the Committee of Ways and Means, reported a bill making appropriations for certain fortifications of the United States, for the year 1824; which was read the first and second time, and committed to a committee of the whole House to which is committed the bill making appropriations for the Navy of the United States, for the year 1824.

Mr. Campbell, of Ohio, from the Committee on Private Land Claims, made a report on the petition of Malachi Burns, accompanied by a bill for his relief; which bill was read the first and second time, and committed to a committee of the whole House to-morrow.

Mr. Foot, of Connecticut, from the joint Committee on Enrolled Bills, reported that the Committee did, this day, present to the President of the United States, for his approbation, two enrolled bills,

entitled An act to authorize the surveying and making a road, from a point opposite to Memphis, in the state of Tennessee, to Little Rock, in the territory of Arkansas; and An act for the relief of Garret Fountain.

Mr. Foot, from the same committee, reported that the committee had examined an enrolled resolution in relation to an intended visit of the Marquis de Lafayette to the United States, and found the same to be truly enroiled: when,

The Speaker signed the said resolution.

Ordered, That the Clerk do acquaint the Senate therewith.

Ordered, That the Committee on Pensions and Revolutionary Claims be discharged from the consideration of Thomas Baldwin, and that it be referred to, the Secretary of War; also, from the consideration of the petitions of Amos Cogswell and Donald McDonald, and that they be referred to the Committee on Revolutionary Pensions; and also, from the petition of Peter Mills, and that it be referred to the Committee on Private Land Claims.

Ordered, That the report of the Committee of Claims, made the 28th instant, on the cases of William Beard, John Despard, Vincent Grant, Reuben B. Heacock, Samuel De Vaux, and Eli Hart, be committed to a committee of the whole House to-morrow.

Mr. Tracy laid the following resolution on the table for consideration on to-morrow:

Resolved. That the Secretary of the Treasury be directed to inform this House what purchases of estate, of any description, by virtue of sales on execution, have been made, on behalf of the United States; also, what estate has been acquired, in any manner, by arrangements with, or assignments from, debtors to the United States, what sums have been paid or allowed on account of said purchases and acquisitions, severally, what charges have accrued, and what income has been derived therefrom; who are the several agents, who now have, or who heretofore have had, the care of said estate, and what compensation has been allowed to them, respectively, for their services.

Ordered, That, when the House adjourns, it will adjourn to meet again on Monday next.

A message from the Senate, by Mr. Cutts, their Secretary:

Mr. Speaker: The Senate have passed the bill of this House, entitled "An act for the relief of Samuel Wharton;" also, bills of the following titles, viz: An act for the relief of Hanson Kelly; An act for the relief of the President, Directors, and Company, of the Merchants' Bank in Newport, Rhode Island; and An act confirming the claims of the heirs of Nicholas Baudin, and the heirs of Joseph Chastang to certain tracts of land. The Senate have also passed a joint resolution, proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, as it respects the election of President of the United States, in which three last mentioned bills and resolution, they ask the concurrence of this House. And then he withdrew.

A message, in writing, was received from the President of the United States, by Mr. Everett, his Secretary, as follows:

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives, of the 15th of December last, requesting the President of the United States to communicate a plan for a peace establishment of the Navy of the United States," I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of the Navy, which contains the plan required.

In presenting this plan to the consideration of Congress, I avail myself of the occasion, to make some remarks on it. which the importance of the subject requires, and experience justifies.

If a system of universal and permanent peace could be established, or if, in war, the belligerant parties would respect the rights of neutral powers, we should have no occasion for navy or an army. The expense and dangers of such establishments might be avoided. The history of all ages proves that this cannot be presumed; on the contrary, that at least one half of every century, in ancient as well as modern times, has been consumed in wars, and often of the most general and desolating character. Nor is there any cause to infer, if we examine the condition of the nations with which we have the most intercourse and strongest political relations, that we shall, in future, be exempt from that calamity, within any period, to which a rational calculation may be extended. And as to the rights of neutral powers, it is sufficient to appeal to our own experience to demonstrate how little regard will be paid to them, whenever they come in conflict with the interests of the powers at war, while we rely on the justice of our cause and on argument alone. The amount of the property of our fellow citizens, which was seized and confiscated, or destroyed, by the belligerant parties, in the wars of the French revolution, and of those which followed, before we became a party to the war, is almost incalculable.

The whole movement of our Government, from the establishment of our independence, has been guided by a sacred regard for peace. Situated as we are, in the new hemisphere; distant from Europe, and unconnected with its affairs; blessed with the happiest government on earth, and having no objects of ambition to gratify; the United States have. steadily cultivated the relations of amity with every power. And if. in any European wars, a respect for our rights might be relied on, it was undoubtedly in those to which I have adverted. The conflict being vital, the force being nearly equally balanced, and the result uncertain, each party had the strongest motives of interest to cultivate our good will, lest we might be thrown into the opposite scale. Powerful as this consideration usually is, it was nevertheless utterly disregarded, in almost every stage of, and by every party to, those wars. To these encroachments and injuries, our regard for peace was finally forced to yield.

In the war to which at length we became a party, our whole coast, from St. Croix to the Mississippi, was either invaded or menaced with invasion; and in many parts, with a strong, imposing force, both land and naval. In those parts where the population was most dense, the pressure was comparatively light; but there was scarcely