Mr. Lowndes reported a bill for the relief of Purley Keyes and Jason Fairbanks; which was read the first and second time, and committed to a committee of the whole on Monday next.

Mr. Lowndes also made a report on the petition of Benjamin Perry, which was read; and the resolution therein contained was concurred in by the House, as follows:

Resolved, That the petitioner have leave to withdraw his petition.

Mr. Williams, from the committee of Claims, made a report on the petition of Andrew J. Villard; which was read and ordered to lie on the table.

Mr. Williams, also reported a bill for the relief of Abraham Byington, which was read the first and second time and committed to a committee of the whole on Monday next.

Ordered, That the committee of Claims be discharged from a further consideration of the petition of Pentland, Hegins and Steele, and that it be referred to the committee of Ways and Means.

Mr. Rhea, from the committee on Pensions and Revolutionary Claims, reported a bill to authorize the payment of certain certificates; which was read the first and second time and committted to a committee of the whole on Tuesday next.

Ordered, That the committee on Pensions and Revolutionary Claims, be discharged from a farther consideration of the petition of Lemuel Briggs, and that it be referred to the Secretary of War.

Mr. Herbert, from the committee for the District of Columbia, reported a bill to provide for the erection of a court house, jail, and public offices, within the county of Alexandria, in the District of Columbia; which was read the first and second time, and committed to a committee of the whole, on Monday next.

Mr. Hugh Nelson, from the committee on the Judiciary, to which was recommitted the bill to provide for the due execution of the laws of the United States within the state of Mississippi, reported the same without amendment.

Ordered, That the said bill be committed to a committee of the whole on Monday next.

Mr. Hugh Nelson, from the same committee, who was instructed to inquire into the expediency of altering the third section of the act to establish a government in the territory of Alabama, made a report thercon; which was read and ordered to lie on the table.

Mr. Nelson, from the same committee, who was instructed to inquire into the expediency of building offices for the safe keeping of the records of the district courts, also made a report thereon; which was read and ordered to lie on the table.

Mr. Nelson, from the same committee, who was instructed to inquire into the expediency of increasing the compensation of the marshal of the northern district of New York, made report, which was read, and the resolution therein contained was concurred in by the House, as follows:

Resolved, That it is not necessary to increase the compensation to the marshal of the northern district of New York.

Mr. Edwards, from the committee appointed to present to the President of the United States a resolution respecting the thirteenth article of the amendments to the Constitution of the United States, reported that the committee had performed that service, and were answered by the President, that he would attend to the request contained in the resolution.

On motion of Mr. Johnson, of Kentucky,

Resolved, That the committee of Claims be instructed to inquire into the expediency of providing by law, for extending the provisions of an act, entitled "An act, providing for the payment of claims for property lost, captured, or destroyed by the enemy, while in the military service of the United States, and for other purposes."

On motion of Mr. Pindall,

Resolved, That the committee on the Judiciary be instructed to inquire into the expediency of establishing a district court in Virginia, west of the Alleghany mountain.

The following resolution, submitted by Mr. Comstock, was read and committed to the committee of the whole to which is committed the resolutions submitted by Mr. Johnson, of Kentucky, on the 9th of December last.

Resolved, That it is expedient to provide by law, for placing on the pension list, the officers of the army who have been wounded in battle during the late war with Great Britain.

The Speaker laid before the House, a letter from the Secretary of State, communicating his report on the petition of Richard Mitchell, jr. and others; which were read and ordered to lie on the table. On motion of Mr. Rich,

Resolved, That the committee on Pensions and Revolutionary Claims, be instructed to inquire into the expediency of allowing to David Warren, of Vermont, an increase of his pension.

On motion of Mr. Livermore,

Ordered, That the Clerk procure to be printed for the use of this House, six hundred copies of a report, bearing date the 20th February, 1800, made by James M Henry, then Secretary of War, on the subject of claims of certain citizens of the state of Georgia. for compensation for military services rendered from the 23d of April, 1793, to the 25th of July, 1794, and all other reports of the Secretary of War on the same subject, together with the documents accompanying the said reports.

The following joint resolution, submitted by Mr. Whitman, was read the first and second time, and ordered to be engrossed and read a third time on Monday next.

Resolved. by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That thirty copies of the laws, passed at the first and second sessions of the Fourteenth Congress, remaining in the office of the Secretary of State, be by

him deposited in the office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives for the use of the members thereof.

An engrossed bill, entitled "An act in addition to the act, entitled An act for the relief of John Thompson," was read the third time and passed.

Ordered, That the title be as aforesaid, and that the Clerk carry the said bill to the Senate and ask their concurrence therein. Another engrossed bill, entitled "An act for the relief of John Anderson," was read the third time; and being on its passage,

A motion was made, by Mr. Williams, of North Carolina, to recommit the said bill to the committee of Claims;

And the question being taken thereon,

It was determined in the negative.

The question was then taken, shall the bill pass ?
And passed in the affirmative.

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

The House again resolved itself into a committee of the whole, on the bill to prescribe the effect which certain records and judicial proceedings of the courts of each state shall have in every other state, and in the courts of the United States; and after some time spent therein, Mr. Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Smith, of Maryland, reported, that the committee had made further progress thereon, 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.

On motion of Mr. Taylor,

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

And then the House adjourned.

MONDAY, January 5, 1818.

Mr. Hopkinson' presented a petition of Catherine Robertson, late widow of Jacob Ritter, deceased, praying compensation for ser vices rendered, and supplies furnished, to the revolutionary army, by the said deceased.

Mr. Hitchcock presented a petition of Isaac Thompson, praying compensation for his services as a soldier, and subsequently as an officer, in the revolutionary army, and for a grant of the land to which he is entitled, in consideration of said services; and also, that he may be placed on the pension list.

Ordered, That the said petitions be referred to the committee on Pensions and Revolutionary Claims,

Mr. Little presented a petition of Thomas Murray, master cooper, in the navy yard, at the city of Washington, praying to be allowed the compensation to which he conceives himself entitled, between the time of the destruction of said yard, in August, 1814,

and the time at which it was renewed in 1815, which has been withheld from him by the officers of the Navy Department.

Ordered, That the said petition be referred to the committee of Claims.

On motion of Mr. Peter,

Ordered, That the petition of Christiana Hamilton, and Samuel S. Hamilton, presented on the 25th January, 1817, be referred to the same committee.

Mr. Marr presented a petition of Henry Ayres, praying to be allowed the half pay to which he is entitled as an officer of the revolutionary army, deducting therefrom the five years full pay received by him.

Ordered, That the said petition be referred to the committee appointed on that part of the President's message, which relates to the surviving officers and soldiers of the revolutionary army.

The Speaker presented the petition of William H. Rose, heretofore presented on the 9th December, 1816; and,

On motion of Mr. Taylor,

Ordered, That the said petition be referred to the committee on Military Affairs.

Mr. Robertson, of Louisiana, presented a petition of sundry inhabitants of the western land district, in the state of Louisiana, praying for rights of pre-emption in the purchase of the lands on which they reside.

Mr. Robertson, also presented a petition of the mayor, aldermen and inhabitants of the city of New Orleans, praying, that in any sale of the vacant and unimproved grounds within the said city, their rights may be respected, by reserving from sale, such parts thereof, as have been, from the first settlement of the place, used in common for the health and convenience of the inhabitants of said city.

Ordered, That the said petitions be referred to the committee on the Public Lands.

Mr. Scott presented a petition of James Dowty; a petition of Martin Rodney; a petition of John Baptiste Belfort; a petition of Hyacinthe Dehetre; a petition of Charles Sexton; a petition of Francis Allers, Joseph Reandeau, jun. Antoine Reandeau, Charles Gilbeault, John Goodbread, David Y. Horsley, John Dowson, Joseph Payne, Louis De Mun, Noel Gamlin, Louis Peltier, Adam Brown, and Thomas Y. Horsley; and a petition of Charles Lucas, assignee of Stephen Jones and Phereley Jones, respectively praying, that their titles to lands, in the territory of Missouri, may be confirmed. Ordered, That the said petitions be referred to the committee on Private Land Claims.

The Speaker laid before the House a letter from the Secretary of War, transmitting a list of persons who have been placed on the pension roll of the United States, transmitted in obedience to a resolution of the 17th ultimo; which was ordered to lie on the table.

The Speaker also laid before the House, a letter from the Secre

tary of War, transmitting a list of persons who have been added to the pension list of the United States since the 28th of May, 1813, transmitted in obedience to a resolution of the 18th ultimo; which was ordered to lie on the table.

The Speaker also laid before the House, a letter from the Secretary of War, transmitting an account of moneys transferred during the late recess of Congress, from one specific appropriation to another, and showing the application of the same; which was referred to the committee on Public Expenditures.

The Speaker also laid before the House, a letter from the Secretary of War, transmitting statements of the expenditure and application of all such moneys as have been drawn from the Treasury by him, for the year ending 30th September, 1817; which was ordered to lie on the table.

Mr. Rhea, from the committee on Pensions and Revolutionary Claims, made a report on the petition of Samuel Gordon; which was read, and the resolution therein contained, was concurred in by the House, as follows:

Resolved, That the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted.

Ordered, That the committee on Pensions and Revolutionary Claims, be discharged from a farther consideration of the petition of James Warren; and that it be referred to the committee on Naval Affairs.

Mr. Williams, from the committee of Claims, made a report on the petition of Edward Barry and George Hodge; which was read and ordered to lie on the table.

Mr. Taylor, from the committee of Elections, made a report on the petition of C. Hammond, contesting the election of Samuel Herrick; which was read, and committed to a committee of the whole, on Wednesday next.

Mr. Taylor, also made a report on the case of Elias Earle, a member of the House from South Carolina; which was read and committed to the committee of the whole last appointed.

Mr. Robertson, of Louisiana, from the committee on the Public Lands, who was instructed to inquire into the expediency of increasing the price of the public lands, made a report thereon; which was read, and ordered to lie on the table.

Mr. Robertson, also made a report on the petition of Edmund Dana, on behalf of himself and others; which was read, and the resolution therein contained, was concurred in by the House, as follows:

Resolved, That the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted, and that the petitioner, Edmund Dana, have leave to withdraw the petition.

Mr. Forsyth, from the committee on Foreign Relations, reported a bill, in addition to the Act for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States," and to repeal the acts therein mentioned; which was read the first and second time and committed to a committee of the whole, on Wednesday next.