the expediency of enlarging the powers of the Attorney General, but the House refused to consider the same.

Mr. F. JOHNSON called for the consideration of the resolutions some time ago submitted by him; and the House agreed to consider the same 60 to 44.

The first resolution was read in the following words:

Resolved, That the practice which has obtained in the public offices in this city, (of not attending to business until nine or ten o'clock in the morning, and closing the offices at three o'clock, in the evening,) is inconvenient to those who have business to transact in them, is not such reasonable attention to the public service as should be given, nor such attention as the salaries allowed by law are entitled to command, and that the said practice ought to be abolished.

The question on this resolution was taken without debate, and decided in the affirmative by a majority of 20 or 30 votes.

The second resolution was read in the following

words:

Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to cause the respective Secretaries of State, of the Treasury, of War, and of the Navy, and the Postmaster General, to report to this House, on the second day of the next session of Congress, the number of active and well qualified Clerks, and Accountants, that will be necessary to perform the duties of their respective offices and departments, by requiring a reasonably constant, and diligent attention to business.

This resolution was agreed to by about the same majority as the first.

The third and fourth resolutions were modified by the mover so as to read as follows:

Resolved, That the number of officers and seamen of the Navy of the United States ought to be limited by law.

Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to cause to be laid before this House, on the second day of the next session of Congress, a plan for a Peace Establishment of the Navy of the United States, and also of the Marine Corps.

These resolves were also agreed to by about the same majority.

Mr. TAYLOR submitted the following order, which was adopted:

Ordered, That the Clerk of the House cause to be prepared and printed, for the use of the members, a list of all business remaining undetermined, which, by the existing rule, is to be rusumed and acted upon at the next session of Congess, designating bills, reports, and resolutions, committed, from those laid upon the table.

Mr. CHAMBERS called for the consideration of a bill from the Senate to authorize the selection of a suitable site for a National Armory on the Western waters; but the House refused to consider the same.

MAY, 1822.

and the question being put on its third reading, thereupon arose a debate of an hour's length,

The bill was supported with considerable animation by Messrs. TAYLOR, NEALE, WOODCOCK, KENT, WHIPPLE, STEWART, and LITTLE, and opposed by Messrs. SMITH, of Maryland, and MAL

LARY.

Mr. MALLARY moved to amend the bill by striking out the four last sections, which provide for determining in chancery the equity of the claim, or pretended claim, of any of the original proprietors to the lots proposed to be laid out, and in lieu thereof requiring a relinquishment, prior to the execution of the work, of all claims to the lots on the part of the original proprietors.

The debate was ended, and this proposed amendment put aside, by the previous question, moved by Mr. Cook, (who was favorable to the bill,) and sustained by the House.

The main question on ordering the bill to a third reading, was then taken, and decided in the affirmative by a considerable majority.

A bill from the Senate for the collection of duties on imports and tonnage in the Territory of Florida, and for other purposes, was read a third time; but, before the question was taken, it was suggested by Mr. CAMPBELL, of Ohio, that there was not a quorum present in the House.

After a short time, Mr. WHITE moved for a call of the House, but the call was negatived; and, a quorum appearing, the bill was passed.

A bill to relieve the people of the Territory of Florida from the operation of certain ordinances, was read a third time, and passed.

A bill to authorize the Corporation of the City of Washington to drain the low grounds in the vicinity of the Capitol, and to ornament certain parts of the said city, &c., was read a third time, and, on the question of its passage,

Mr. NELSON, of Maryland, moved to recommit the bill, with instructions so to amend it as to obtain the assent of the original proprietors, or their legal representatives, and all persons claiming under them.

After a few remarks, by Mr. HARDIN and Mr. NEALE,

The motion to recommit was lost, and the bill was read a third time, and passed.

Mr. BUTLER, from the select committee, to whom was referred the resolution in relation to the Rip Rap contract, made a report thereon, concluding with the following resolve:

Resolved, That further appropriations to be expended under the contract made by the Engineer depart. ment with Elijah Mix, ought not to be made.

The report, with the documents, was ordered to be laid on the table, and printed.

The following bills passed through a Committee of the Whole, viz: A bill for the relief of Matthew McNair; and a bill for the relief of Samuel Walker.

H. OF R.

MAY, 1822.

Mr. RHEA moved also to lay the former on the table, which motion being rejected, the question was stated on ordering the bill to a third reading; and debate arising thereon, the previous question was required by Mr. TAYLOR, and taken, and the bill finally passed.

The following Message was received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To the House of Representatives:

Report, That the committee regret that the few days remaining of the session do not afford time sufficient to give the subject that consideration which its im portance requires. They therefore decline to express any opinion on its merits, and recommend the subject to the early consideration of the House at the next session.

This report was read and ordered to lie on the table.

such communications as he may have received relative thereto, from any of the other Ministers of the United States who negotiated the Treaty of Ghent," I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with the documents called for by that resolution. JAMES MONROE,

WASHINGTON, May 7, 1822.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, May 7, 1822. The Secretary of State has the honor of transmitting to the President of the United States his remarks upon the paper deposited at the Department of State on the 22d of last month, by Jonathan Russell, late one of the Plenipotentiaries of the United States at the negotiation of Ghent, to be communicated to the House of Representatives, as the letter called for by their resolution of the 19th of that month; and the Secretary of State respectfully requests that the Pres

ident would transmit to the House of Representatives

these remarks, together with the above mentioned communication of Mr. Russell, on the renewal of the call therefor by the House.

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. The Message and documents were ordered to be printed.

the reports of the Committee of Claims, on the The House took up and proceeded to consider cases of Stephen Mack and Shubael P. Conant, and of Henry B. Brevourt. Whereupon, it was ordered that the said reports be committed to a Committee of the whole House to-day.

The House took up and proceeded to consider the report of the Committee of Claims, on the petition of the representatives of Zachariah Schoonmaker; as also, the report of the Committee on Military Affairs, on the petition of Peter Mills. Whereupon, it was ordered that the said reports be committed to a Committee of the whole House to-day.

The resolution submitted by Mr. Cook, yesterday, was taken up, read, and agreed to by the House.

On motion of Mr. MALLARY, (Mr. TAYLOR being temporarily in the Chair,) it was

Resolved unanimously, That the thanks of this House be presented to the honorable PHILIP P. BARBOUR, for the assiduity, promptitude, and ability, with which he has administered the duties of the Chair during the present session.

Mr. HILL and Mr. LITTLE were appointed to announce to the President that the House had got through their business, and were ready to adjourn.

The Committee having a little before three o'clock stated to the House, that the President had informed them he had no further communication to make

Mr. Speaker BARBOUR rose and addressed the House as follows:

At the commencement of the present session, when I was unexpectedly called by you to the Chair, I expressed the profound sense of gratitude which I the close of the session, I have to acknowledge a new felt for that distinguished mark of your confidence; at resolution which you have this day adopted. I should and increased weight of obligation, arising from the not, under any circumstances, have been vain encugh

to suppose that I could have passed through the long and laborious session, which is just about to be terminated, without falling into some error; still less could I have hoped for it, under the consciousness which I

MAY, 1822.

felt of my inexperience in relation to the duties of my office; if, however, I have erred, I trust it has been in points not material; I know it has been unintentional; and the approbation which you have to-day expressed of my conduct affords to me a gratifying proof, that, whilst you have given me a generous credit for the purity of my motives, whilst you have, with a kind indulgence, overlooked my defects, you have done more than justice to my best efforts to merit your good opinion. The recollection of these things will long be cherished by me as a source of pleasure; it will add to a sense of duty, a new motive to endeavor, by every possible exertion, to acquit myself of the high responsibility of my office, in a manner satisfactory to you. At this moment of approaching separation, permit me to assure you of my friendship and good feelings to you all, and to express the sincere desire, that, upon retiring from the toils of legislation, you may have a safe and happy return to the bosoms of your respective families, and that, when you have arrived there, you may enjoy the happiness and peace which ought to belong to the domestic state.

The SPEAKER then adjourned the House until the first Monday in December next, the day fixed by the Constitution of the United States for the annual meeting of Congress.

SUPPLEMENTAL SPEECH.

H. OF R.

Endorsed in Mr. Senator SILSBEE's handwriting, "SPEECH of Hon. W. LOWNDES, for the Relief of the Family of Commodore PERRY, written off by Mr. L. at my request." Session of 1820-21.-Jan. 23-4. Mr. Chairman: I could wish, but I dare not hope, that the gentleman from Kentucky, (Mr. HARDIN,) by withdrawing his amendment, will afford to the Committee the opportunity of giving a direct vote on the bill which is before them. If the health of my friend from Virginia (Mr. RANDOLPH) had allowed him to explain his views to the Committee, I should have been entirely silent. As it is, I shall say but a few words.

We do not object to the law which defines the ecutive Government, and limits their amount. It cases in which pensions may be given by the Exis right that there should be a general rule, and that prescribed by the law is a safe one. It is a law to the Executive Government. But it does not withdraw from Congress the power. It cannot supersede the duty of expressing our gratitude letter of the law does not do so) for the family of for signal services, and of providing (where the the man who lived and died for his country.

The gentleman from Kentucky says that Commodore Perry did not die of a wound. It was his last regret that he had not fallen on the quarterdeck of his own ship. But the disease which carried him off was one to which he could not have been exposed but in obedience to the orders

A RELIC OF THE LATE WILLIAM LOWNDES. Of all the distinguished men who have passed periods of their lives in either House of Congress there is certainly no one, of any thing like equal ability, who has left fewer traces on the page of history, or on the records of Congress, than WILLIAM LOWNDES, the eminent Representative for several years of the State of South Carolina. Not that he was less honored and respected, as well for his elevated patriotism and his fine intellect, as for his high moral qualities and his social virtues, than any one of his contemporaries in public life. But that so few of his eloquent speeches are to be found on record is attributable, in part, to his unfeigned diffidence, which placed less than their true value upon his own exertions, and in part to an objection which he had, on principle, to the practice, then general, of writing out speeches for publication, either before or after the delivery.

A sketch, however, of one of the briefest of the speeches of this eminent statesman, (who but for his retiring modesty might, to our knowledge, have worn the highest honors in the gift of his Government,) we are now enabled to present to our readers, through the kindness of a friend, into whose possession it came by the death of a relative. Besides the rarity of this production, as an exception to Mr. L.'s rule to decline writing out his speeches, the subject to which it relates cannot fail to interest every reader who rightly appreciates the memory of PERRY, the renowned naval commander, whose victory on Lake Erie, during the war of 1812, gave safety to the exposed frontier of the country, and greatly contributed, with the subsequent events, to bring about an honorable and happy peace. [Editors Nat. Int.

was in service, but, because he was in service. family by leaving it in hopeless poverty? GenShall we aggravate the irreparable loss of his tlemen are unwilling to grant pensions. They other nations, that we shall become profuse in our are granted now. They fear, from the example of generosity. No Government has been lavish to the dead. Postpone the remuneration for the highest military services until the man who rendered them is no more, and the most suspicious economy may hug itself in confidence that the hour of dangerous extravagance has passed.

You will not say that our gratitude should end with the services of Commodore Perry—with his life? But, his services have not ended. We have still the inland seas which were recovered by his arms. His example lives; and if, at some period of future depression and dismay, we shall be told that single ships may annoy the commerce of our enemy, but that an assembled fleet would be a prize to a Power which it is wiser to elude than to resist, his example shall rebuke our weakness and enlighten our feeling. You will rally the desponding spirits of the country by his name. I am not willing to speak of the battle of Lake Erie. It is a theme for pride and emulation, and that temper is subdued in me now, by the condition of that man's family, to whom we owe the victory. But, though I cannot describe, never shall I forget the circumstances of that battle. Courage might have saved your fleet from capture, not from destruction. The highest praise of other men would have been to take refuge from captivity in honorable death. The battle was al