Ordered, That the said message, and papers accompanying the same,' be referred to Mr. Benson, Mr. Grout, and Mr. Coles, with instruction that they do prepare and bring in a bill or bills for granting the suspension applied for by the Governor of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in behalf of the said State.

Mr. Burke, from the committee appointed, presented, according to order, a bill for securing the copy right of Books to Authors and Proprietors; which was received, and read the first time.

On motion,

Ordered, That it be an instruction to the committee appointed to prepare and bring in a bill or bills for securing to Authors and Inventors an exclusive right to their respective writing and discoveries, that they do insert a clause or clauses for giving effectual encouragement to the introduction of useful arts from foreign countries.

On motion,

Ordered, That a committee be appointed to examine into the measures taken by Congress and the State of Virginia, respecting the lands reserved for the use of the officers and soldiers of the said State, on Continental and State Establishments, in the cession made by the said State to the United States, of the territory Northwest of the river Ohio, and to report the same to this House; and that Mr. White, Mr. Peter Muhlenberg, and Mr. Seney, be of the said committee.

And then the House adjourned until to-morrow morning cleven o'clock.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 29.

The Speaker laid before the House a letter from the Treasurer of the United States, accompanying a statement of his accounts of the receipts and expenditures of the public money, from the time of his appointment until the thirty-first of December last; which were read, and ordered to be referred to Mr. Smith, of Maryland, Mr. Moore, Mr. Smith, of South Carolina, Mr. Van Rensselaer, and Mr. Clymer.

A bill for securing the copy-right of books to Authors and Proprietors, was read the second time, and ordered to be committed to a Committee of the Whole House on Monday next.

A petition of Aaron Putnam, of Medford, in the State of Massachusetts, was presented to the House and read, praying that an exclusive privilege may be granted him in the use of an improved method of distilling, which he has discovered, whereby the spirit is rendered much more pure, and, with the same expense and time, twice the quantity produced as in the common method.

Also, a petition of Francis Bailey, of the city of Philadelphia, printer, praying that an exclusive privilege may be granted him, in the use of an invention which he has discovered, of forming types for printing devices to surround or make parts of printed papers for any purpose, which cannot be counterfeited.

Ordered, That the said petitions be referred to the committee appointed to prepare and bring in a bill or bills for securing to Authors and Inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries; that they do examine the matter thereof, and report the same, with their opinion thereupon, to the House.

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

Mr. Speaker: The Senate have passed a bill, entitled " An act for the punishment of certain Crimes against the United States," to which they desire the concurrence of this House. And then he withdrew.

The said bill was read the first time.

A petition of Roger Alden, Deputy Secretary to the late Congress, was presented to the House and read, praying that compensation may be made for his services, those of a clerk which he employed, and the expenses of office incident to the care and custody of the records and papers of the late Congress, the great seal of the Federal Union, and the seal of the admiralty, which were delivered to him on the twenty-fourth of July last, by Charles Thomson, Secretary to the late Congress, pursuant to the order of the President of the United States.

Ordered, That the said petition be referred to Mr. Trumbull, Mr. Baldwin, and Mr. Leonard; that they do examine the matter thereof, and report the same, with their opinion thereupon, to the House.

On motion,

Ordered, That the petition of the merchants and other inhabitants of the town of Portland, in the State of Massachusetts, which was presented on Tuesday last, be referred to the Secretary of the Treasury, with instructions to examine the matter thereof, and report the same, with his opinion thereupon, to the House.

On motion,

Ordered, That a committee be appointed to prepare and bring in a bill or bills to appropriate such a sum or sums of money as may be necessary for the payment of the civil list, with the incidental charges thereof, for the present year; and that Mr. Liver more, Mr. Silvester, and Mr. Lee, be of the said committee.

And then the House adjourned until Monday morning eleven o'clock.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1.

Another member, to wit: George Gale, from Maryland, appeared and took his seat. The bill sent from the Senate, entitled "An act for the punishment of certain Crimes against the United States," was read a second time, and ordered to be committed to a Committee of the Whole House on Friday next.

A petition of John M‘Cord, of the province of Quebec, was presented to the House and read, praying to be reimbursed for supplies of money and other necessaries which he furnished to the American Army, in Canada, in the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five.

Also, a petition of John Stephens, late a Captain in the Army of the United States, praying that his claim to half-pay for life, under a resolution of the late Congress, may be allowed.

Ordered, That the said petitions do lie on the table.

The House, according to the order of the day, resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole House on the bill for securing the copy right of Books to Authors and Preprietors.

Mr. Speaker left the chair.

Mr. Baldwin took the chair of the committee.

Mr. Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Baldwin reported that the committee had, according to order, had the said bill under consideration, and gone through the same, and made several amendments thereto; which he delivered in at the Clerk's table; where the same were severally twice read, and agreed to by the House.

Ordered, That the said bill, with the amendments, be engrossed, and read the third time to-morrow.

Mr. White, from the committee appointed to examine into the measures taken by Congress and the State of Virginia respecting the lands reserved for the use of the officers and soldiers of the said State on Continental and State Establishments, in the cession made by the said State to the United States, of the Territory Northwest of the river Ohio, made a report; which was read, and ordered to lie on the table.

A message, in writing, was received from the President of the United States, by Mr. Lear, his Secretary; who delivered in the same, together with the papers therein referred to, and then withdrew.

The said message was read, and is as followeth:

UNITED STATES, February 1st, 1790. Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives:

I have received from his Excellency Alexander Martin, Governor of the State of North Carolina, an act of the General Assembly of that State, entitled "An act for the purpose of ceding to the United States of America certain Western lands therein described;" and have directed my Secretary to lay a copy of the same before you, together with the copy of a letter accompanying the said act, from his Excellency Governor Martin to the President of the United States.

The originals of the foregoing act and letter will be deposited in the office of the Secretary of State. GEORGE WASHINGTON.

Ordered, That the said message and papers be referred to Mr. Clymer, Mr. Gale, Mr. Madison, Mr. Tucker, and Mr. Matthews.

Ordered, That a committee be appointed to prepare and bring in a bill or bills to prescribe the mode in which the Public Acts, Records, and Judicial Proceedings, in each State, shall be authenticated, so as to take effect in every other State; and that Mr. Page, Mr. Jackson, and Mr. Thatcher, be of the said committee.

Ordered, That a committee be appointed to prepare and bring in a bill or bills to provide for the Invalid Pensioners of the United States; and that Mr. Heister, Mr. Par tridge, and Mr. Hathorn, be of the said committee.

Ordered, That a Standing Committee of Elections be appointed.

And a committee was appointed, of Mr. Ames, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Benson, Mr. Sinnickson, Mr. Wynkoop, Mr. White, and Mr. Stone.

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

Mr. Speaker: The Senate have passed the bill, entitled “An act for giving effect to the several acts therein mentioned, in respect to the State of North Carolina," with several amendments, to which they desire the concurrence of this House. And then he withdrew.

The House proceeded to consider the said amendments; and the same being severally twice read, were agreed to, with an amendment to the last amendment.

Ordered, That the Clerk of this House do acquaint the Senate therewith.
And then the House adjourned until to-morrow morning eleven o'clock.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2.

Another member, to wit: Theodorick Bland, from Virginia, appeared and took his seat.

An engrossed bill for securing the copy-right of books to authors and proprietors, was read the third time, and, on a motion made, ordered to be recommitted to Mr. Boudinot, Mr. Sherman, and Mr. Silvester.

A petition of William Hassal, of the city of Philadelphia, was presented to the House and read, praying that he may be allowed the commutation of half pay for life, in consideration of military services rendered during the late war. Also,

A petition of William and Samuel Helms, late merchants, and partners, at New Haven, in the State of Connecticut, but now bankrupts in the island of Grenada, praying to be relieved from the payment of the impost duty on a quantity of rum, which they had compounded with their creditors to import and pay to them in the said State of Connecticut, before the act imposing the said duty was passed. Also,

A petition of the proprietors of Union Wharf in New Haven, in the State of Connecticut, praying that certain rates of wharfage, which were granted to them by an act of the Legislature of the said State, in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty-four, and of which they will be deprived by the operation of the laws of the United States, may be continued to them.

Ordered, That the said petitions do lie on the table.

Mr. Foster, from the committee to whom was re-committed the bill providing for the Actual Enumeration of the Inhabitants of the United States, reported that the committee had, according to order, had the said bill under consideration, and made several amendments thereto; which he delivered in at the Clerk's table, where the same were severally twice read, and agreed to by the House.

Ordered, That the said bill, with the amendments, be engrossed, and read the third time to-morrow.

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

Mr. Speaker: The Senate have agreed to the amendment proposed by this House to their last amendment to the bill, entitled "An act for giving effect to the several acts therein mentioned, in respect to the State of North Carolina," with an amendment, to which they desire the concurrence of this House. And then he withdrew.

The House proceeded to consider the said amendment to the amendment to the amendment, and the same being read, was agreed to.

Ordered, That the Clerk of this House do acquaint the Senate therewith.

On motion,

Ordered, That Mr. Gilman and Mr. White be appointed a Committee for Enrolled Bills, on the part of this House, agreeable to the joint rules of the two Houses. Ordered, That the Clerk of this House do acquaint the Senate therewith.

The order of the day for the House to resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole House on the bill establishing an Uniform Rule of Naturalization, was read, and postponed until to-morrow.

And then the House adjourned until to-morrow morning eleven o'clock.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3.

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

Mr. Speaker: The Senate have appointed Mr. Wingate, on their part, of the Com mittee for Enrolled Bills, agreeable to the joint rules of the two Houses. And then he withdrew.

Mr. Burke, from the committee to whom was referred the petition of Francis Bailey, reported

"That Mr. Bailey hath communicated to the committee his invention or device to prevent the counterfeiting of public papers, which the committee are of opinion will be of great importance to the public, and therefore recommend that the said petition be referred to the Secretary of the Treasury to report thereon:" Whereupon,

Resolved, That this House doth agree to the said report.

A petition of Wilhelmus Decker, of the State of New York, was presented to the House and read, praying relief in consideration of his being wounded and disabled in the service of the United States, during the late war.

Ordered, That the said petition do lie on the table.

The House, according to the order of the day, resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole House on the bill establishing an Uniform Rule of Naturalization.

Mr. Speaker left the chair.

Mr. Baldwin took the chair of the committee.

Mr. Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Baldwin reported that the committee had, according to order, had the said bill under consideration, and made some progress therein.

Resolved, That this House will, to-morrow, again resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole House on the said bill.

The order of the day for the House to resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole House on the bill to provide for the remission or mitigation of Fines, Forfeitures, and Penalties, in certain cases, was read, and further postponed until to-morrow. And then the House adjourned until to-morrow morning eleven o'clock.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4.

Mr. Gilman, from the Joint Committee for Enrolled Bills, reported that the committee bad examined the enrolled bill, entitled "An act for giving effect to the several acts therein mentioned, in respect to the State of North Carolina, and other purposes,” and had found the same to be truly enrolled: Whereupon,

Mr. Speaker signed the said enrolled bill.

Ordered, That the Clerk of this House do acquaint the Senate therewith.

A petition of Joseph Henderson, and John Carnes, jr. of Boston, executors, &c. of Edward Carnes, deceased, was presented to the House and read, praying that payment may be made of a liquidated debt, due to their testator's estate, from the United States. Ordered, That the said petition do lie on the table.

Mr. Trumbull, from the committee to whom was referred the petition of Roger Alden, made a report; which was read, and ordered to lie on the table.

Ordered, That the petition of John Stevens and Wilhelmus Decker, which lay on the table, be referred to the Secretary of War, with instruction to examine the same, and report his opinion thereupon to the House.

Ordered, That the petition of John M'Cord, which was presented on Monday last, be referred to Mr. Ames, Mr. Fitzsimons, and Mr. Boudinot; that they do examine the matter thereof, and report the same, with their opinion thereupon, to the House. The House, according to the order of the day, again resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole House on the bill establishing an Uniform Rule of Naturalization. Mr. Speaker left the chair.

Mr. Baldwin took the chair of the committee.

Mr. Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Baldwin reported that the committee had, according to order, again had the said bill under consideration, and made a further progress therein.

On motion,

Ordered, That the Committee of the Whole House be discharged from further proceeding on the said bill; and that it be re-committed to Mr. Livermore, Mr. Sedgwick, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Lawrance, Mr. Schureman, Mr. Hartley, Mr. Seney, Mr. Moore, Mr. Tucker, and Mr. Jackson.

An engrossed bill providing for the Actual Enumeration of the Inhabitants of the United States, was read the third time, and ordered to be re-committed to a Committee of the Whole House to-morrow.

The order of the day for the House to resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole House on the bill to provide for the remission or mitigation of fines, forfeitures, and penalties, in certain cases, was read, and postponed until to-morrow.

And then the House adjourned until to-inorow morning eleven o'clock.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5.

Ordered, That the petition of the executors of Edward Carnes, deceased, which was presented yesterday, be referred to the Secretary of the Treasury, with instruction to examine the same, and report his opinion thereupon to the House."

Mr. Gilman, from the Joint Committee for Enrolled Bills, reported that the committee did yesterday wait on the President of the United States, and present him with the enrolled bill, entitled "An act for giving effect to the several acts therein mentioned, in respect to the State of North Carolina, and other purposes," for his approbation.

A petition of sundry citizens of the State of New Jersey, late soldiers in the American Army, was presented to the House and read, praying that the depreciation of pay for their services in the Army, may be made good to them.

Also, a petition of Isaac Sherman, of the State of Connecticut, praying that further compensation may be made for his services as an assisting Surveyor to the late Geographer of the United States in the Western Territory.

Also, a petition of William Scott, of the State of New York, praying that his claim to a pension, in consideration of wounds received in the service of the United States, during the late war, may be allowed.

Ordered, That the said petitions do lie on the table.

The House proceeded to consider the report of the committee on the petition of Roger Alden; which, being amended to read as followeth:

"That Mr. Alden was, on the 24th of July, 1789, appointed by the President of the United States, to take charge of the records, books, papers, and seal, of the late Congress; in which employment he still continues. That, for the discharge of his duty in that trust; the bringing up the books, and completing the records of the late Congress, to be delivered over to the Secretary of State; attending to the frequent calls of the public for references to original papers; the application of members of Congress and individuals for numerous copies, extracts, and authentications, of unfinished business before the late Congress; receiving from the President of the United States a variety of original papers, to be deposited in the office of the Secretary of State; affixing the seals; and other services in said office-Mr. Alden found it necessary to employ an assistant, until the fifteenth of November last, at which time he was discharged.

That a compensation, payable out of the Treasury of the United States, should be allowed Mr. Alden, at the rate of one thousand dollars per annum, until the Secretary of State shall enter on the duties of his office; and that he be allowed the customary contingent expenses of office. Also, that a compensation, at the rate of five hundred dollars per annum, be allowed for his assistant, during the time he was actually employed."

Resolved, That this House doth agree to the said report; and that it be referred to the committee appointed to prepare and bring in a bill or bills to appropriate such a sum or sums of money as may be necessary for the payment of the civil list, to make provision accordingly.

The Speaker laid before the House a letter from the Secretary of War, accompany. ing his reports on the several petitions of Ruth Roberts, Salmon Burr, and Ezra Smith; which were read, and ordered to lie on the table.

The House, according to the order of the day, resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole House on the bill to provide for the remission or mitigation of Fines, Forfeitures, and Penalties, in certain cases.

Mr. Speaker left the chair.

Mr. Baldwin took the chair of the committee.

Mr. Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Baldwin reported that the committee had, according to order, had the said bill under their consideration, and gone through the same, and made an amendment thereto; which he delivered in at the Clerk's table, where the same was twice read, and agreed to by the House.

On motion,

Ordered, That the said bill, with the amendment, be recommitted to Mr. Ames, Mr. Sturges, Mr. Stone, Mr. Griffin, and Mr. Wynkoop.

The orders of the day for the House to resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole House on the bill sent from the Senate, entitled "An act for the punishment of certain Crimes against the United States;" also, on the engrossed bill providing for the Actual Enumeration of the Inhabitants of the United States were read, and postponed until Monday next.

And then the House adjourned until Monday morning eleven o'clock.

Voz. I.-20.