by him appointed for that purpose, together with all such process issued by authority thereof, as shall be directed to him by the Speaker.

The fees of the Serjeant-at-Arms shall be, for every arrest, the sum of two dollars; for each day's custody and releasement, one dollar; and for travelling expenses of himself, or a special messenger, going and returning, one tenth of a dollar per mile.

Two standing committees shall be appointed at the commencement of each session, to consist of seven members each, to wit:

A Committee of Elections, and

A Committee of Claims.

It shall be the duty of the said Committee of Elections to examine and report upon the certificates of election, or other credentials of the members returned to serve in this House, and to take into their consideration all such petitions and other matters touching election, and returns, as shall or may be presented, or come in question, and be referred to them by the House.

It shall be the duty of the said Committee of Claims to take into consideration all such petitions and matters or things touching claims or demands on the United States, as shall be presented, or shall or may come in question, and be referred to them by the House, and to report their opinion thereupon, together with such propositions for relief therein, as to them shall seem expedient.

No committee shall sit, during the sitting of the House, without special leave.

The Clerk of the House shall take an oath for the true and faithful discharge of the duties of his office, to the best of his knowledge and abilities; and shall be deemed to continue in office until another be appointed.

It shall be the duty of the Clerk of the House, at the end of each session, to send a printed copy of the Journal thereof to the Executive, and to each branch of the Le gislature of every State.

Whenever confidential communications are received from the President of the United States, the House shall be cleared of all persons, except the members and its officers, and so continue during the reading of such communications, and (unless otherwise directed by the House) during all debates and proceedings to be had thereon. And when the Speaker, or any other member shall inform the House that he has communications to make, which he conceives ought to be kept secret, the House shall, in like manner, be cleared till the communication be made; the House shall then determine whether the matter communicated requires secrecy or not, and take order accordingly.

Thirdly.-Of Bills.

Every bill shall be introduced by motion for leave, or by an order of the House, on the report of a committee; and, in either case, a committee to prepare the same shall be appointed. In cases of a general nature, one day's notice, at least, shall be given of the motion to bring in a bill; and every such motion may be committed.

Every bill shall receive three several readings in the House previous to its passage; and all bills shall be despatched in order as they were introduced, unless where the House shall direct otherwise; but no bill shall be twice read on the same day without special order of the House.

The first reading of a bill shall be for information; and, if opposition be made to it, the question shall be, "Shall the bill be rejected?" If no opposition be made, or if the question to reject be negatived, the bill shall go to its second reading without a question.

Upon the second reading of a bill, the Speaker shall state it as ready for commit. ment or engrossment; and, if committed, then a question shall be, whether to a Select Committee, or to a Committee of the Whole House; if to a Committee of the Whole House, the House shall determine on what day. But, if the bill be ordered to be engrossed, the House shall appoint the day when it shall be read the third time. After commitment and report thereof to the House, a bill may be re-committed, or at any time before its passage.

All bills ordered to be engrossed shall be executed in a fair round hand.

When a bill shall pass, it shall be certified by the Clerk, noting the day of its passing at the foot thereof.

Fourthly.

Of Committees of the Whole House.

It shall be a standing order of the day, throughout the session, for the House to resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union.

In forming a Committee of the Whole House the Speaker shall leave his chair, and a chairman to preside in committee shall be appointed by the Speaker.

Upon bills committed to a Committee of the Whole House, the bill shall be first read throughout by the Clerk, and then again read and debated by clauses, leaving the preamble to be last considered; the body of the bill shall not be defaced or interlined; but all amendments, noting the page and line, shall be duly entered by the Clerk on a separate paper, as the same shall be agreed to by the committee, and so reported to the House. After report, the bill shall again be subject to be debated and amended by clauses before a question to engross it be taken.

All amendments made to an original motion in committee, shall be incorporated with the motion, and so reported.

All amendments made to a report committed to a Committee of the Whole House, shall be noted and reported as in the case of bills.

All questions, whether in committee or in the House, shall be propounded in the order they were moved, except that in filling up blanks the largest sum and longest time shall be first put.

No motion or proposition for a tax or charge upon the People shall be discussed the day in which it is made or offered, and every such proposition shall receive its first discussion in a Committee of the Whole House.

No sum or quantum of tax or duty voted by a Committee of the Whole House, shall be increased in the House, until the motion or proposition for such increase shall be first discussed and voted in a Committee of the Whole House; and so in respect to the time of its continuance.

All proceedings touching appropriations of money, shall be first moved and discussed in a Committee of the Whole House.

The rules of proceeding in the House shall be observed in committee, so far as they may be applicable, except that limiting the times of speaking.

No standing rule or order of the House shall be rescinded without one day's notice being given of the motion therefor.

Joint Rules and Orders of the two Houses.

In every case of an amendment of a bill agreed to in one House and dissented to in the other, if either House shall request a conference, and appoint a committee for that purpose, and the other House shall also appoint a committee to confer, such committees shall, at a convenient hour, to be agreed on by their Chairman, meet in the Conference Chamber, and state to each other verbally, or in writing, as either shall chuse, the reasons of their respective Houses for and against the amendment, and confer freely

thereon.

When a message shall be sent from the Senate to the House of Representatives, it shall be announced at the door of the House by the Doorkeeper, and shall be respectfully communicated to the chair by the person by whom it may be sent.

The same ceremony shall be observed when a message shall be sent from the House of Representatives to the Senate.

Messages shall be sent by such persons as a sense of propriety in each House may determine to be proper.

While bills are on their passage between the two Houses, they shall be on paper, and under the signature of the Secretary or Clerk of each House, respectively.

After a bill shall have passed both Houses, it shall be duly enrolled on parchment by the Clerk of the House of Representatives, or the Secretary of the Senate, as the bill may have originated in the one or the other House, before it shall be presented to the President of the United States.

When bills are enrolled, they shall be examined by a Joint Committee of one from the Senate, and two from the House of Representatives, appointed as a Standing Committee for that purpose, who shall carefully compare the enrolment with the engrossed bills as passed in the two Houses, and, correcting any errors that may be discovered in the enrolled bills, make their report forthwith to the respective Houses.

After examination and report, each bill shall be signed in the respective Houses, first by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and then by the President of the Senate.

After a bill shall have thus been signed in each House, it shall be presented by the said committee to the President of the United States for his approbation, it being first endorsed on the back of the roll, certifying in which House the same originated; which endorsement shall be signed by the Secretary or Clerk (as the case may be) of the House in which the same did originate, and shall be entered on the Journal of each House. The said committee shall report the day of presentation to the President, which time shall also be carefully entered on the Journal of each House.

All orders, resolutions, and votes, which are to be presented to the President of the United States for his approbation, shall also, in the same manner, be previously enrolled, examined, and signed, and shall be presented in the same manner, and by the same committee, as provided in case of bills.

When the Senate and House of Representatives shall judge it proper to make a joint address to the President, it shall be presented to him in his Audience Chamber by the President of the Senate, in the presence of the Speaker and both Houses.

The House, according to the order of the day, resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole House on the report of the Secretary of War on the petition of Peter Covenhoven; and, after some time spent therein, Mr. Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Trumbull reported that the committee had, according to order, had the said report under consideration, and come to a resolution thereupon; which he delivered in at the Clerk's table, where the same was twice read, and, on the question put thereupon, agreed to by the House as followeth :

Resolved, That there be allowed to Peter Covenhoven the sum of

dollars, in

full for his expenses attending the cure of a wound received near Fort Schuyler, during the late war.

Ordered, That a bill or bills be brought in, pursuant to the said resolution, and that Mr. Beatty, Mr. Blount, and Mr. Holten, do prepare and bring in the same. And then the House adjourned until to-morrow morning eleven o'clock.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14.

Several other members, to wit: from Massachusetts, Samuel Dexter; from Virginia, Abraham Venable; and from Kentucky, Alexander D. Orr; appeared, and took their seats in the House.

Mr. Baldwin, from the committee to whom was referred the letter from James White, enclosing the credentials of his appointment as a Representative of the Territory of the United States, South of the River Ohio, made a report; which was read, and ordered to be committed to a Committee of the Whole House on Monday next.

Ordered, That a Committee of Claims be appointed, pursuant to the standing rules and orders of the House:

And a committee was appointed, of Mr. Tracey, Mr. Foster, Mr. Malbone, Mr. Montgomery, Mr. Heath, Mr. Christie, and Mr. Mebane.

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

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17.

Two other members, to wit: from Rhode Island, Benjamin Bourne; and from South Carolina, Andrew Pickens; appeared, and took their seats in the House.

A petition of Pierre Egron was presented to the House and read, praying the patronage of Congress, and an exemption from postage, in aid of a literary work which he is now prosecuting.

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

A petition of Joab Stafford, of the County of Herkimer, in the State of New York, was presented to the House and read, praying to be allowed an arrearage of pension due to him as a Captain in the Army of the United States, during the late war, or such other compensation in lieu thereof, as to the wisdom of Congress shall seem meet.

Ordered, That the said petition, together with the petition of George Campbell, which lay on the table, be referred to the Committee of Claims.

The House, according to the order of the day, resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole House on the report of the committee to whom was referred the letter from James White, together with the credentials of his appointment as a Representative of the Territory of the United States, South of the River Ohio; and, after some time spent therein, Mr. Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Trumbull reported that the committee had, according to order, had the said report under consideration, and made no amendment thereto.

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

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

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18.

Another member, to wit: Theodore Sedgwick, from Massachusetts, appeared, and took his seat in the House.

A memorial of James Crawford, of the City of Philadelphia, merchant, was presented

to the House and read, praying that a new register may be granted in the case of the brig Betsey, an American bottom, taken by the British at Saint Pierre's, in the Island of Martinique, in the month of February last; the said brig being condemned, and her original register detained by the captors.

Ordered, That the said memorial, together with the petition of Samuel Emery, which lay on the table, be referred to Mr. Fitzsimons, Mr. Goodhue, and Mr. Cadwalader; that they do examine the matter thereof, and report the same, with their opinion thereupon, to the House.

The House proceeded to consider the report of the committee on the letter from James White, enclosing the credentials of his appointment as a Representative of the Territory of the United States, South of the River Ohio, to which the Committee of the Whole House reported no amendment: Whereupon,

The said report being again read at the Clerk's table, was, on the question put thereupon, agreed to by the House, as followeth :

"That, by the ordinance for the government of the Territory of the United States, Northwest of the River Ohio, section 9, it is provided, that, so soon as there shall be five thousand free male inhabitants of full age in the District, upon giving proof thereof to the Governor, they shall receive authority to elect Representatives to represent them in a General Assembly; and by the 12th section of the ordinance, as soon as a Legis lature shall be formed in the District, the Council and House, assembled in one room, shall have authority, by joint ballot, to elect a Delegate to Congress, who shall have a seat in Congress, with a right of debating, but not of voting, during this temporary government.' Full effect is given to this ordinance by act of Congress, August 7, 1789. That, by the deed of cession of the Territory South of the River Ohio, to the United States, in the fourth article, it is also provided that the inhabitants of the said Territory shall enjoy all the privileges, benefits, and advantages, set forth in the ordinance of the late Congress for the government of the Western Territory; that is to say, Congress shall assume the government of the said Territory, which they shall execute in a manner similar to that which they support in the Territory West of the Ohio, and shall never bar or deprivé them of any privilege which the People in the Territory West of the Ohio enjoy.'

The cession, on these conditions, was accepted by act of Congress, on the 2d of April, 1790.

By an act passed the 26th May, 1790, for the government of the Territory of the United States, South of the River Ohio, it is enacted, 'that the inhabitants shall enjoy all the privileges, benefits, and advantages, set forth in the ordinance of the late Congress for the government of the Territory of the United States, Northwest of the River Ohio. And the government of the said Territory South of the Ohio, shall be similar to that which is now exercised in the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio; except so far as is otherwise provided in the conditions expressed in an act of Congress of the present session, entitled 'An act to accept a cession of the claim of the State of North Carolina to a certain District of Western Territory.' The committee are of opinion that James White has been duly elected as Delegate from the Territory of the United States, South of the Ohio, on the terms of the foregoing acts: they, therefore, submit the following resolution :

Resolved, That James White be admitted to a seat in this House as a Delegate from the Territory of the United States, South of the River Ohio, with a right of debating, but not of voting."

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

Mr. Speaker: I am directed to inform this House that a quorum of the Senate is assembled, and ready to proceed to business. And then he withdrew.

Ordered, That the petition of Pierre Egron, which lay on the table, be referred to Mr. William Smith, Mr. Murray, and Mr. Madison; 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 appointed a committee on their part, jointly, with such committee as may be appointed on the part of this House, to wait on the President of the United States, and inform him that a quorum of the two Houses is assembled, and ready to receive any communications he may think proper to make to them. And then he withdrew.

Ordered, That Mr. Boudinot, Mr. Dearborn, and Mr. Gilman, be appointed a committee on the part of this House for the purpose expressed in the message from the Senate.

On motion,

Resolved, That two Chaplains, of different denominations, be appointed to Congress for the present session, one by each House, to interchange weekly.

Ordered, That the Clerk of this House do carry the said resolution to the Senate, and desire their concurrence.

Mr. Boudinot, from the Joint Committee appointed to wait on the President of the United States, and notify him that a quorum of the two Houses is assembled, and ready to receive any communications he may think proper to make to them, reported that the committee had, according to order, performed that service, and that the President signified to them that he would make a communication to both Houses of Congress, tomorrow at twelve o'clock, in the Representatives' Chamber.

Ordered, That a committee be appointed to bring in a bill extending the privilege of franking to James White, the Delegate from the Southwestern Territory, and making provision for his compensation; and that Mr. William Smith, Mr. Thatcher, and Mr. Macon, be the said committee.

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

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19.

Another member, to wit: Thomas Scott, from Pennsylvania, appeared, and took his seat in the House.

A memorial of Joze Roiz Silva, of the city of New York, merchant, was presented to the House and read, praying that the sum of two thousand five hundred and twenty-one dollars and sixty cents, may be refunded to him, it being the difference in the amount of duties on a quantity of wines imported by the memorialist, and which, through mistake, was exacted from him by the Collector of the port of New York, beyond the legal duties.

Ordered, That the said memorial be referred to Mr. Watts, Mr. Coffin, and Mr. Malbone; that they do examine the matter thereof, and report the same, with their opinion thereupon, to the House.

The Speaker laid before the House a report of the Commissioners for purchasing the public debt, stating the amount of their purchases and other proceedings since their report of the sixteenth of December, one thousand seven hundred and ninetythree: which was read, and ordered to lie on the table.

Ordered, That a message be sent to the Senate, to inform them that this House is now ready to attend them in receiving the communication from the President of the United States, agreeably to his notification to both Houses yesterday; and that the Clerk of this House do go with the said message.

The Clerk accordingly went with the said message, and being returned,

The Senate attended and took seats in the House; when, both Houses being assembled, the President of the United States came into the Representatives' Chamber, and addressed them as followeth:

Fellow Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

When we call to mind the gracious indulgence of Heaven, by which the American People became a nation; when we survey the general prosperity of our country, and look forward to the riches, power, and happiness, to which it seems destined; with the deepest regret do I announce to you that, during your recess, some of the citizens of the United States have been found capable of an insurrection. It is due, however, to the character of our Government, and to its stability, which cannot be shaken by the enemies of order, freely to unfold the course of this event.

During the session of the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety, it was expedient to exercise the legislative power, granted by the Constitution of the United States, "to lay and collect excises." In a majority of the States, scarcely an objection was made to this mode of taxation. In some, indeed, alarms were at first conceived, until they were banished by reason and patriotism. In the four Western counties of Pennsylvania, a prejudice, fostered and embittered by the artifice of men, who labored for an ascendency over the will of others, by the guidance of their passions, produced symptoms of riot and violence. It is well known that Congress did not hesitate to examine the complaints which were presented, and to relieve them, as far as justice dictated, or general convenience would permit. But the impression which this moderation made on the discontented, did not correspond with what it deserved. The arts of delusion were no longer confined to the efforts of designing individuals. The very forbearance to press prosecutions was misinterpreted into a fear of urging the execu tion of the laws; and associations of men began to denounce threats against the officers. VOL. II.-30.