me during my whole official term, and by which you have done so much to lighten the labors and relieve the responsibilities which are inseparable from the chair of this House.

I can honestly say, gentleman, that I have endeavored, to the best of my ability, to fulfil the pledges with which I entered upon this arduous station, and to discharge its complicated and difficult duties without partiality and without prejudice. Nor am I conscious of having given just cause of imputation or offence to any member of the House. If there be one, however, towards whom I have seemed at any moment to exhibit anything of injustice, or anything of impatience, I freely offer him the only reparation in my power, in this public expression of my sincere regret.

We have been associated, gentlemen, during a most eventful period in the history of our country, and of the world. It would be difficult to designate another era in the modern annals of mankind, which has been signalized by so rapid a succession of startling political changes.

Let us rejoice that while the powers of the earth have almost everywhere else been shaken, that, while more than one of the mightiest monarchies and stateliest empires of Europe have tottered, or have fallen, our own American republic has stood firm.

Let us rejoice at the evidence which has thus been furnished to the friends of liberty throughout the world, of the inherent stability of institutions which are founded on the rock of a written constitution, and which are sustained by the will of a free and intelligent people.

And let us hope and trust-as I, for one, most fervently and confidently do that, by the blessing of God upon prudent, conciliatory, and patriotic counsels, every cause of domestic dissension and fraternal discord may be speedily done away, and that the States and the people, whose representatives we are, may be bound together in a firm, cordial, and indissoluble union.

Offering once more to you all my most grateful acknowledgments of your kindness, and my best wishes for your individual health. and happiness, I proceed to the performance of the only duty which remains to me, by announcing, as I now do,

That the House of Representatives of the United States stands adjourned sine die.

BUSINESS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES.

TOUCHING THE DUTY OF THE SPEAKER.

1. He shall take the chair every day precisely at the hour to which the House shall have adjourned on the preceding day; shall immediately call the members to order; and, on the appearance of a quorum, shall cause the journal of the preceding day to be read.-(April 7, 1789.)

2. He shall preserve order and decorum; may speak to points of order in preference to other members, rising from his seat for that purpose; and shall decide questions of order, subject to an appeal to the House by any two members-(April 7, 1789 ;) on which appeal no member shall speak more than once, unless by leave of the House.-(December 23, 1811.) 3. He shall rise to put a question, but may state it sitting.—(April 7, 1789.) 4. Questions shall be distinctly put in this form, to wit: "As many as are of opinion that (as the question may be) say Ay;" and, after the affirmative voice is expressed, "As many as are of the contrary opinion, say No." If the Speaker doubt, or a division be called for, the Hous shall divide: those in the affirmative of the question shall first rise from their seats, and afterwards those in the negative. If the Speaker still doubt, or a count be required, the Speaker shall name two members, one from each side, to tell the members in the affirmative and negative; which being also reported, he shall rise and state the decision to the House.-(April 7, 1789.) No division and count of the House by tellers shall be in order, but upon motion seconded by at least one-fifth of a quorum of the members.-(September 15, 1837.)

5. When any motion or proposition is made, the question, "Will the House now consider it?" shall not be put unless it is demanded by some member, or is deemed necessary by the Speaker. (December 12, 1817.)

6. The Speaker shall examine and correct the Journal before it is read. He shall have a general direction of the hall. He shall have a right to name any member to perform the duties of the Chair, but such substitution shall not extend beyond an adjournment.-(Decem ber 23, 1811.)

7. All committees shall be appointed by the Speaker, unless otherwise specially directed by the House, in which case they shall be appointed by ballot; and if, upon such ballot, the number required shall not be elected by a majority of the votes given, the House shall proceed to a second ballot, in which a plurality of votes shall prevail; and in case a greater number than is required to compose or complete a committee shall have an equal number of votes, the House shall proceed to a further ballot or ballots.-(January 13, 1790.)

8. The first named member of any committee shall be the chairman; and, in his absence, or being excused by the House, the next named member, and so on, as often as the case shall happen, unless the committee, by a majority of their number, elect a chairman.-(De cember 20, 1805.)

9. Any member may excuse himself from serving on any committee at the time of his appointment, if he is then a member of two other committees.-(April 13, 1789.)

10. It shall be the duty of a committee to meet on the call of any two of its members, if the chairman be absent, or decline to appoint such meeting.-(December 20, 1805.)

11. In all other cases of ballot than for committees, a majority of the votes given shall be necessary to an election; and where there shall not be such a majority on the first ballot, the ballots shall be repeated until a majority be obtained.—(April 7, 1789.) And in all ballotings blanks shall be rejected, and not taken into the count in the enumeration of votes, or reported by the tellers.-(September 15, 1837.)

12. In all cases of election by the House, the Speaker shall vote; in other cases he shall not vote, unless the House be equally divided, or unless his vote, if given to the minority, will make the division equal; and in case of such equal division, the question shall be lost. (April 7, 1789.)

13. In all cases where other than members of the House may be eligible to an office by the election of the House, there shall be a previous nomination.-(April 7, 1789)

14. In all cases of an election by the House of its officers, the vote shall be taken viva voce (December 10, 1839.)

15. All acts, addresses, and joint resolutions, shall be signed by the Speaker; and all writs, warrants, and subpoenas, issued by order of the House, shall be under, his hand and seal, attested by the Clerk.-(November 13, 1794.)

16. In case of any disturbance or disorderly conduct in the galleries or lobby, the Speaker (or Chairman of the Committee of the Whole House) shall have power to order the same to be cleared.-(March 14, 1794.)

17. No person except members of the Senate, their Secretary, Heads of Departments, Treasurer, Comptroilers, Register, Auditors, Postmaster General, President's Secretary, Chaplains to Congress, Judges of the United States, Foreign Ministers and their Secretaries, officers who, by name, have received, or shall hereafter receive, the thanks of Congress for their gallantry and good conduct displayed in the service of their country, the Commissioners of the Navy Board, Governor for the time being of any State or Territory in the Union, such gentlemen as have been Heads of Departments or members of either branch of the National Legislature, and, at the discretion of the Speaker, persons who belong to such Legislatures of foreign Governments as are in amity with the United States, shall be admitted within the Hall of the House of Reprepresentatives.

18. Stenographers, wishing to take down the debates, may be admitted by the Speaker, who shall assign such places to them, on the floor or elsewhere, to effect their object, as shall not interfere with the convenience of the House.—(January 7, 1802; modified to present form, December 23, 1811.)

19. No person shall be allowed the privilege of the hall, under the character of stenogra pher, without a written permission from the Speaker, specifying the part of the hall assigned to him; and no reporter or stenographer shall be admitted under the rules of the House, unless such reporter or stenographer shall state, in writing, for what paper or papers he is employed to report.-(March 1, 1838.)

20. The Doorkeeper shall execute strictly the 17th and 18th rules, relative to the privilege of the hall.-(March 1, 1838.)

21. 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.-(April 13, 1789; and act June 1st, 1789.) He shall be deemed to continue in office until another be appointed.-(March 1, 1791.)

ORDER OF BUSINESS OF THE SESSION.

22. After six days from the commencement of a second or subsequent session of any Con gress, all bills, resolutions, and reports, which originated in the House, and at the close of the next preceding session remained undetermined, shall be resumed and acted or in the same manner as if an adjournment had not taken place.-(March 17, 1818.)

ORDER OF BUSINESS OF THE DAY.

23. As soon as the Journal is read, the Speaker shall call for petitions from the members of each State and delegates from each Territory, beginning with Maine-(December 23, 1811,) and the Territory of Wisconsin, alternately (September 15. 1837;) and if, on any day, the whole of the States and Territories shall not be called, the Speaker shall begin on the next day where he left off the previous day-(December 23, 1811;) provided that, after the first thirty days of the session, petitious shall not be received, except on the first day of the meeting of the House in each week.-(March 13, 1822.)

24. Petitions, memorials, and other papers addressed to the House, shall be presented by the Speaker, or by a member in his place; a briel statement of the contents thereof shall be made verbally by the introducer; they shall not be debated on the day of their being presented; nor on any day assigned by the House for the receipt of petitions after the first thirty days of the session, unless where the House shall direct otherwise, but shall lie on the table, to be taken up in the order in which they were presented.-(September 14, 1837.) Members having petitions and memorials to present may hand them to the Clerk, endorsing the same with their names, and the reference or disposition to be made thereof; and such petitions and memorials shall be entered on the Journal, subject to the control and direction of the Speaker; and if any petition or memorial be so handed in, which, in the judgment of the Speaker, is excluded by the rules, the same shall be returned to the member from whom it was received (March 29, 1842.)

25. The petitions having been presented and disposed of, reports from committees shall be called for and disposed of-(December 23, 1811;) in doing which, the Speaker shall call upon

each standing committee, in the order they are named in the 76th and 104th rules; and when all the standing committees have been called on, then it shall be the duty of the Speaker to call for reports from select committees; if the Speaker shall not get through the call upon the committees before the House passes to other business, he shall resume the next call where he left off (September 15, 1837.) Resolutions shall then be called for in the same order, and disposed of by the same rules, which apply to petitions: provided that no member shall offer more than one resolution, or one series of resolutions, all relating to the same subject, until all the States and Territories shall have been called.-(January 14, 1829.)

26. All the States and Territories shall be called for resolutions on each alternate Monday during each session of Congress; and, if necessary to secure this object on said days, ail resolutions which shall give rise to debate shall lie over for discussion, under the rules of the House already established; and the whole of said days shall be appropriated to resolutions, until all the States and Territories are called through.-(February 6, 1838.)

27. After one hour shail been devoted to reports from committees and resolutions, it shall be in order, pending the consideration or discussion thereof, to entertain a motion that the House do now proceed to dispose of the business on the Speaker's table, and to the orders of the day-(January 5, 1832;) which being decided in the affirmative, the Speaker shall dispose of the business on his table in the following order, viz:-(September 14, 1837.)

1st. Messages and other executive communications.-(September 14, 1837.)

2d. Messages from the Senate and amendments proposed by the Senate to bills of the House. (September 14, 1837.)

3d. Bills and resolutions from the Senate on their first and second reading, that they be referred to committees and put under way; but if, on being read a second time, no motion be made to commit, they are to be ordered to their third reading unless objection be made; in which case, if not otherwise ordered by a majority of the House, they are to be laid on the table in the general file of bills on the Speaker's table, to be taken up in their turn (September 14, 1837.)

4th. Engrossed bills and bills from the Senate on their third reading.-(September 14, 1837.)

5th. Bills of the House and from the Senate, on the Speaker's table, on their engrossment, or on being ordered to a third reading, to be taken up and considered in the order of time in which they passed to a second reading.

The messages, communications, and bills on his table, having been disposed of, the Speaker shall then proceed to call the orders of the day.—(September 14, 1837.)

28. The business specified in the 26th and 27th rules shall be done at no other part of the day, except by permission of the House.-(December 23, 1811.)

LOCAL OR PRIVATE BUSINESS.

29. Friday and Saturday in every week shall be set apart for the consideration of private bills and private business, in preference to any other, unless otherwise determined by a ma jority of the House.-(January 22, 1810, and January 26, 1826.)

30. On the first and fourth Friday of each month, the calendar of private bills shall be called over, (the chairman of the Committee of the Whole House commencing the call where he left off the previous day,) and the bills to the passage of which no objection shall then be made, shall be first considered and disposed of.-(January 25, 1839.)

OF DECORUM AND DEBATE.

31. When any member is about to speak in debate, or deliver any matter to the House, he shall rise from his seat, and respectfully address himself to "Mr. Speaker ;"-(April 7, 1789;) and shall confine himself to the question under debate, and avoid personality.-(De. cember 23, 1811.)

32. Members may address the House or committee from the Clerk's desk, or from a place near the speaker's chair.

33. When two or more members happen to rise at once, the Speaker shall name the member who is first to speak.-(April 7, 1789.)

34. No member shall occupy more than one hour in debate on any question in the House, or in committee; but a member reporting the measure under consideration from a committee may open and close the debate: provided, that where debate is closed by order of the House, any member shall be allowed, in committee, five minutes to explain any amendment he may offer. (December 18, 1847.)

35. If any member, in speaking or otherwise, transgress the rules of the House, the Speaker shall, or any member may call to order; in which case, the member so called to order shall immediately sit down, unless permitted to explain; and the House shall, if appealed to, decide on the case, but without debate: if there be no appeal, the decision of the Chair shall be submitted to. If the decision be in favor of the member called to order, he shall be at liberty to proceed; if otherwise, he shall not be permitted to proceed, in case any member object, without leave of the House; and, if the case require it, ho shall be liable to the censure of the House.-(April 7, 1789, and March 13, 1822.)