This being the day appointed by law for the meeting of the present
Session, the following members of the House of Representatives appeared
and took their seats, to wit:
_From New Hampshire_--Silas Betton, Clifton Claggett, David
Hough, and Samuel Tenney.
_From Massachusetts_--Jacob Crowninshield, Thomas Dwight, Nahum
Mitchell, Ebenezer Seaver, William Stedman, Joseph B. Varnum,
and Lemuel Williams.
_From Rhode Island_--Nehemiah Knight and Joseph Stanton.
_From Connecticut_--John Davenport and John Cotton Smith.
_From Vermont_--William Chamberlin, Martin Chittenden, James
Elliot, and Gideon Olin.
_From New York_--Gaylord Griswold, Josiah Hasbrouck, Henry
W. Livingston, Andrew McCord, Samuel L. Mitchill, Beriah
Palmer, Erastus Root, Thomas Sammons, David Thomas, Philip Van
Cortlandt, Killian K. Van Rensselaer, and Daniel C. Verplanck.
_From New Jersey_--Adam Boyd, Ebenezer Elmer, James Sloan, and
Henry Southard.
_From Pennsylvania_--Isaac Anderson, David Bard, Joseph Clay,
Frederick Conrad, William Findlay, Joseph Heister, Michael
Leib, John Rea, Jacob Richards, John Smilie, John Stewart, and
John Whitehill.
_From Maryland_--John Archer, Wm. McCreery, Nicholas R. Moore,
and Thomas Plater.
_From Virginia_--Thomas Claiborne, John Dawson, John W. Eppes,
Thomas Griffin, David Holmes, John G. Jackson, Joseph Lewis,
jun., Anthony New, Thomas Newton, jun., John Randolph, Thomas
M. Randolph, John Smith, James Stephenson, and Philip R.
Thompson.
_From Kentucky_--George Michael Bedinger, John Boyle, and
Thomas Sanford.
_From North Carolina_--Willis Alston, jun., William Blackledge,
James Gillespie, James Holland, William Kennedy, Nathaniel
Macon, (Speaker,) Richard Stanford, and Joseph Winston.
_From Tennessee_--George W. Campbell, William Dickson, and John
Rhea.
_From South Carolina_--John B. Earle.
_From Georgia_--Peter Early and David Meriwether.
_From Ohio_--Jeremiah Morrow.
_Delegate from the Mississippi Territory_--William Lattimore.
Several new members, to wit: from Massachusetts, SIMON LARNED, returned
to serve in this House as a member for the said State, in the room of
TOMPSON J. SKINNER, who has resigned his seat; from New York, SAMUEL
RIKER, returned to serve as a member for the said State, in the room of
JOHN SMITH, appointed a Senator of the United States; and from Virginia,
CHRISTOPHER CLARK, returned to serve as a member for the said State, in
the room of JOHN TRIGG, deceased; appeared, produced their credentials,
and took their seats in the House; the oath to support the Constitution
of the United States being first administered to them by Mr. SPEAKER,
according to law.
And a quorum, consisting of a majority of the whole number, being present,
_Ordered_, That a message be sent to the Senate, to inform them that a
quorum of this House is assembled, and ready to proceed to business; and
that the Clerk of this House do go with the said message.
The following committees were appointed pursuant to the standing rules
and orders of the House, viz:
_Committee of Elections._--Mr. FINDLAY, Mr. VARNUM, Mr. LIVINGSTON, Mr.
KENNEDY, Mr. EPPES, Mr. CLAGGETT, and Mr. ELMER.
_Committee of Ways and Means._--Mr. JOHN RANDOLPH, Mr. JOSEPH CLAY, Mr.
GAYLORD GRISWOLD, Mr. BOYLE, Mr. DAVENPORT, Mr. NICHOLAS R. MOORE, and
Mr. MERIWETHER.
_Committee of Commerce and Manufactures._--Mr. SAMUEL L. MITCHILL, Mr.
CROWNINSHIELD, Mr. MCCREERY, Mr. LEIB, Mr. NEWTON, Mr. EARLY, and Mr.
CHITTENDEN.
_Committee of Claims._--Mr. JOHN COTTON SMITH, Mr. HOLMES, Mr. PLATER,
Mr. CHAMBERLIN, Mr. Bedinger, Mr. STANFORD, and Mr. STANTON.
_Committee of Revisal and Unfinished Business._--Mr. TENNEY, Mr. DICKSON,
and Mr. EARLE.
The SPEAKER laid before the House a letter from the Governor of the State
of Maryland, enclosing a certificate of the election of ROGER NELSON, to
serve in this House as a member for the said State, in the room of DANIEL
HEISTER, deceased; which was referred to the Committee of Elections.
TUESDAY, November 6.
Several other members, to wit: from Massachusetts, MANASSEH CUTLER; from
Connecticut, SAMUEL W. DANA and ROGER GRISWOLD; from New Jersey, JAMES
MOTT; from Pennsylvania, JOHN A. HANNA, JOHN B. C. LUCAS, and ISAAC VAN
HORNE; from Maryland, JOHN CAMPBELL; from Virginia, JOHN CLOPTON; and
from South Carolina, THOMAS LOWNDES, appeared, and took their seats in
the House.
Another new member, to wit: ROGER NELSON, from Maryland, returned to
serve in this House as a member for the said State, in the room of DANIEL
HEISTER, deceased, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and
took his seat in the House.
Mr. J. RANDOLPH moved for the appointment of a committee on the part of
the House to join a committee of the Senate to wait on the PRESIDENT and
inform him that a quorum of both Houses is formed, and ready to receive
his communications.
Mr. DANA inquired if a quorum of the Senate was formed? That
circumstance, he thought, ought to be ascertained before the House
adopted the gentleman’s resolution.
Mr. RANDOLPH did not know whether or no the Senate had formed a quorum,
but he saw no objection on that account to proceeding with their own
business. He, however, had understood that the Senate would form a quorum
this day.
The resolution was carried, and Messrs. J. RANDOLPH and R. GRISWOLD
appointed the committee.
WEDNESDAY, November 7.
Several other members, to wit: from Maryland, JOSEPH H. NICHOLSON; from
Virginia, WALTER JONES; from South Carolina, THOMAS MOORE; and from
Georgia, JOSEPH BRYAN, appeared, and took their seats in the House.
Mr. JOHN RANDOLPH, from the joint committee appointed to wait on the
President of the United States, and inform him that a quorum of the
two Houses is assembled, reported that the committee had performed
that service, and that the President signified to them he would make a
communication to this House, in writing, to-morrow at twelve o’clock.
THURSDAY, November 8.
Several other members, to wit: from New Hampshire, SAMUEL HUNT; from
Massachusetts, SAMUEL TAGGART; from Connecticut, SIMEON BALDWIN and
CALVIN GODDARD; and from North Carolina, SAMUEL D. PURVIANCE, appeared,
and took their seats in the House.
A Message was received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, by Mr.
BURWELL, his Secretary, as follows:
_Mr. Speaker_: I am directed to hand you a communication, in
writing, from the PRESIDENT to the two Houses of Congress.
The communication was read, and, together with the documents accompanying
the same, referred to the Committee of the whole House on the state
of the Union. [See Senate proceedings of this date, page 164, for the
Message.]
_Sword to Decatur._
Mr. J. CLAY moved the following resolution:
_Resolved_, That the President of the United States be
requested to present, in the name of Congress, to Captain
Stephen Decatur, a sword, of the value of ---- dollars, and
to each of the officers and crew of the United States ketch
Intrepid, ---- months’ pay, as a testimony of the high sense
entertained by Congress of the gallantry, good conduct, and
services, of Captain Decatur, the officers, and crew, of the
said ketch, in attacking and destroying a Tripolitan frigate,
of forty-four guns, late the United States frigate Philadelphia.
_Ordered_, That the said motion be referred to a Committee of the Whole
to-morrow.
FRIDAY, November 9.
Two other members, to wit: from Massachusetts, WILLIAM EUSTIS; and from
Pennsylvania, ROBERT BROWN, appeared, and took their seats in the House.
_Frigate Philadelphia._
Mr. J. CLAY’s motion relative to Captain Decatur and the officers and
crew of the ketch Intrepid, was taken up in Committee of the Whole.
On motion of Mr. CLAY, the resolution was altered, by striking out after
the word “sword,” the words “the value of ---- dollars,” and filling up
the other blank with the word “two,” thereby giving the officers and crew
two months’ pay.
Mr. C., with a view of showing the propriety of the measure, read
extracts of letters written by Commodore Preble and Lieutenant Decatur,
which had been obtained from the Secretary of the Navy; they contained an
account of the circumstances attending this honorable exploit, which have
heretofore been printed in the public newspapers.
The committee rose and reported the resolution as amended.
Mr. GRISWOLD presumed the object of this step was to pay a tribute of
respect to those brave men who had so gallantly achieved this glorious
and dangerous enterprise. He wished to do this in a manner the most
honorable and notorious, and perhaps the best course would be to
obtain from the Head of the Navy Department, a list of the names of
the officers and the number of the crew, together with a detail of the
circumstances attending the event. With this view, he moved to postpone
the consideration of the resolution reported by the Committee of the
Whole, till to-morrow, in order to introduce a resolution to this effect:
_Resolved_, That the Secretary of the Navy be directed to
communicate to this House the name of the officers and the
number of the men employed in the destruction of the frigate
Philadelphia in the harbor of Tripoli, together with a
statement of the circumstances attending that event.
The postponement was agreed to without opposition, and the resolution of
Mr. GRISWOLD was adopted, with a small variation, suggested by Mr. J.
RANDOLPH, and acquiesced in by the mover, to wit: “That the President of
the United States be requested to cause to be laid before this House,”
etc.
Mr. J. CLAY and Mr. T. M. RANDOLPH were appointed a committee to wait on
the PRESIDENT and communicate the request of the House.
MONDAY, November 12.
Several other members, to wit: from Massachusetts, PELEG WADSWORTH; from
New Jersey, WILLIAM HELMS; from Delaware, CÆSAR A. RODNEY; from Virginia,
MATTHEW CLAY; from North Carolina, MARMADUKE WILLIAMS and THOMAS WYNES;
and from South Carolina, LEVI CASEY and RICHARD WINN, appeared, and took
their seats in the House.
_British Treaty._
Mr. J. RANDOLPH informed the House that the Committee of Ways and
Means had received a communication from the Treasury Department,
stating that the appropriation of $50,000, for carrying into effect
the seventh article of the British Treaty, had not been sufficient to
discharge the second instalment upon all the awards made in pursuance
thereof, and suggesting the propriety of making, as early as possible, a
further appropriation for that object. The Secretary of State estimated
the amount unpaid at $60,000, and that, in order to prevent any
disappointment, it would be eligible to make the appropriation $70,000.
Mr. R. hereupon moved that the Committee of Ways and Means have leave to
report a bill on this subject. Leave being granted,
Mr. J. R. reported a bill accordingly, which was read a first and second
time, and referred to a Committee of the Whole to-morrow.
TUESDAY, November 13.
Two other members, to wit: from Massachusetts, RICHARD CUTTS; and from
South Carolina, WILLIAM BUTLER, appeared, and took their seats in the
House.
No quorum being present, the House adjourned.
WEDNESDAY, November 14.
Another member, to wit, PHANUEL BISHOP, from Massachusetts, appeared, and
took his seat in the House.
THURSDAY, November 15.
Two other members, to wit: from Massachusetts, SAMUEL THATCHER; and from
Pennsylvania, ANDREW GREGG, appeared, and took their seats in the House.
A Message was received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, as
follows:
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
Agreeably to your resolution of the ninth instant, I now lay
before you a statement of the circumstances attending the
destruction of the frigate Philadelphia, with the names of the
officers and the number of men employed on the occasion; to
which I have to add, that Lieutenant Decatur was, thereupon,
advanced to be a Captain in the Navy of the United States.