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reported progress ami obtained leave to sit again. Tuesday, Deember 16. On motion of Mr. Rhea, resolved, that the com mittee on pensions and revolutionary claims, be instructed to enquire into the expediency of sus pending tor one year so much of the act, entitled “an act making further provision for the support of f iublic credit, and for the redemption of the pub ic debt,” passed 3d day of March, 1795, ns bars from sttlement or allowance certificates, common ly called loan office, and final settlements, cer tificates and indents of interest. Mr. Bassett otiered the following resolution, ■which the House refused to consider : Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assem bled, that the daily compensation of Members of t ie Senate and House of Representatives, and • delegates from territories, shall, until further pro vided lor by law, be the same as in the year 1813. The commutation bill as it is called, which cre ated so much debate on M onday last, was again brought on the tapis « Mr. Clay offered a bill which he thought w ould guard the treasuarv from speculators, anu have respect to the rights of in dividuals. The House were engaged with this till late, when the committee rose, reported pro gress and asked leave to sit again. iVitiunal Flag.—Mr. AVendover, submitted for consideration the following resolution : •*' te- solved, that a committee he appointed to enquire into the expediency of altering the Flag of the United States, and tn&t they have leave to report by t.:il or otherwise. .Mr. AV. said in submitting this motion, that he should make hut a few remarks on this subject, not being a novel one : a.hil| relative thereto hav ing been reported at the last session, hut laid o- ver from the pressure ofbusiness deemed of metre importance. Had the Flag of the United States never have undergone an alteration, he certainly should not, he said, propose to make a further al teration in it. But having been altered once, he thought it necessary and proper that an alteration should now he made. It was his impression, and lie thought it was generally believed, that the flag would he essentially injured by an alteration on ■the same principle as that which had before been made, of increasing the stupes and stars. Mr. W. stated the incongruity of the flags in general use, (except those in the navvl not agreeing with the jaw, and greatly varying from each other.— He instance*! the flags flying over the building in which Congress sat and that at the JVitvy Yard, one of which contained nine stripes, and the other eighteen, and neither of them conformable to the law. It was of some importance, he conceived, that the flag of the nation should be designated with precision, and that the practice under the daw should be conformed to its requisitions. The moti in was agreed to without opposition. Estimate, of appropriations for 1818.—The Speaker laid before the house the following com munication from the treasury department, which was ordered tube printed with the accompanying -documents: Treasury Department, Dec. 17, 1817. Sir,—I have the honor to transmit, herewith, for the information of the house of representatives, an estimate of the appropriations for the service of the year 1818, amounting to SIO,££>,191 62, viz : For the civil list 1,070,708 02 Miscellaneous expenses 490,308 54 Intercourse with with foreign nations 437,666 6i Military establishment inclu ding arrearages and Indian department 6,265,132 25 Tlte naval c tablishment in cluding the marine corps 2,611,376 20 mittee of the whole on the bill for the commuta tion of soldiers’ pay, the question was taken on agreeing.to the amendment, of detail (being a sub stitute for the hill before the committee) propos ed by Mr. Clay ; and decided affirmatively, 96 rising in its favor. The amendment of Mr. Clay being then open for amendment, was read over for that purpose. Mr. T. M. Nelson having moved to fill the blank lor the amount of commutation with Sld'J (or one dollar per acre)—The question was de cided in the negative, by a majority of about 20 votes. The sense, of the committee was afterwards ta ken on filling the blank with 320, 120, 130, 150, and negatiVed. On motion of Mr. Clay, it was filled with 100. The amount of commutation was therefore decided to stand at one huudred dollars for 160 acres. Friday, December 19. The house resolved itself into a committee on the bid fur the commutation of soldiers’ bounty lands. After some further discussion oti amend ments to it, the committee rose, and reported the amendments to the hill; which were read and or dered to lie on the table, and to be printed for the more easily understanding thereof by the members before called upon to give a final vote on them. DOCUMENTS. SI 0,925,191 62 The funds out of which the appropriations for ■the year 1818, maybe discharged, are the fol lowing : 1. The sum of 6,000,000. annually reserved bv the act of the 4th August, 1790, out, of the duties and customs towards the expenses of govern ment. 2. The proceeds of the stamp duties, and the duty on sugar refined within the United States. 3. The surplus which may remain of the cus toms and internal duties after satisfying tin* pledge for which they are pledged and appro priated. 4. Any other unappropriated money which may coiue into the treasury, during the year ISIS. I have the honor to he, very respectfully, sir, four most obedient servant, AVM. II. CRAWFORD. The honorable the speaker of the house of representatives. Wednesday, December 17. ■On motion of Mr. Holmes of Mass.—Resolved, that a committee bo appointed to enquire into the expediency of providing by law for the payment of the members of both houses of congress, &c. and that they report by bill, 8cc. Sir. Livermore of N. 11. moved that this com mittee.consist of 20 members, t,hut one might be selected from each state, and thus bring thereto the views and impressions of the various parts of the country, might agree upon a report which would save the house the alternative of exhibit ing itself before.the world in the unpleasant atti tude of debating its own compensation. This number being objected to bv the mover, who wish ed the usual number of7 to be appointed—agreed. The house resolved itself into a committee of the whole on the hill to commute the bounty land AJf the soldiers—the motion to strike out the first aecdim being still under consideration. The de bate was resumed and continued to a late hour. On the suggestion of the Speaker, that if the motion to strike out tlie first section were with drawn, he had prepared a substitute which would obviate many of the objections which had been urged against it. Mr. Holmes withdrew his mo tion. Mr. Clay then offered his substitute; which being rearl, the committee rose and reported pro gress. Thursday, December 18. The hoase hating resolved itself into a com Wasliiugton City, Dee. 22.—We present to our readers a selection of the most interesting of the documents transmitted to the House of Represen tatives from the Department of State, in relation to Galvezton and Amelia Island. In regard to the first named place, the propriety of the seizure of which has been most questioned, the facts now disclosed are so strong as to place the correctness, we may say the unavoidable necessity, of the mea sure, beyond all doubt. AVith regard to Amelia Island, so much is already known to the public, from its immediate proximity to our settled bor ders, that little remained to be told. On this point therefore, the additional information imparted by the documents, is of minor importance, compared with that relating to the former place. It may be remarked, in regard to these documents general ly, that there are occasions on which information is communicated to a government, a disclosure of which would be prejudicial to the public interest, or to that of individuals who have given it. The president, it will be recollected, communicated, as requested by congress, such documents onlvas were conceived not improper te be made pubiic ; and, though we have no particular information to justify the suggestion, this appears to us to be one of those occasions on which the executive might, act unwisely by exposing to the world all the in formation in its possession.—vVut. Lit. OF GALVEZTON. Extracts of a letter from lieverly Chew, esq. col lector at Mew-!)rleans, to Mr. Crawford, se cretary to the treasury, dated August 1, 1817. “ As it is your wish that every attempt to evade the provisions of the existing laws should be com municated to the department, accompanied by suggestions of the measures necessary to repress the evil, 1 deem it my duty to state, that the most shameful violations of the slave act, as well as our revenue laws, continue to be practised with im punity, by a motley mixture of freebooters and smugglers at Galvezton, under the Mexican flag, and being, in reality, little else than the re-estab- lishmeut of the Jiarrataria band, removed some what more out of the reach of justice, and unless the officers of the customs are provided with more effectual means for the enforcement of the laws, the treasury must suffer incalculably. To give you a more correct idea of this establishment, it will be necessary to he a little prolix, which I beg you will excuse. Galvezton is a small island or bar, situate in the hay of Sit. Bernard, on the coast of Texas, about ninety miles west of the Sabine, within the jurisdictional limits claimed by the U. State-, in virtue ol the cession of Louisiana to them by Fiance. The establishment was recent ly made there by a commodore Aurv, with a few mall schooners from Aux Cuyes, manned, in a yeat measure, with refugees from liarratui iu, and mulattoes. This estu dishment was reinforced by a few more men from different points of the coast of Louisiana, the most efficient part of them be ing principally mariners, (Frenchmen or Italians,) wiio have been hanging loose upon society in and about New-Orleans, in greater or smaller num bers, ever since the breaking up the establishment at llanataria. Col. Ferry commanded one party, of about 80 or 90 men, of this new community, who had been enlisted principally as soldiers within our juris diction ; and Mr. Herera, coming with a few fol lowers from New-Oileans, brought up the rear, and then announced the establishment to the world by a proclamation, attested by a Frenchman by the name of Morin, very laceutlv a bankrupt auction eer in New-Orleans, as secretary of state. From this new station, fed and drawing all its resources from New-Orleans, and keeping up a regular in telligence, through a variety of channels, with their friends here, an active system of plunder was commenced on the high seas, chiefly of Spa nish property, but often without much concern as to the national character, particularly when mo ney was iu question. The captures made by their numerous cruisers, (many owned by citizens of the U. .States,) were condemned by a pretended court of admiralty there, as prizes ; aud the car- yes introduced into this state principally iu a clandestine manner. The vessels thus condemn ed have generally come here under new names, aud with the Mexican flag. Some of them have been detained by the United States’naval force, for hovering in our waters, and others have been libelled for restitution, by the Spanish consul, in behalf of the original owners, and though several trials have come on before the U. States’ district court for the district of Louisiana, and the claim ants have never been able to produce proof of the government of Galvezton solving ever been au thorised by the Mexican republic; and the resti tution has been decreed in several instances. There is no evidence of the establishment having been made or sanctioned by, or cumiected with, a Alexican republic, it one be now existing, and the presumption ot'suoh an establishment, uuder such authority, is strongly repelled by the illegal 8c pira tical character ofthe establishment,cuts ambulatory nature. It is not onl y of very recent origin, but is clothed with no character of permanency ; mi it was abandoned about the 5th ot April, and trans ferred to Matagorda, leaving at Galvezton only an advice boat, to advertise such privateers and prizes which might arrive there, of the spot on which they had fixed their new residence, borne days after the abandonment ot Galvezton, several privateers arrived there, and among the rest, the General Artigas, commanded by one G. Champlin of New-York, with two schooners her prizes, the Fatronila with 174 slaves, and the Knrequita with 113 slaves ; and also a Spanish and a Portuguese vessel, and the American schooner Evening Post, of New-York, prize to the , capt. M. N. Jolly. Among the most conspicuous characters who happened to he then at Galvezton, were many ot the notorious offenders against our laws, who had so lately been indulged with a remission ot the punishment, who so far from gratefully availing themselves of the lenity of the government to re turn to, or commence an orderly amt holiest life seem to have regarded its indulgence almost, as an encouragement to the renewal of their offen ces. You will readily perceive I allude to the B,Unitarians, among whom Lafittes may be class ed foremost, and most actively engaged iu the Galvezton trade, and owners ot several cruizers under the Mexican flag. Many of our citizens are equally guilty, and are universally known to he owners ol the same kind of vsssels. A num ber ot these characters being at Galvezton alter the abandonment readily saw the advantages that would result in the re-establishment of a govern ment at that place, its situation, so immediately in the vicinity of our settlements, being much preferable to Matagorda, their views being entire ly confined to introducing their cajilures into this state ; accordingly a meeting was called on tne 15tii April, and it was resolved to re-estab lish the government and a true copy of their deli berations you have enclosed. 1 can vouch for the correctneof the copy, having received it from a person of undoubted veracity : and thus without even the semblance of authority from the Mexican republic, they immediately proceeded to condemn vessels and cargoes as good prizes, and to introduce them into this port, and among the rest the cargo of the Evening Post. It was -ome time before this was known cere, great pains having been taken to keep it secret. Since it has been known, I have felt it my duty to report all vessels and cargoes which have arrived here from Galvezton, to the district attorney who has had them arrested under the .Spanish treaty; but ow ing to the unfortunate absence of the judge no de decision can be had thereon. These steps of the officers of the port have irritated the Barrataiian gentlemen and their connexion in a high degree, and representations filled with falsehoods will probably b; made against them, particularly on the score of enmity to the patriotic cause. As well might a man be accused of being an enemv to personal liberty, who arrests and confines a rob ber as that the officers of the port of New-Orleans should be accused of being unfriendly to the re volution iu the Spanish provinces, because they have attempted to prevent a lawless establishment at Galvezton from violating the laws. The prizes made by' the privateers under the Alexican flag are to a very large amount of mer chandize, such as jewelry, laces, silks, linen, britanias, muslins, seersuckers calicoes, Ac.—all ol whicji are repacked in small bales, ol conve nient size for transportation on mules, and the greatest part introduced clandestinely. Other articles, such as iron, nails, tallow, leather,glass ware, crockery, cordage, beef, <5j'c. are brought here in their own prizes. It is stated and univer sally believed, that capt. Champlin sold the slaves captured in the Patronila and Enrequita, to the Lafittes, Sauvinet, and other speculators in this place, who have or will resel them, to the plan ters ; and the facility afforded to smugglers by the innumerable inlets, are too obvious, on a view ol the map, to doubt but they either are or will he all introduced into this state, without the possibility ol the officers of the revenue being a- ble to prevent or punish them ; more especially as a great portion id the population are disposed to countenance them in violating our laws. A lew days ago information having been given that one ol our citizens had gone to the AY. with a very considerable sum in specie, to purchase slaves for himself and two other planters, I de termined to make an effort to arrest him on his return, and immediately purchased a fine bout on account of government, (which had been lately captured by a party I hud sent on lake Ponciiar- train, and condemned for a violation of the slave act) which I have sent under command of an ac tive, enterprising inspector, with a military guard ol twelve men, and am in hopes of his falling in with and capturing the party. lam persuaded you will approve ot my not waiting for instruc tions, at the risk of seeing the laws violated with impunity, and I cannot but hope the government wdl see the necessity of giving instructions to the naval force on this station to prevent the re-cs- tabljshment of Galvezton, otherwise the bav will no longer be sale tor any flag. Since they have been denied shelter in Port an Prince, they have no other asylum than Galvezton. On the part of these pirates we have to contend with, we behold an extended and organized system ol enterprizc, of ingenuity, of indefatigability, and of audaci ty, tavored by a variety of local advantages, and supported always by force of arms ; and unless they be met by corresponding species of resis tance, the results of the contest are of very sim ple calculation. A ou will, I trust, see the necessity of either granting a certain number of revenue cutters, of the description l have mentioned, or that the na val lorce on this station may be enjoined strictly to prevent these privateers from Inhering in our waters, and violating our laws. It is a fact you may rely on, all the cruizes of these privateers commence and end at this port; they enter in distress, comply with the formalities of the law. and it they do not augment their force aud re new their crews iu port, they do in our waters, and it is not in my power to prevent it. FOREIGN. from kills' nr.eisTkk. — Summary of the latest news—A Russian fleet of ten sail of the line was daily expected to touch at Portsmouth for fresh provisions and water- which it was said by some, but denied by others’ had 10,000 troops on board. This affair has ex cited much speculation, and it is positively stated that Russia has satisfactorily settled all her tlif. terences with the Turks ; the object of the fleet had not been determined upon by the London r- ditors, and we are quite.in the dark about it though some say it is destined for a Spanish port! It was also rumored that Great Britain was a! bout to send a large fleet, provisioned for fi mf months, to the Mediterranean ; and there is soim, talk about a probable difteience with Spain, be cause she will not give up some fortresses that she ceded to England by the late treaty. There was a very remarkable and rapid reduction of the price of the British stocks on the 23d October— “ in consequence of the warlike preparations of this country,” as the London paper says—they lowered three per cent, in two days, and a further depression was expected. , It is positively stateil that the army of occupa tion in France will not be reduced the present year. AA’ellington had arrived in Loudon on his private h flairs. We have also several reports about the misun derstanding between Spain and Portugal. Seine of them actuall y say that the former has invaded the latter with three several armies, containing ir, the whole nearly 40,000 men,—but others say there is no truth in these reports, or any probabi lity that these powers will make actual war ou one another, and that their disputes will be ami cably settled. England, <§y.—Grain had so fallen in price ii* England that no doubt appeared to exist but that tlie ports would be shut on the 15th of November. American flour 50 to 54s. per bbl. The fever in Ireland had considerably decreas. ed among the poor, was increasing and bocomiu"- very fatal among ths rich. The trials for high treason at Derby had termim ated—some of the poor creatures are to he hung, and some transported—others were discharged. American stocks iu England—6 per cents. 105 1-2. Bank shares 321. lag. Some misunderstanding is said to exist between Great Britain and Turkey respecting the occu pancy of the Ionian islands by the former. Sagacity of a dog.—It appears by a late En glish paper, that a dog was regularly taught to act as thief—snatching reticules from ladies, Ac. anil carrying them off to his master. Lord Byron's family estate at Newcastle Ab bey, consisting of upwards of 5,000 acres, ha* been sold at auction in London, for 96,500 gui neas. France.—I.ate accounts from Europe stata that Carnot, the patriotic, the estimable Carnut, lived very retired at Magdeburg. It is said he is writing a history of the revolution of France, anil its influence ou Europe, from 1789 to the restora tion ot Louis XVIII in 1815. Such a work from such a pen, would bo a valuable addition to the» history of the world. The “ occupation army” is composed ol the fol lowing corps—23,400 Russians, 22,200 British, 12,000 Danes, Saxons, and Hanoverians. It is stated that the police of France havetVa disposal of forty millions [ of francs] per annum,, ot which no account is rendered ! Milan, Italy, Sept. 24.—A new convent of Je 1 suits has been formed in Piedmont. One ol the principal noblemen of the court of Turin, tha -Marquis Grimaldi, has taken their habit. Tlie government has taken an annual revenue of 24,— 000 francs, from the university of Gone, to give to this religious order. Germany.—Jerome Bonaparte has lately pur* chased the estate of Engersfield, and Madam Murat has bought the lordship of Ort, people and all, tor 900,000 florins. Beauharnois lives ia great pomp at Munich. The emperor of Austria has lately issued two important decrees—absolutely prohibiting the importation ol iron manufactures and of cotton and woollen goods into any part of his states, from foreign piaces. ’The English think this is very unfriendly in the emperor, though they themselves act so to all nations. India.— The British anxious for more plunder, appear to have excited many of the native chiefs to resistance, and an extensive war in India wu immediately expected—they call the defence<|f their own country by the natives, insurrection, and like Bonaparte, whom they so much abuse for it, they have seized the person of a “ legitimate prince” railed the l’iesliwa, aud committed him to safe custody. The Mahratta chiefs arc suppo- sed to be generally combined againsrthe British, ami it they succeed in driving the “invaders” into the sea—we shall not be sorry fur it. But «e fear that no such just result can be expected : the “ Moody usurpers” are strongly armed, and their intrigues have divided, to destroy tlie people ot India. Ladroon Pirates.—The ship Wabash of Balt** more, lying in Macoa Roads, was boarded in the night by a Ladroon boat, with 25 or 30 men, win* attacked the crew unexpectedly with long knivtb and alter killing some and wounding others,soc- ceeded in obtaining possession of the ship which, they robbed of specie, opium, Ac. to the value®* more than $50,000, with which they made their escape. Efforts were making by our consul ** Canton for the recovery of the property, and the punishment of the robbers, in which the ChiflM® officers were assisting. Barbnry Powers.—The Russian imperial con sul at Hamburg on the 30th Sept, officially- com- inunicated to the captains of Russian ships, l" c important intelligence - that his majesty tlie*®) - perm- in concert with the allied powers had **' ready resolved ou the most efter’ual measure* put an end to tlie piracies of tlie Barbary powers- [It is most probable that tlie fleet expected in h®' gland is destined to give effect to this determine till!!.] ° Algerine and Tripolitan vessels are said tub* committing great depredations in the Mediterra® ea:i. Y\ ,j have not heard that any * m". :<"!•> re ■