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alafuling in the navy ; that their meetings have been held with apparent secrecy, anil the memu- rial studiously withheld from their commanders'! who could readily sanction v i.ny measure having fee"Its object the good of the service.. [t cannol be denied that it is the hounden duty of officers more 'especially when on a foreign station, 'to' cultivate towards each other the most perfect har mony and good will; hut it is the opinion of the ‘undersigned that the conduct of the memorialists is calculated to have a contrary effect. The uni dersigned are therefore impelled by a sacred duty we owe our country and ourselves, to request that you will be pleased to remove all those offi cers from under our respective commands, as soon as the public service will admit of the same as we cannot but consider the signers of the me morial as having forfeited all claims to our con fidence, aiul their example as endangering the vessels entrusted to our charge. We have the honor to be, very respectfully, srtr, your ob*t servants. (Signed) WM, M. CRANE. J.V. OIIDK CREIGHTON, GEO. W. RODGERS, . 1 If OS. GAM RLE, J. i. NICHOLSON, EDM. I*. KENNEDY. r,inmamlei* in chief ot*the naval j Mediterranean, kc. # To Isaac. Chauncry, Ivstj. t ibices 4I the U. S. in tli will be much greater than at any former period. The furniture, in its kind ami extent is thought to be an object not dess deserving attention than the building fofwhifch it is intended* , Both being national objects, each seem to have, an equal claim to legislative sanction. Tlie disbursement of tire-public money, too, ought it is presumed, to be in like manner provided for by law. The person who mav happen to be placed, by the suf frage of his Icllow-citizens, in t,his high* trust, having no personal interest in these concerns, should be exempted from undue responsibility respecting them. For a building so extensive, intended for a purpose exclusively national, in which, in the furniture provided for it, a mingled regard is due to the simplicity and purity of our institu tions, and to the character of the people who are represented in it, the sum already appropriat ed has proved altogether inadequate. The pre sent is, therefore, a proper time lor congress to take the subject into consideration, with a view to all the objects claiming attention, and to regu late it by law. On a knowledge of the furniture procured, and the sum expended for it, a just estimate may be formed, regarding the extent of the building, of what will still be wanting to furnish the house. Many of the articles being of a durableAiature, may be handed down through a long series of service ; and b.ing of great va lue, such as plate, ought not be left altogether, and at all times, to the care of servants alone. It seems to he advisable that a public agent should be charged with it during the occasional absence of the president, and have authority to transfer it from one president to another, and likewise to make reports of occasional deficiencies, as the basis on which further provision should be made. ,lt may also merit consideration, whether il may not be proper to commit the care of the public buildings, particularly the president’s house and the capital, with the grounds belonging to them, including likewise the furniture of the latter, in a more special manlier, to a public agent. Hith erto the charge of this valuable property seems to have been connected with the structure of the buildings, and committed to those employed in it. This guard- will necessarily cease when the build ings are tin!-bed, at which time the interest in them will be proportionably augmented. It is presumed that this trust is, in a certain degree at least incidental to the other duties of the super intendent of the public buildings, but it may me rit consideration whether it will not be proper charge him with.it more explicitly, and to give him authority to employ one or more persons un der him, for these purposes. JAMES MONROE. Washington, Feb. 10, 1818. The message was read and referred to the com mittee of the whole to whom is referred the bill to provide for erecting additional buildings for the accommodation of the several executive de partments. On motion of Mr. Hopkinson, it was “ resolv ed, that the committee on the judiciary be direct ed to enquire into the expediency of increasir_ the salaries of the judges of the sapreme court of the United States.’’ Tensions to soldierF widows, «!§”c—The house resolved it elf into a committee of the whole, Mr. Smyth in the chair, on the bill “ concerning half pay pensions, ike. and for .other purposes The first section of the bill goes to equalize the | pensions allowed for services in revolutionary'8T . was advocated by Messrs.| | a { e war an j to assimilate the mode o-t paying Goldsborough, Daggett, King,Mornl,( i itlcnden, (| icm Ruggles, Leak, Frouientiii and l an Dyke, am.il A motion which was under consideration when opposed by Messrs. Barbour, Macon and .Smith. | this 8ul) j e ,. t was b,.f ore the house on Friday last, This motion for indefinite postponement, wasj | )avin „. been agreed to—Mr. Burwell moved to finally negatived—ayes 30, lines 3. I strikeout the second section of the bill which is in the following words : “ That in all cases where proviso!! ha3 been made by law for five years Tuesday, February 10. Mr. Ruggles submitted the following resolu tion for consideration : “Resolved, that the com mittee on military affairs be instructed to inquire into the expediency of making provision by law to compel a more prompt settlement of the ac counts of the paymasters and quartermasters of the late army. Agreeably to notice given, Mr. Barbour intro duced, by leave, a bill to promote the progress of the useful arts, and to repeal all the acts heretofore made for that purpose ; which was read and passed to a second reading. Thursday, February 19. Mr. Wilson submitted the lollowing resolu tion for consideration : “ Resolved, that the com mittee on the public lands he instructed to en quire into the expediency of extending, the time allowed by the act to provide for designating, surveying and granting the military bounty lands, approved May 6, 1819, to non-commissioned of ficers and soldiers of the United States, or their representatives, to present their claims to the ’secretary of war for military bounty lairds. On Wednesday last, the Senate were engaged ju considering the proposition introduced by Mr. Dickerson, for so amending the constitution,that the several states should Ire districted for the choice of electors of president and vice president, and representatives to Congress. The amend ment was advocated by Mr. Dickerson and Air. Clacton, and opposed by Mr. Barbour and Mr. Daggett. The question was finally postponed to W ednesday next. The discussion was ably con ducted on both sides,and the event is yet doubtful. On Thursday the bill providing for the surviv ing revolutionary officers and soldiers was resum ed, when a motion was made by Mr. Barbour for its indefinite postponement. The debate grow ing out of this motion, and involving the prin ciples and details of the bill, continued daring the whole of that and Fiidny’s sittings ; and dis played unusual powers of argument and elo The bill for the relief of major-general Arthur j 8t. Clair was taken up and ordered to a third! leading. Monday, February l(i. Mr. Sanford presented the memorial of the N. York Irish emigrant association, praying that a portion of unsold lands (in the Illinois territo ry) may be granted to trustees, on an extended term of credit, for the purpose of being settled by emigrants from Ireland. Mr. Wilson’s resolution, submitted on the 12th inst. was considered and agreed to. Surviving revolutionary soldiers.—The ques tion under consideration, was a motion made some days ago, by Mr. King, to recommit the bill, with instructions to the committee so to a- ineiid it, as to confine its provisions to a grant of Half pay for life to such ol the surviving officers (alone) of the revolutionary ariny as sieved for three years, or to the end of the war, including those entitled to half pay for life by any resolve of congress, the half pay to be ascertained ac cording to rank by which the accounts of the of ficers were finally settled. The debate was resumed on this subject,' and continued to a late hour ; in the coftrsc of which Mr. King withdrew his motion to recommit the bill. • The question then recurred on the amendment reported to the bill by the military committee, to confine its application to those who served to the end of the war ; wiien a motion was made by Mr. Goldsborongh, and agreed to, to amend the amendment, by inserting the words “ or those ivhp served y.ears.” Mr. Crittenden moved to strike nut tire v. ds G on continental establishments,” so as to include • the militia who served' the requisite period, which motion was pending when tins senate ad journed. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Tuesday,■ February 10. To the Senate and House of Representatives of the U. S. As the.house appropriated for the president ol the United Stated will be finished this year, it is thought to merit’ the attention of Congress in what manner it shofrld be furnished, and what measure Ought to be adopted for the safe keeping of the furniture in future. All the publicfarnituie pro half pay to the widows and children of officers and soldiers who were killed in battle, or who died of wounds received in battle, or who died in the military service of thoUnitcd States, dur ing the late war, the said provision shall he con tinued for the additional term of five years, to commence at tlte end’ of the first term of five years in each ease respectively, making the pro- vison equal to ten years half pay.” This motion was opposed by Mr. Johnson of K. Mr. Walker ill - N. C. and Mr. Southard, and was supported by Mr. Livermore. It was negatived, ultimately by a considerable majority. Mr. Hitchcock moved to amend the section so as to extend the continuation of the pension to motherless children of deceased soldiers- uidler sixteen years of age, as well as to the widows. Negatived. The third section is in the following words :— That in all cases where any soldier of the rc gular army shall have died while in the service of the United States, in the late war, or in return ing home from said service, leaving a widow,such widow shall be entitled to receive the sum of li ty eight dollais^annu'atly, for the term of five years, as a half pay pension ; and in case of the death or intermarriage of said widow, before the expiration of the term of five years .from the death of her husband aforesaid, the half pay for j the remainder of the term shall cease.” j Mr. Pindall moved to strike out of this section | the words “or intermarriage t” which motion was supported by the mover and Mr. Taylor,and opposed by Mr. Johnson, Mr. Harrison, and Mr. T. M. Nelson. Mr. Smith of Mil, also joined in the debate on the general merits of the bill, to which he was opposed. Mr. T. M. Nelsou moved tq amend' this sec- lion so as that the pensions to be granted by if should take date from the 4th day of March last. Negatived. Mr. Cobh moved to strike out the above section from the bill ; which motion was supported by himself, and opposed by Mr. Harrison, and was negatived by a very small majority! ’ The fourth section is in the following words: , , “That in all cases of half pay pensions embraced vided before 1814, having been destroyed with by this act, and all other actsofcongressmak- the public building in that year, and little alter- ing provision for half pay pensions, the same wards procured, owing to the inadequacy of the*shall extend to all casts where the party died appropriation, it has become necessary to pro-j within six months after his return home,. Vide almost every article requisite for such an of diseases contracted in the service durin ^tablishnijmt; whence the sum tq be expendedilgte. war with G. Britain.” Mr. Linn moved to strike out this section 3 which motion was opposed by Mr. Barbour, amt Mr. Comstock, and was negatived by a large ma- Qther amendments were proposed and various ly decided, on which, as well as those already noted, considerable desultory debate took pace. The filth section of the bill provides that tlie .widow of any officer or soldier killed in battle or who died in service during the revolutionary war shall have a pension, if of a soldier, id 48 iloh 'ars pCT animin, if of an officer, ol 100 dollars per annum. The sixth section provides that 111 all cases where an indigent mother has lost her son in bat tle, if he has left no widow or children, she shall receive a pension of 48 dollars per annum loi five years, After having gone through the de tails, the committee rose and reported tne bill to tlie bouse. Wednesday, February 11 The House took up the report ol the committee of the whole on the bill concerning hall pay pen sions, &c. and agreed successively to all the a- mendineuts thereto reported by the committee Mr Harrison then moved to strike out the li section of the bill, which provides, “ that ill all cases where any soldier of the regular army shall have died while in the service ol the United States, in the late war, or in returning home Iroin said service, leaving a widow, such widow shall he entitled to receive the sum ol forty eight dol lars annuajly, for the term of five years, as a half pay pension 3 and in case ol the d: ath or in termarriage of said widow, before (he expiration of the term of five veais from (he death ol the husband aforesaid, the half pay for the remainder of the term shall cease,” which motion Mr. H. subsequently withdrew; when Mr. Colson renewed the motion to expunge the Section ; on which considerable debate took place. The motion was supported by Messrs. Moore of Pa. and Colson, ami opposed by Messrs. Taylor of N. Y. Holmes of Mas. Spencer, Coitl- stock, Ogle. Walker of N. C. T. M. Nelson, Johnson of li. and Harrison; and finally nega tived. Mr. Hanison then moved to amend the section by making the pension commence from the first of March, 181T, instead of from the death ol her husband; on the ground that it would be more beneficial to the widow and more convenient jto the treasury to pay the five years’ pension grauu- ally, than in a gross sum, which would be paya ble under the section as it stood. This motion was negatived—ayes 44. Mr. Hitchcock proposed so to amend the bill, as to confine the pensions to the widows of such soldiers ns enlisted prior to the 10th December, 1814; which motion was agreed to without op position. The question was then taken on ordering the bill to be engrossed and read a third time, and de cided in the negative—yeas 05, nays 72. So the bill was rejected. Mr. Stores, under a belief that the bill had been rejected from a dislike to the 3d section, or some other feature, and that, divested of the ob jectionable provisions the bill would pass, moved to reconsider the vote just taken, that the bill might he modified and rendered acceptable to the Jiouse. This motion after some discussion, was negatived-—ayes 53, noes 80. Friday, February 13 General bankrupt bill.—The house on motion of Mr. Hopkinson, resolved itself into a commit tee of the whole, Air. Smith of Md. in the chair on the bill to establish an uniform system of bankruptcy throughout the V'. States. The reading of tlie bill (which contains fifty four printed folio pages) occupied the greater part of this day’s sitting. .Monday, February 1G. On motion of Mr- Bloomfield, the committee on foreign relations were instructed to enquire into the expediency of establishing the residence of a Consul at Magadore, in the Empire of Mo rocco. Mr. B. assigned as a reason for this mo il the advantages which would result from a vice of the United Stales; anil the authority of training them belonging to the state governuirni. the committee have not deemed it proper th r Congress should prescribe the time to he j voted to training, or the manner in which that object will be best ell acted. It is the duty of the state legislatures to enact the necessary h W3 j-" that purpose. The committee deem it a slli 5 cient exercise of the power to provide for discinl lining the militia to direct the appointment of the necessary officers, to prescribe their duties • and to provide a system of discipline, compre hending the camp duties, instruction, field excr. cise, and field service of the militia. 4. The committee are of opinion, that the r prr ulations for calling forth the militia may remau substantially as at present existing : That ih„ President should, in all cases, address his orders immediately to some officer of the militia, am * 1 , not to the executive of any Itate. Thegovfeniur of a state is not a militia officer, bound to execute the orders of the President; he cannot he tried for disobedience, and punished by the sentence of a court martial. 5. In'providing for governing the militia in t| le service of the United States, it has appeared tu yuur committee, that the senior class might be exempted from being inarcbcd out of the state p> which they belong ; that the junior class, coin, posed of ardent and vigorous mpu, the efficient force of the nation, should, w hen called intij 8cr . vice, continue therein some time after liaviu"ac quired the knowledge and habits of soldiers; that the officers should by their own consent be continued still longer in service, as military knowledge, principles and habits, are must essen tial to the officers, who are the soul of an army, It has also appeared to your committee, that those principles would be best acquired by the officers of the militia, in Serving with officers of the regular troops on courts martial, for the trial of offenders either of the regular troops or militia. 6. The compensation to the militia for.their services, consisting of pay and allowance i’ j clothing and of pensions in case of disability by wounds received in the service, the committee would allow to remain nearly as theretofore fix ed by law. The committee, acting according to the fore going principles, report a bill to provide for or- ganizing, arming and disciplining the militiaj for calling them into the service of the United States ; for governing them therein ; and fur compensating them for their services the consulate there, <kc. and particularly from the opportunity it would afford of redeeming from captivity our ship-wrecked mariners and other citizens, who might be unfortunate enough to fall into the hands of the Arabs, Ike. bands of the militia, when not necessary. That mode would expose the arms to be lost and de stroyed. They conceive that Congress should provide arsenals, from which the militia of every part of the United States could draw arms when necessary, which would be a sufficient exercise of the power to provide for arming the militia. FOREIGN. MILITIA OF THE UNIT’ ) STATES. The followiir is the Report oi tire Committee of the House of Representatives on so much of the President’s Message as relates to the Militia. The Constitution grants to Congress the follow ing powers in relation to the militia, to-wit:— To provide for organizing the militia ; for arm ing them ; for disciplining them ; for calling them into the service of the United States ; for go verning them therein ; and for compensating them for their services ; which powers the com mittee have considered separately. 1. The committee are of opinion, that in or ganizing the militia, it would be a great improve ment to divide them into two classes, with a view to train diligently, and to provide to arm imme diately, the young men, and exempt the elderly men from that sacrifice of time which effectual training would require—the organization of the militia might remain in all other respects nearly as heretofore established. 2. The constitution having made it the duty ot congress to provide for arming the militia, this power is not duly exercised by merely enactin; that %,e militia snail arm themselves. A law to that effect, unsanctioned by penalties, will be disregarded, and, if thus sanctioned, w ill be un just for it will operate as a capitation tax, which tlie opulent and the needy will pay equally, and which will not be borne by the states in the pro portion fixed by the constitution.The committee, do not approve of putting publifc anno into tfi?" , ’ ai:x lieutenants Lenis de Madrid, Sancho Par-, BLOODY BATTLE The following particulars are taken from a Ja maica paper of the 14th ult. copied from a Curia coa paper of the sffth of December. Accounts had reached La Uitvra that general Mina and the whole of his staff, being the rem nant of his army, had been taken prisoners and escorted to Mexico, which place they were tube put to death. . A Carracas gazette of the Iftli inst. contains an official dispatch from general M01 illo to the captain-general of Venezuela, don Juan Bapti-te Pardo, dated head-quarters, Guadarrama, rth De cember, from which it appears that gen. Paez,ot the independent army was in AcTiaguas, and commenced his retreat on the Arauca, with the emigration, and all his forces, having at the same time ordered those in Nutias to cross back tU A pure ; in consequence of which all gen. Morii lo's endeavors to meet him were frustrated. General Murillo being at Ualaboze, aiidJiaving received accounts from colonel La TorvtV fruia which he learned that the latter was deterred from attacking the enemy by a false rcpoit that Bolivar and Aristnendi were coming up the river with great forces, marched with several corps to reinforce him, and arrived at Guadarrama the ve ry day his despatches arc dated, where he re ceived another letter from La Torre, mentioning that he had foiled the rebels commanded by Zu- razain the field of Hogaza. The official dispatch of Col.-La' Torre, is dated Calwrio, 8th December, and coirtaans the follow-- ing in substance : That on the 2d Dee. he attacked the imlepen dent army, posted on n height in the Hatoof Hue gaza, to the number of 1500 men, with two pie ces of artillery : his army (composed Hut of 300 cavalry and 900 infantry )advaucing . with un daunted courage, amidst tlie cries of “ long live the king.” His cavalry under Arrogoncs, bein' attacked by that of the enemy's left, he ni-dere his officer to charge them, which he executed i such a gallant manner as immediately to repulrt and disperse them at a great distance”in the rear oi their line. Colonel Juez was then assail ed by tlie enemy’s cavalry of the right reinforced by the squadrons of reserve, but he routed them also ; that this event, added to the gallantry with which the infantry charged with the bayonet,"threw the enemy into such complete disorder, that they took to flight, leaving every thing behind them Pursued by the infantry,and having their retreat cut offby major Aragones, notone of their infan try escaped, having all perished or been taken prisoners ; their cavalry met very nearly a sim ilar late. * The loss of the independents is stated at 120tf slain, 2 brass 3-pounders, 1200 muskets, 4 colors, 18 drums, 50,000 musket catridgcs, 1 loud of flints, a printing machine, and all their cquip- page. 'The loss of the royalists amounted to onfy 11 killed, 82 slightly and 16 severely wounded. Among the wounded Is col. La Torre himself, in the thigh, by a musket shot, which lie received in charging at the head of the infantry; also cij. D. Pedro Gonzettes Villa, the adjutant of the second battalion of Navarra, Don Jose Nur- do, Domingo Augustin, Ventura Salgado, Pedro Fernandez, Angel Lone the captains of grena diers don Juan de Luno, and don Juan "Fran cisco Gimcncs, wounded by a cannon shot. That in consequence of a conflagration in tlie bushes, a great number of the wounded wen consumed, and among them some of the royal 3. Congress having power to provide for gov- whom it was impossible to rescue trom the -erning the militia only when tiny aro hi tire s-er- ( " ame8, tires accident the bodies were so’Ji»<