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Congress of the United Slates HOUSE OF RE PRESENTA FIFES. Friday, Nov. 2,7. Mr. J. Clay piefented a Memoria from fiindry merchants and traders of the city of Philadelphia, praying, tha; the a£t prohibiting the importation o! certain goods, wares and merchandize, pa (Ted the 18th April, 1806, may be repealed. Mr. Clay moved that the memorial be referred to the committee of tom ttierce and manufaQures. Mr. Rowan hoped the petition would not be referred to any commit tee. He thought it would be beneath the dignity of the hotife to give i; any consideration. Had he been in con grefs at the time the law palled, he would h.ave voted agsinß it; but a it bad passed, and as we had received a frefh infu.lt from Great Britain in the attack on the Chesapeake, he would •not vote for its repeal. Mr. J. Clay I'aid, that as the petition ; was couched in decent language, and involved a question of great national importance, it could no: be inconfuo tent either with the dignity or the jus tice of the house to refer it to the com. mittee of commerce and manufafctur<?*. As to the non.importation law who ever would examine it would find, that many of its provisions were very de ficienr, and in Come cases totally nuga tory. lie pointed out fome ol its de. fefcls, and observed that it contained lo many absurdities, the: he doubted whether it ever could go into opeia tion. Mr Crowninfiiield frid, that a?! to the non-uroportiuion law, it might be oblcure in feme parts, but there were more than a dozen articles on which there could be no doubt at all. Un~ der what cirtiumfiances had that law pa lied ?—We had been making demands on Great ‘Britain for many years, which file had refufed to Satisfy and this law had been pa (fed to in. duce her to do us just ice. Since that period file had committed the outrage on the Chesapeake. The blood of A merican citizens had freely flowed in thatvellel. Great Britain had known this for Some months, and yet we had obtained no redreis. He knew in deed that the law in question was luf pended but for a ihoit time at .prelent; bm from rumors which woe afloat, and from what he knew, of the difpofi-’ tio-n of Gr eat Britain , he entertained no hope that fiie would do us juttiee. He thought that we were sleeping at our polls. We knew that G. Britain was ma king afciive prepi'r aliens .that fiie was .endeavoring to decov the Indians on our frontiers that {he was arming her militia in Canada and Nova Scotia • and that (be had, besides, an immense navy. The late attack on - Cqpenba gen had convinced us that fiie paid no regard to juliice or the laws of nations. She had in that infiance violated every * principle of hu-manky.—Could we ex petl better treatment than Denmark, a | nation which had never injured her? j Might not our cities be wrapt in 1! tines as v.til Hate that, they are alarmed at the de mands of our government ; what were j those demands ? Did they know them | He know not, although a member of that house: and vet the per it toners are ‘ l afar med” at them. xMr. C. then moved that the petition lie on die U’ fcle. Mr. Milner could fee r.nv inn propiietv in referring the petition. He was acquainted with *he charatDrs who had figntri it, and he knew them 1 to be men of thehighed refpefc-iability men who would not slightly commit thecsielves. As to the noiMinporia tion law he had always regared it as a weak and futile mealuie, calculated to pioduce no other effect than to irritate Great Britain. He would rather him seen a law to pibbibit all intercourse i.t once. He agreed with the gentle, man lull up, that we were llteuiog at our polls; that our affaire with Great Biiiatn wcteui such a flotation as to render it extremely doubtful whether they’ would be amicably lettled, and that under theie circuinllances wc o (.ght not to be idle. Mr, AUlpu moved that the petition be referred to a coir mittee of lire whole house. Mr. Smilie thought ihat referring this petition to the ccrnmittee of the whole would be giving it too much im portance. That there was party in the country tirongly prejudiced in fa vor of the British government, he ne ver doubted for a moment, that thi* was a measure of that part), he was e| qually certain. Mr, Basset hoped the petition would be referred to a committee of the whole on theftate of ihe union ; not outof re. (peH for the petition ; but out of rer Ipeß for the nation. This’ would af ford the house an oppoit unity of ex. pretling their lemiments on the present interesting ffate of affairs., lire house had been fitting feme time, and not one wotd had been uiteied on the sub- wifiled this lilence to be bro ken. Mr. Chandler knew not who these petitioners were; he dtd not know but they were Bpitifh fubjeßs residing among us: If he were certain 01-the sacs, he would move to have the pe iitioif thrown under the table, without taking any further notice ol ii ; but as he was not certain of it, he v.as wilj ‘ing to iet it lie on the t!>!e. Mr. f. Clay fatd that wi.h refpeftf to the afTerrion of his colleague (Mr. Smilie) lie would merely remark that there was a man’s name (igned to that pttitioM, with whom he was intimately acquainted, who, he knew, did as much good for t is country as his col league, notwith(lauding his lituation. The gentleman from Maflacb ulcus, [Mr, Crowninfliidd) had made a long harangue on the fubjefcf of the non importation law, ami had laid that it would not embatafs the merchants. But so extremely ridiculous was fotne of the provisions of that law, that it was doubtful v.'hether a gold watch could he imported, on account of the glass being prohibited. He laid lie felt extremely hurt at the observations of the gentleman from Fennfy Ivariia, [Mr. Smilie) when he knew that the tigners of the petition were native Ame rican citizens. But it seemed naiural that a member of congress muff I peak on ail fuhje£ls, whether he underftooci them or not. Mr. Elliot (poke in favour of re. ferriug the petition, and agamlt the insinuation of a Bruilh party. lici said that he feared there might loon be, two watch words effablifhed, to vote down any mcafurc which might he difagreeahle, and these were “ Con fideoce in the Executive,” and t; Jiti. iilh Party.” Mr. Nelson was opposed 10 refer ring the petition to any committee. He thought the house ought not to hefitatc a moment about, throwing un der the table all applications for a re peal off the law in question ; particular, ly now, when we were be feared on the eve of a war, and after the -British government had boa fled that we dared not put it in force, as (he would con., sider it as a declaration of war. Mr. Rhea ( Ten) spoke again-fi re. /erring ihe petition. He obfei v-ed, that when these colonies presented petitions’ to the Bri.ifii parliament fora redress of grievances, they were t\ywn under the table. He thought that would be the molt proper co.urfe on the prelcnt occa lion. Mr. Filk contended, that the peti :ion v;as dike! pectin! to the house, inasmuch as it conveyed a diftrull ol •he measures taken by government. Several other members spoke on the fubjefcf, when Mr. Randolph observed, that at 'empts had been made to denounce his friend from Pennsylvania, (Mr. |. Clay)—a man, he laid, whom he would not aiigrace by comparing, either in regard to talent or patriotilm, with any of his denunciators. [Mr. Crown mlhteid role to explain ; hut he was :wice called to order by Mr. Afandolph.j He laid that it was the indubitable fight ot ihe citizens of this country 10 present their petitions to this house; and a rcfmal to refer those petitions was a reiufal to conlider them. He never expected to hi ar the conouCf ol ( he corrupt and hiieling majority ol o;d North, brought foiwatU to juftify a -funilar conduH in that house. We had ex ere i fed the right of petitioning the British parliament, ami they had pursued the very condufci which was now recommended here —our pe'iciom were trea f cd with derision and c m tempt. 1T the prayer ol the petitioners was improper, would it not he better to expose their errors in a mnUeily report, from a committee, than to flam'the door in their faces, and affect ing all ail the a*rs of an Ahatirk love reign, refitfe to hear them ? We were, he believed, on the eve of a war with Great Britain ; and we were treading • n-the very footifeps ol the British min iltry on the eve of ise American war, and on the eve of the French war. Even the commanding genius of Mr. Fox, would not be lillened to in the house of commons—he was obliged to go out —and what was the coufe quence? He was called by the unani tnous voice of the nation, to corredt those very mi /chiefs, to expole which he was rtlufed a hearing, when lie firli railed his voice again It them. But ii was said, that the language of the peti tioners was dil refpefcffui. What do they fay ? That they do not wiflj us to make any faciilice of our national ho riour and independence. And what is ;he great bulwark of our national ho nour and independence f Why, a uife rahle non importation law ? ! The house, Ivlr. ii. laid, had now been in fefiiou five weeks ; arid on the eve of a war, they were ditcuUinp whe ther we should import locks with brals nobs, or locks with iron nobs—they were fitting there locking at one ano. ther, reading newspapers, writing let ters, receiving bank checks, and count ing their money ; and the nation was precisely in the fame situation as it was when the house hrlt affcmbled. If we were to have a war with Great-Bi itain, as he believed we were, it would be come the houle at the outlet to con. ciliate those by whom that war was to be carried on—he meant by & thofe,’ the great body of American people— and not the rich merchant more than the iartd holders, but not Jess. The house Were beginning a war on ihe fame principles as Mr. Pitt did his with France, by proferibing every man, who dare to quellion one tittle of its motives. But he trolled if it began in the lame way, u would not have a limi iar end. Mr. Crown in fiiield hoped the house would do him the juliice to believe that he did not vvifh to derogate from the charafcler of Iris friend from Penns. (Mr. Clay); be had always entertained the highcfl efioem for that gemleman, • and he aUavs should. He had (tated that the language of the petition was difrefpefcHul, anti he wi tiled it to lie on the table; but that was lure'v not re . jecting it. He had lince, however, dis covered a fentimerit in the petition which had cleaned him before, and which confirmed him in his opinion of it. The petitioners fay, that i4 they .h o petite j>ea ce of the coun 1r v wi 11 riot be endangered by an adherence io doubttn, or unletued principles.” Was it an un fettled principle that a national veifel could not be searched ? He thought not. He had always consider ed a national vefft-1 as a national terri. tory, and that it should be maintained inviolate. He had formerly been of opinion that it would be better to pals a total non-importation law ; but for the lake of conciliating Great Britain, he had voted for a partial non-impor. iat ion. Mr. Randolph said, that the gentleman from Mass. (Mr. C.) had grossly misun derstood hnn : he did not allude to that gentleman hs denouncing his friend from Pennsylvania. (iMr. J. Clay.j Ihe denudations had been heard by the house at least they had been by hirn. (See above) —13 it he had said that die gentle man aid endeavored to make this a party question he blilL thought ao, and his catl ing for axes and nays proved it. life would call the attention of the house to a period when men of different political sentiments held the reigns ot government petition after petition had bet n presented agiinat the sedition law and vet they had al wu\& been received and heard although he said it was almost impossible to couch such petition in respectful language. He contended that the merchants did not al lude loathe rights of ths w ords which the gentleman (Mr. <7rown!rt°-hieM) hndqno. ted but they said that doubts were enter tained that other subjects had been con nected with that, zlud hid they not a right to doubt ? He thought ift'>e gentle man (Mr, Crowninshu-HpvouM exchange a tevv of his certainties for some of their doubts, he would not be a worse manor a less efficient politician. He believed It to be a novel thing in legislation, that be cause the house differed in opinion from a petitioner, tne petition should be re jected. The question was then .taken on refer ring ih<- p-titlon to a committee of the whole house it was lost, ayes sJnoes 80 The petition tvas ordered to tic on the table. This interfering d'scriasion (of which the above \ bat a Sketch) lasted about three hours. Mr. Randolph ashed and obtained leave of absence ol Mr. J, Clay, lor tiie remain der of the session. Mr.- A’mdolph, from the committee ap pointed for the po'-poce, reported a bill explain the act tf> prohibit the imfTortatiort of slaves into the Gni'-ed States after the 3lst day ol U j 18;) y , which *as read twice, and ordered to be referred to a coin* mittee of th- whole on Monday. Mr. Blount erdivd fur the order of the day on the second report in part of the committee of aggressions, &c. V'nU mo tion occasioned a debate of about two hours, principally relating to the atcack on. the Chesapeake frigate, and to the con duct of the British squadron in remaining in our waters contrary to the pteaideut’a proclamation. A few minutes before fiv<- o’clock, tbo house adjourned till Monday. Monday, Nov. qo. On motion of Mr- Findley, the pe tition of Arthur St. Ciair prelented at a former leffion, was referred to a committee appointed to enquire what claims are barred by the fiatute of li mitations, which in realon and justice ougiu to be allowed by law. Mr. Cook offered several resolutions calling on the fecretarv of the navy for information on tlie date of our iia val alFairs, which, after fotne debate, were adopted. The houle resolved itfeVF into a committee of the whole on tlie second report of the committee ofjjaggreffions Mr. Baffea in the chair. The report closed with two refokuions —the authortling the ereHicn of fortifica* tiohs—the second, the building .of gun boats lor the pur pole of defending our ports and harbors. After a debate, of defultovy conversation of fome length, the report was, with a flight a mendinent, agreed to, and concurred in by the house. In this debate there was but little methodical speaking nor much that would inter ell our readers, except the speeches of VlcfTrs. Gardinier and Mailers both of New York, on the neceHi;y of making liberal appropria tions for the defence of our ports and harbors. The latter of thele ipeech es the Editor could not hear wi.h luf licitnt difimctnels to report. Os the former which was bold, rnanly and dig nified, he has notes but a very afliittive fever, from which he has yet been un able to free himfelf, put it out of his power to lay it before his readers to day, If possible, he will prepare this fpetch together with fome other felefct parts of the debale for the next Fede ralilf. Tuefdav Dec. i. On motion of Mr. Ouiney, Refohei That the lecretary for the department, of war be directed to lay before thisx honfe an account of the state of the*, fortifications of the refpeftive ports ar and harbors of the United States; wit’ j a Ifatementof the mottles appropr' ;ale( j for fortifications remaining oner ,pend ed ; and an eftirnate of the fu - ne _ celfary for completing fucK fortifica* tions as may be neccifary fr r tbe (je fence. ‘I he boi,re f P ent time, ia conr tnmee of the whole on ‘ he ’ orid(Je bilf^ wh.ch was ordered lu be enßr;o Scd for a third reading. * The Ediiof havi „ g rs>i ,ed a few mi. nu.es, on ins ret urn> , e |b and Ml . Kanuo ph makr . fon , c „ k , 01l j ,ne ‘" olt , cl 'B ,hl e mode of del. -nee fee I our b<,a,J , and on .he ml titc an.l expedienty 0 t providing for i l.e com fortable h.r, poi( iA (he office , , aI)li io u oieis or li ,e revolutionary wai , The Jo icmaiky were prefatory mtj c follow ing which Mr, 1 Rudolph