Ordered, That the said petitions be referred to the Committee on the Post-office and Post-roads.

Mr. Robertson presented a petition of the president and directors of the Orleans Navigation Company, praying a grant for a lot of ground at the mouth of the Bayou St. John, on which they have erected a building occupied in the service of the company.

On motion of Mr. Jennings,

Ordered, That the petition of sundry inhabitants of Vincennes, presented on the 15th of June, 1813, be referred to the Committee of Claims; and that the petitions of Jacob Yoder and Adam Glaze, presented on the 14th of November, 1811; the petition of Daniel Landon, presented on the 6th of February, 1812; the petition of the legislature of the Indiana territory, presented on the 27th of May, 1813, and the petition of sundry inhabitants of Clarke and Jefferson countics, in the Indiana territory, presented on the 7th of July, 1813, be referred to the Committee on the Pub. lic Lands.

Mr. Rhea, from the Committee on the Postoffice and Post-roads, presented a bill to authorize the transmission of certain documents free of postage, which was read the first time; and, on motion, the said bill was read the second time, and ordered to be engrossed and read the third time to-day. On motion of Mr. Rhea,

Ordered, That the Committee on the Post-office and Post-roads be discharged from the consideration of the resolution agreed to yesterday, directing an inquiry into the expediency of transmitting certain documents by mail free of postage, and that the said resolution be referred to the Post-master General.

The Speaker laid before the House a letter from the Acting Secretary of the Treasury, transmitting a statement of the unsettled accounts remaining in the Auditor's office, in pursuance of a resolution of the House of the 30th of July last, which were read and ordered to lic on the table.

On motion of Mr. Hempstead,

Resolved, That the Committee on the Public Lande be instructed to inquire into the expediency of providing, by law, for the speedy and final confirmation of all grants of land or orders of survey lawfully made and completed by the proper officer in the late district of Louisiana, now territory of Missouri, during the time the said territory was in the actual possession of Spain or France, and while either of those powers excrcised the sovereignty therein.

Resolved, That said Committee inquire into the expediency of making provision, by law, for granting all such claims to land in said territory, not exceeding 640 acres to each claimant, where the claimant, or the person under whom he claims, had actually cultivated the same, prior to the 20th of December, 1813.

Resolved, That said committee be instructed to inquire into the expediency of making provision, by law, to enable persons claiming lands in said territory, and which shall not be confirmed or granted under the laws of the United States, to contest the legality of such decisions in a court of law.

Resolved, That said committee be instructed to inquire into the expediency of extending the right of pre-emption to actual settlers on the public lands in said territory, and that said committee have leave to report by bill or otherwise.

Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary be instructed to inquire into the expediency of making provision, by law, for the appointment of an additional judge of the superior court in the territory of Missouri, exclusively for the district of Arkansaw, with leave to report by bill or otherwise.

On motion of Mr. McCoy,

Ordered, That, until otherwise ordered, the daily hour to which the House shall stand adjourned shall be eleven o'clock in the forenoon.

On motion of Mr. Beall,

Resolved, That the Committee on the Post-office and Post-roads be instructed to inquire into the expediency of establishing, by law, a post-route from Charlestown, Knox county, Virginia, by Cadiz, Freeport, White-eyes-plains, Choshocton, Union, Mount Vernon, Clinton, Fredericktown, and Mansfield, to Upper Sandusky, in Ohio.

On motion of Mr. Wilson,

Resolved, That the Committee on the Naval Establishment inquire and report on the expediency of a provision, by law, for deepening the channel into the harbor of Presque Isle, on Lake Erie.

Resolved, That the Military Committee inquire and report upon the expediency of improving the water communications, and roads necessary for the transportation of troops, military and naval stores and provisions, between certain parts of the United States and the Lakes.

An engrossed bill to authorize the transmission of certain documents free of postage, was read the third time and passed.

Ordered, That the title be" An act to authorize the transmission of certain documents free of postage." and that the Clerk do carry the said bill to the Senate, and desire their concurrence therein.

The following joint resolution was submitted by Mr. Pickering:

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatires of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That of the public journals of the Senate and of the House of Representatives of the present and every future Congress, commencing with the present session, and of the documents published under the orders of the Senate and of the House of Representatives respectively, from the commencement of the present session, there shall be printed two hundred copies beyond the number usually printed, of which twenty-five copies shall be deposited in the library of the United States at the seat of government, to be de

livered to members of Congress during any session, and to all other persons authorized by law to use the books in the said library, upon their applications to the librarian and giving their responsible receipts for the same, in like manner as for other books. And that so many other of the said copies shall be transmitted in like manner as the acts of Congress are transmitted to the executives of the several states and territories as shall be sufficient to furnish one copy to cach executive, one copy to each branch of every state and territorial legislature, one copy to each university and college in each state, and one copy to the historical society incorporated or which shall be incorporated in each state. And that the residue of the said two hundred copies be deposited in the said library of the United States, subject to the future disposition of Congress.

The said resolution was read the first time; and, on motion, the said resolution was read the second time, and ordered to be engrossed, and read the third time on Monday next.

A message from the Senate by Mr. Otis, their Secretary.

Mr. Speaker: The Senate have chosen the Rev. John Breckenridge a Chaplain to Congress on their part.

On motion of Mr. Grundy,

The House was cleared of all persons except the Members, Clerk, Sergeant-at-arms, and Door-keeper, and the doors were closed, and remained so until an adjournment took place.

SATURDAY, December 11, 1813.

The doors being opened,

Mr. Boyd, of New York, Mr. Rea, of Pennsylvania, Mr. King, of North Carolina, and Mr. Cheves, of South Carolina, severally appeared and took their seats.

And then the House adjourned until Monday morning, eleven o'clock.

MONDAY, December 13, 1813.

Several other members, to wit: from Massachusetts, George Bradbury; from Rhode Island, Elisha R. Potter; from Virginia, James Pleasants, junior, and from Georgia, Thomas Telfair, severally appeared, and took their seats.

Mr. Baylics presented a petition of sundry inhabitants of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, praying that a post-route may be established on the turnpike road from Boston to New Bedford.

Mr. Pitkin presented a petition of sundry inhabitants of the states of Connecticut and Massachusetts, praying that a post-route may be established on the turnpike road from New Haven, in Connecticut, to Stockbridge, in Massachusetts.

Ordered, That the said petitions be referred to the Committee on the Post-office and Post-roads.

On motion of Mr. Grosvenor,

Ordered, That the petition of Henry Malcolm, presented on the 9th of December, 1811, be referred to a select committee.

Mr. Grosvenor, Mr. Fisk, of New York, and Mr. Bradley, were appointed the said committee.

Mr. Fisk, of New York, presented a petition of Isaac Williams, junior, praying to be admitted to a seat in this House, as one of the members for the state of New York, in the place of John M. Bowers, whom he states to have been illegally returned and commissioned.

Ordered, That the said petition and accompanying documents, be referred to the Committee of Elections.

Mr. Taylor presented a petition of Hannah Weed, stating that she hath been deprived of her means of support, by the loss of her son Calvin Weed, who was wounded in the attack on Queenstown, in Canada, of which he died, and praying relief.