wilmington gazette volume ix published wkkklt by allmand hall tuesday it.ttklally 19 wos a'c 4i4 of the director of the mini f the operations of that institution lor the last year mr leib from the committee tippointed on 1 that subject repotted a bill making an appro priation for the completion ol the arsenal be longing lo the u states on the banks of the schuylkill to the amount of 18,900 dollar which was committed mr.crowfinshicld moved thai the committee of wavs&meansbc directed o enquire what al terations are necessary in the laws fixing the salaries and emoluments ot the collectors of duties on impost and tonnage which motion was carried in the affirmative on application of mr nelson lie was ex cused from serving as a manager on judge chase's impeachment mr j randolph reported from the com mittee appointed on lh petition ot a number of the planters merchant nnd others ot louisiana . a report cf considerable length tonclihtu a rebolution that provision out'ht to mr.(te by law for extending lu the poopjv i of louisiana the right of self government i the report was referred to a-coinmitteenf ihe i whole january 28 ! mr j cliijt presented n bill from the com ! niittee on that part of the president's message relating to our intercourse with the indian tiil<es which being read was committed 1 the house on motion of mr j randolph 1 h.tllutti'd for a manager instead of mr k ! nelson excused ; on counting the bajlots a mounting in the whole to 95 mr clarke had 1 52 votes mr cl.uke was declared duly vl i elected mr j clay moved that a committee he ap pointed to enquire whether any and if any \ wlja't alterations were necessary to the act to i presqribe the mode uf taking evidence in the j ct-.se of contested elections of members in ihe ! house of representatives of tlic u states !: to compel the attendance of witnesses and ! that the committee report by bill or other i wise chi motion of mr j randolph the house went into a committee of the whole on the louisiana memorial tbe following resolution which concludes the report of the select committee was agreed to without a division resolved that provision ought to be mode by la'v for extending lo luv inhabitants ol i louisiana the right of self government the committee rose and the house imme diately concurred without a division in their report and instructed the same committee that brought in the report to biii.g in the necess.iry hills mr j clay moved that a committee be ap pohited lo enquire into the expediency of pro viding by law for the mote effectual preven tion of fraud and forgery on the bank of the u states the motion was carried and refer red to a committee of three the house went into r cnmttiitee of the whole on dr euttis's motion for rilling out and preparing one of the navy-yards on the margin ol the reran for the reception nnd re pair of our vessels of war on their return to the u states a lengthy discussion look p,lace on this motion and several attempts j were made to alter it i all of which having foil 1 ed the committee agreed to the original re solution and reported it lo the bowse the votes were 53 in its fuvour and 51 against it 1 january 29 1 the motion of dr i'.ustis for preparing and i fitting upon one of the navy-yards on the i margin of the ocean for the reception mid re i pair of the vessel ot war now on cruize or ■ foreign station being the unfinished business of yesterday was taken upi mr nicholson moved to refer it to a select , committee f on this question there were 47 ayes and j 63 noes so it was lost s mr etistis moved o postpone the consi deration of the same till saturday next a ■ greed to ! mr tbomus reported from the commit i tec for tiie purpose a bill to authorise joshua j sands and others to erect a bridge across the i marsh and wooiebaugbt in the navy-yard on long island which whs read and committed on motion of mr l'lliot the house re&ol i ved itself into a committee of the whole on ] the yaaoo claims general varnum in the . chair : after a short discussion the committee ; rose and reported the resolution in favor of admitting the claim by way of compromise the votes were 6 1 in the affirmative nnd 50 gainst it the house took the report of the commit ueofthe whole into consideration — and mr clark proposed to amend the resolu tion by adding a proviso that no part of the five millions of acres reserved to compen sate certain claims should be applied to the { benefit of the claimants under the act passed or pretended to be passed by the legislature of georgia in the year 17u5 on this question mr j randolph called the yeas and nays in which he was supported by the constitutional number j mr j randolph went into an argument shewing the impropriety of the mrasure ; ! and the sitting terminated some tim«uftcr the i usual hour by an adjournment congress house of representatives extract from a short account 00 affairs i ;; st do.hingo as an instance of the ; plcrxlid hk1 (» travarant hyle in wliicli the nekiiiyni havii live i will give a description ol an onter lainnient ihatu as given by ixitly kfrtmatiilt-st on sunday the i2ih of l'ebrtai y t whiih i wns urescrii i a few days previous to the appointed tinm invitations printed on fine paper whli j borders of which the following is a trims lation were iisuilntu-d '/■/.<■ cape february 11 180 l lady dkss.'.li ms invites monsieur ■. — . ... to a dinner i nnrl imll which she gives to-nmrrow pi j cisvly at seven o'clock in the cvenijtg ; she i iinpas that he will d hi'v the s\vvvl mid i a|i»ceublo favour ol'bi'injj of tbc pwty 1 it was n!*(igi\ti out it illc samtmn-nc llmt in con^t-qu ncc of thib ent«ii»innhtit uie perfoimanccs at the thcotre l»<h is l ways upen on suni)»y would ct,n>mtn<c sooner than common thut the tnmit have an opportunity of assemblin tlicic for the purpose of procaedhifr in u lm<ly to the lioust of ttstivity the thes've upbnbd t hnlf past iivt and was attended liy a verv resofit.mc unuiciuc including ilie grcuuit part of the jualii at the conr!u>.ion ve moved in a largtf croud and mbotit « oclotk found ourselves befoit i he government house it is a grand and spacious building situate a short distance from the street having a gravel wulk ami git-en lawn in front ol it the avenue from the to he door of the house was bviilinntly ihuminated with about one ihuitsanj mtihii lnrnps • we pas sed thioukh the entry of the house into a larjje saloon erected purposely for this oc casion it was about ten yards broad itnd one hundred long covered and tntirdy lined with canvass it was elegantly ornamented in'iiilc with lowers branches of trees three hundred small lamps of coloured (;!■$& hung round the room lour kn-ge chandeliers over the table twelve great looking glasses and a marble statue at each end of the room in in a recess the table contained all the rr.e^ts fruits vegetables poultry pastry confectionary and liquors that could possibly b'j procured among these weit beef nut ton turkies ducks fowu oranges pine ! apples alligator pears apples pits ltiel dings jellies sweetmeats cakes and claret madeira and champaign wines there were 250 guests at the table be sides many more who were obliged to stand they consisted of general chiistophe at the centre lady dutsalines on his right hand and his wife on the left j six or eight l.lack generals as many colonels and others of high rank besides all the other principal officer of the government and army tlitti at the cope ; the cuptuin and all the officer of a british man of war ; about 30 ameri can ; a great number of white french in habitants of the most respectable class und an enormous croud of mulutto and l.lack january 23 on motion ot mr thomas it was resolved that the secretary of state be directed to lay before the house a list of those person who have obtained patents for new inventions or improvements in the arts and sciences with a general description of the patent right nnd the date of the grant of the same a letter received from the secretary of state was read giving a statement of the american seamen impressed by the belli tr ent nations thedoci mettaccompanving'l-.ein vrer voluminous an ' contained the names of fifteen hundred nful trrirty-eii»ht seamen impressed since the cofrimeircement of the present war in europe it wm moved to i print the documents with the letter from the secretary of state ; but the motion was with drawn on the suggestion of a gentleman that it won hi he very expensive mr huger called up the unfinished busi ness of yesterday relative to calling on the secretary of the treasury for a return of foreign shipping paying additional duties and the produce of the light money paid into the treasury agreed to a message from the senate by mr qtl's their secretary informing that they had pas sed the bill for completing die south wing of the capital an4 other purposes with an a mentlment which on motion of mr thomp son was concurred in by the house the n mendmeut was to strike otat the words " for the accommodation of the house of represen tatives the bill is consequently passed and appropriates 130,000 dollars also a bill for carrying into more complete effect the 10th article of the treaty with spain with an amendment which was on motion of mr crowninshiehl referred to the committee of commerce and manufactures and the bill making an appropriation for the navy of the united states during the year 1805 with an timsndment which received the unanimous concurrence of the house mr oowninshield observed that he was notin his place at the time the letter of the secretary of state was read ; but he under stood the report contained the names of more than lsooseirmen impressed chiefly by the british he hoped the house would not re gard the expence of printing the united states inght to know that a reat number of . its citizsns were detained by a foreign go vernmrnt and he had almost bald in a state of slavery certainiv contrary to their inclina tion we wan'trd the service of this useful body of men no foreign government had a right to authorise the seizure of american citizens we know that many outrages had been committed on their personal rights and he wished congress to point out a remedy a dequate to correct the evil the expence of printing the list watt no consideration with him and he trusted the house would agree to it . , mr jackson supported the propriety of printing the whole documents and the house accordingly agreed to it by a large majority mr crowntnshidd said tho house would recollect that a list of impressed seamen was furnished this morning from the depart ment of state which exceeded in number a jir thing ho had expected he thought these impressments ought to be prevented and that tlie subject demanded investigation he had drafted 1 a resolution which he would submit to ttre house having in view to connect this with another very important subject many gentleman mast have olwerved that some late proclamations had beer issued by the go vernors of the several british west-india is lands interdicting the american trade after may next the proclamations bore date in october or november and were to take ef fect in six months it appeared to him that the british government were determined to exclude us from their islands ; upon the ex pectation that their own vessels would be competent to carry the necessary supplies mr c said we had aright to carry the pro ductions of the united states in american b»moms and he hoped we should never per mit foreign ships to come to our ports and curry on an exclusive trade with any country whatever where our vewels were not allow ed the same privilege his intention was to prevent the american carrying fade t0 tne west-indies from falling into the hands of o iwer nations he would nnt exclude foreign vettefs from our ports j but it was desirable t'ut our own expnrt trado should not be mo nopolised by foreigners the subject was htffhlv import to this country will the i nitetl states mni«-ly submit to see some of its best citizens torn from theif families and friend without attempting something for their relief shall we see another country pursuing itliwtirn hostile to our commercial rtfehtt anditttfce no efl v rt to correct the mis chief ? the west-india islands depended on tin united state for their ordinary supplies 4i>d our vessels had usually carried a large proportion of their cargoes on american ac count ; but it appeared uow that we were to be ahut out irom this tade and it was in fu ture to be carried on it torcign vessel an effectual remedy wouu be to prohibit the ex portation of our produttlona in foreign bot toms to all portt or wands with which we were not permitted to have intercourse and in order that the subject might undergo an examination which iu importance demanded he offered the following resolution : — " he solved that the committee of commerce and manufacture be inetructed to enquire if nny and what fuilherprovision he necessary fortho protection of ihc commerce and sta men of the united state ; and n enquire whether any foreign ou»wy has made any late it guhttionti with view to monopolise a < ny branch of the american carrying trade lo the exclusive beneftl^swch foreign country or wluch in their ep^s way be injurious i to thu agricultural ereotnmevctal inleteirt of the united slates and rdso to enquire into the expediency of prohibiting he expoitfl ! tion from the united slates of all roods ud | merchandise whatever in foreign ships bound j to any port with which the vessels of the u ' nited states are not allowed communication i or where a free unrestrained trade is not per j niittrd in the productions of the u states ; and that the committee be authorised to re port by bill or otherwise | mr randolph wished the resolution to lie j for consideration a few days lie would ( mention monday ; tlie gentleman had s:;id : it was an important subject and if he had no i objection it would be s well to allow the re solution to remain unacted upon for a little j time it-might be printed for the considera ; tion of the house and be im'.ikt supposed j some alteration would be decenary in the form of the resolution mtvcrowiiingshiow replied that he was perfectly willin t'nt resolution should remain : for consideration agreeable to the tk;sire of i the rctvleman from virginia nnd he would ; consent t any reasonable delay 5 hut he ! would not consent toits remaining unacted upon till a period so late as to preclude any j measures from being adopted this season be j cause the proclamation would take effect in ', the month of may he was not tenacious of forms it was the substance of things hi look ed toi and he would with njreat pleasure agree to modify the resolution to any shape which the gentiemnn from virginia might suggest a motion was mude to refer the resolution i to a committee of the whole for monday j next which was agreed to and the resolution ordered to be pr'iqlldi january 24 on motion of vr nicholson the house went into « committee of the whole on the bill for preserving peace in the ports and liar j bours of the united states and in the waters under their jurisdiction — mr gregg in the ch.iir mr nichclson introduced two a mendmenls one to supply the place of the cd scctioit of the bill and the other as a substi tute for the 5th sec'.ion ; they being lengthy and important clauses he wished them to be printed before tbey were discussed ; for which reason he wished the committee to rise re port progress and k leave to sit again ) mr r iriswold had also prepared an a j tnendment in the place of the 2r sretion he wished it also to be reed end printed ; it was ' accordingly received and the committee ha 1 vinp risen and reported the amendments | they were all ordered lo be printed mr eustin cnlledupihe following resolu 1 tion offered by him on the t2t uist ! resolved that it is expedient to provide by law for defraying the expence in ident to tit ting and preparing one of the navy-yard be longing to the u state and lying near the j margin of the ocean for t lie reception and ; repairing of such ships of war as are now at sea on their return to port and such other ships or vessels of war as rnay hereafter re turn mm their cruises or stations this motion occasioned considerable dis cussion and was referred to u committee of the whole foy montjav next mr clark moved that the secretary of the treasury be directed to make a circumstan tial report of all the claims standing upon the 1 books of the treasury against the u states which are barred by the acts of limitation upon what authority the settlements and li quidations were made and the persons with wliom they are made and to whom they are now due and the different circumstance which may e*ti«t in respect to the several tusses of claims thin motion after being some time under consideration wa postponed on motion of mr thomas till tuesday next mr purri&noe laid on the table a resolution for referring to tlic secretary of slate the secretary of the treasury and 1 he attorney ienerul the consideration of the constitution ality and expediency of granting to the inha bitants ol the dislrct of columbia a legisla ture chosen by themselves with instructions in cuse they deem it constitutional and expe dient to report a system to the next session of congress january 25 a message from the president of the uni ted states was received containing the report wenches the table wa surrounded by soldiers to keep off the rabble who had rushed in in sho.iu to see this elegant light and a grand band of music played the whole time we were eating — this dinner came nearer to the idea one would form of a feast of the gods of fabulous history than any thing i have ever seen ov heard of and i am confident that nothing in america ever equalled it for splendour variety or luxury general chuislophe wu dressed in a srar let coat embroidered with gold lace with two golden epaulets a large cocked hat with gold lar.e border boots with gold border and tassel and an embroidered vest and pantaloons of nankeen beautifully worked in front tlie other officers at the table were dres sed in proportion ome however very little inferior to their gem vol lady deskalines wore a plain circus her hair or rather «'"<■/ was ornamented with artificial flowers bead and combs her annt with golden bracelets her ears with superb rings and bobs and her finder with a ring containing a nnoll gold watcbi set in diamonds valued at teveral thousand dollars the other ladies of dis tinction were also encumbered with trinkets and beads but none of them so extravagant ly a the governor '» lady at the conclusion of the feast several loasis were given out by christophe and drank with loud expressions of applause ; mdonjf these were the general of hayti desfculincs who was not present his britannic majesty and the president of the united suites the first was applauded by the negroes tiit se cond by the english and the third by the americans after this the company retired into various parts of the house and garden to keep out ol'the way until the tables should be removed and preparations made for the danc ; when this was arranged the niuhic struck up and the whole room was in mo tion — as i declined dancing i had nothing to do but lounge about the room und be a silent spectator their chief dances were cotillions ; tiost of them danced well and tome of them elegantly in on flacc