CONGRESS. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. MONDAY, December ro. The petition of Isaac Potts was read, dating that his premises were occupied on account of the public during the late war, and considerable damage sustained, for which he has not received any compenfatioa, and praying relief—laid on the table. Mr. Williamfon of the committee appointed for the purpofreported a bill to amend the a& entitled " an ail to promote the progress of the ufeful arts," was read twice, and referred to a committee of the whole house on Monday next, —ioo copies to be printed. Mr. W. Smith of the committee appointed for the purpose, reported a bill to eftablilh a uni form system of bankruptcy throughout the Uni ted States; read a firft and fccond time, and re ferred to a committee of the whole on the second Monday of January next—4oo copies were or dered to be pruned, A letter was read from the Secretary of War, tncloflng sundry communications relative to In dian affairs from the Governor of Georgia. Some of these were documents refpeifting certain vio lences and murders committed by some of the whse people 011 ch>:£ueiidlj Indians of the Che rokee natien; a proclamation by the Governor for bringing the delinquents to juflice; a friend ly talk from the Governor to the Cheiokees; and a copy of his orders to march a body of men to proted those Indians which have been want only attacked. These were read and laid on the table. Amotion being made, and agreed to, to take into consideration the confidential meflage of the President of the United States, received by the Hnufe on Friday last—it was ordered that the galleries (hould be cleared. TUESDAY, December 11 After reading a report from the Secretary ef the Treafurv, on a private petition. A motion being made and agreed to far going into a com 111 if tee of the whole on the from the President of the United States—the doors of the gallery were fiiot, and so conti nued during Ihe day. Philadelphia, Dec. 12. Extratt of a letter date A Dunkirk. Oflober 2, to a Mertartilv koufe in this tity. u The war has approached so near us, as to he within tie found of cannon in a still oifrht,tlie city oi Lille,about miles from us, being befiegefl. Lille, it is said, can sustain a siege oflix mouths—that is the /ujl Jlrong bar rier near us in Flanders The ingenious Mr. Pierce, of Paterfon, (N.J.) has invented a gimcrack., for exfroiling the Iced of Carolina cotton from the wool, by which much manuJ labor is saved. With this ma chine, it ;* fa'J, one man will clean seven hun dred weight per day. A New Yovk paper fays, 11 A gentleman of who is an inhabitant of, and late ly from Kingfto:!. formerly Cateraqua, in Upper Canada, allures us, that the people of that terri tory arc very dt'fi-ous of having the prohibition «>n trad- with the United States taken off; and that their request bring made known to Gover nor Simroe, he readrlv complied with ir. Their trade will be by the Wcltern Lakes and the Mo hawk. A Humming Bird is now living in Mr.Peals's Mufeunt. The Eleftsrs of Present and Vice-Prefi «knt of the United Stare , who met at Har riiburgh, Pennsylvania : were unanimous *in their#choice for George Washington, and all but one for John Adams. The Elefton of Maryland, we are told, fcave been unanimous in choosing George Washington and Joh;j Adams, President and Vice-President of the United States. The Electors of Prefldent and Vice-Piefi dent for tie State of Conneght b?.ttcries, which the gariifon Tallied fonh fnd deftro> ed. General Vend-.'merfch, who bore so confoi fuoui a part mi the war of the Brabancon Pa triots, in the year 1790, died at his feat near in F!ander,b, on the 14th Sept. lo Ins friend in A, ui jitdford, dated Odnber the cM, let ivedp:r i/ie krig M./ry. As to public matters, fonv things are too horrible to relate, particularly th.-dread ful maflccrt in 1,. -~ The abomii, ible in fi. ument that let this on foot, is a member of the national convention j and I am Lejjicsd to find that almr.it the whole affembjy are dif gu£ied at Iks being one oi their body Great le verity has bee,, poun d out upon him there, and many call tor a decree of accusation a gau.lt him ; but others I Bp p refct .„ d s cari ng it will make too treat a bnftV, h-,e it by for the prelent. The delations oV nar ajjproadnn ! L'flv i b;£ e g«J by 3,,-co ' u'- trians. It it a ftron? cit'v, 48 nilieTfroTn this : 1:1 It'll weather, the report oftheir can non are heaid here. It isfopppftd, if no trea chery takes place, to he able to withtfaud a siege of many month?, oppoled to an army of "f-- men - T ' ,e 'ft ' n ft. 6000 women and children were fentont of the town. The ene my have thrown into Lisle jxi,oTolb. of iron — .ave erected 9 batteries „f 6 guns each, cai rying babs from Ij to 33 1b. Liile has fen? them m return 57,033 cannon balls—have loft 131 men, and too houses burnt. The mod horrid part of this f. ege is out of r- e common line of war The Anftriaos oblige the rei,h bor.ng peasants to work on their trenches and fortifications, erecting in the front and molt exposed part of the army, where many of the poor creatures arc killed bv t', e ; r own friends and fellow fubjefts. Or. tT-e n,Vht of the 2d, 6000 frefh troops were threwn into the town ; and in two days many more will be in its neighborhood. All the fire engine? are Tent offfroni this town ior thatcity, to afiift i„ extingmihing the fire kindled by the red hot balK ' it is da ly expeOed that Spain and all Germany wi I tsclare war against: France. The diet of Kauiton is funpofed to have concluded .>-i tins merJiire. ; s marching her forces from Poland " Switzerland, it is feared, will be added to the number on account of thelare inhuman m.ii]acre of a great many of their officers ; and France has declared against the Xing of Sardinia, and has marched an army into his dominions : His army has fled before them, and many of the towns have opened gates, and-defircd to be under the French go vernment : But they have declared against " for Conqtieft," they p>©pcfe only Jet ting the people free from their king, and for themselves to form a republic, or any other government, except a monarchy, they may choose. ihe anlwer of the municipality of Lille to t ;e Du»ce Albert of Saxotn, when f uinmoned to turreuder the town, cleferves to he preserved—« We have sworn a few hours ago, to remain faithful to the republic ; to de fend with all our force and powers. Freedom and Equality, or to die at our poll \y e are not perjurers.; Spartans' could not fcavc cirti' _»red batter." Extr ac T from the Governor's Speech, delivered to both h'oujes of the Legijlatuit on Friday lajl. " I announce to you, Gentlery»en, with pe culiar pleafu. e,the execution of the law which provided for the redemption and extinguifli ment of die debts. As soon as overtures were made for purchaiing the requisite amount of the 3 percent, fteck of the United Slate?, belonging to Pennsylvania, at the rate ilipj lated by the a QO ° dollars) form a considerable, though, from the nature of the fubjeft, a temporary resource; and the operations of the land-oiiice (which, liage the 223 m , ' 4 v A v, 1791, i.ave luought, cf Ipecie and cc'tiric&tes, a ium e:;c;:-dn;,; -i 2,0-3 dolors Into the trcu'.u y) may be re gained with tic mo ft f.inguiiit expectation of benefit arid'emoiunient.'' " Soon,,very soon, the iift of patriots that now adorn the theatre of American politics, and have a claiui to the confidence of their fe;low citizens, by the hazard-, they encoun tered in atchieving their Independence, will be buried with the daft—ami if we can readily beheve that fucli characters are regardless of the public interest; those, whofucceed them, may .» loreeafily be considered as me e panctei s f;.. the - own bale end';—a with the pre feu!*, would not probably be followed try a freer government, but by one that might l.iM'ifice the liberty and property of the nii»n> to the lew. " 7 ' u 't the fuuding fyjlcm ar.d nationa,' bunk wilt eventually involve the country in almcjl irretrieveabie calamits niuft be conildered as a prophecy, the fulfillment c( whidh no good citizen can wifli, and ol Which no evidence is adduced, or appears—At present, the cojiltant employ oi every mechanic—the plenty of our market, and the increa/ed demand for our {hipping ; the cultivation of our lands in the country, and tl)e improved appearance of our houses in the city, lojudly proclaim that our fituatioa is prosperous.— And if there be any thing that di(covers thb to be a delulion', or the phantom of a dream, hey ought to offer good evidence before our aflent is demanded against the con viction of oar terfes." [Coltimb. Lentinel.^ l< God hath done great things for us " Peace within our walls—Health in every breeze—l he earth yielding abundant plies —-Paftnres clothed with flocks—Vallles co vered over with corn—The Tea refignirg its treasures—Commerce unfolding her (lores— Civ'l freedom securing political happiness— toleration pointing tounivcrfal con c" —Manufacture?; daily increaling—Arts Iprejrling theinfeives abroad—-Science great lyencouraged—Unitedly aik the afcripticois ot gratitude to GOD : And the bbfoni that fvclls not with Praise, must be iafenfib'e to all the feelings, which adorn human nature. COMMUNICATIONS. I 4" /liould Teem by the unceasing murmur- Ings of some people, that the aflairs of the public cannot be well managed, so lonf, aS their individual prosperity is not particularly pro* moted. The general prosperity of the coun try is, with such per foil s, no indication of wisdom in its public council?. Four year? are nearly closed since the meet ing of the firil Congress under the New Con ftitutior.—from that time to the present, the world ha*s been perpetually amufecl with dark and di'l ial cefcriptions of " woes m emhrio ripening into life," for tlii-5 devoted country. 7 *>•! ■ i"v s+svt? Lkuu -nearly crtinjAiat.o'4 thro' the Union—-and, alas, alss, forcl'e anti federal spirit of prophesy, its credit mun be in a mofr pitiable cafe. The people are so uncoinpiaifarit, they are so honelt and plain hear ted—and so true to their own federal feelings, that the croakings, forebodings, in fiuuations, lies and flinders oi'thofe, who de clared that they would have " a change of men at lea ft, if not d change of measures," appear to be totally disregarded. What can more fully evince the funeral ap probation of the people of public measures, than repeated re-elections of their representa tives, the great deliberative council of the nation ? But perfect peace is no more to be expected than perfect wiidom. Hence the scythe of time, which lops off the. rank shoots of the weed l ?, which are occafionafty seen in luxuriant American foil—leaves many bitter roots, which will he springing up at all times and seasons—and biennially we may expe& thev will a flume a front and importance c..»- and alarming for a time—but so long as the people arc just, wife and fteadv, Party in the United States will ever be u porten tous to itleif alone." The men influenced by political and ava ricious views difgraceful to the American name and character, took advantage of the ileep into which the people were luK'ed by the quiet and orderly eib biifhme-nt of our new government, to low t'ie tafjes of monarchical principles and predatory Speculations in the fields where pottlic juflice and public happi ness were obe . eap.xl. Hence have Sprung up the Jcif.ionablt do^rrines, that the people are not the proper keepers of their own liber ties, that mankind cannot govern themlelves, that hereditary dignities,pecuniary influence, ?nd military force only, are the only means whereby they can be kept in nereffarv disci pline and obedience ; chat public debts are public bleftings, &;c. with many other exotics not left poifoneus to the spirit of our repub lican conflitntions, and the manly independ ent character of American citizens-. Time his scythe is mowing down t! cfe nox ious weeds, and the occasion calls upon all who Jove liberty and the public good to unite in rooting them out of our country. As an enlightened people will seldom or ne ver be governed or controukd in their politi cal affairs, by mereprofeffing patriots, without personal honor ard p-obitv—fo, on the other hand, artful and unprincipled seekers will praise the public virtue and intelligence in exa& proportion to that want of difcernir.ent and ignorance Which they realize to be the only tenure on which they ho'd the public fa vor. Hence you mny observe that limplc, feafible plans of. diffufim; knowledge among the great body of the people, are generally loft, by being overihadowed by plans totally impracticable from their magnitude. This r.!;»a.-ikaVnty cn.ftittito- t'c-ii- csceße*.- ' wi '" e s-'.t !! t:ii io IS""' ante, tlUr ■ r"" t.. . c,,,,rk a,! ill. t, R . fi: - c _ ...cat; o-, ft,-.* .4 the u,i-A p; i ples ol treed,) u am: civil pnl c\ ->•!„. „• , tliL'ic ri.'lii.v uro'e'ii; ei tie v arm in oi mperhci:il rnimj ,< , T tl.t laWi- de ductions of unprincipled ruphifc, w ; tfif faced r.sinc • f (,» to t!ie purport-, of individual ..;;P /...i iuit of |KlVfr. ' education alr.i:; cieates the grc , , df ierence »•.«! inequality in tie relative lira ru ftai.ces 8f Inarfkir.d, when j a r>i:-,lv e,.j so the general diiFufion of fcnov r imott" the people is tl.e only adequsre foundation c'.'j which t.ie fabric of equal 1 ightscan be- reared. The materials of Ijuppinefa are perhaps u-thin the reach of every country—but if l:ke the United States previous t . the opera tion of tiie general government, thu/e mate rials either lie dormant,or are converted into muniments '>f diftmion, tUud and iujuftitt reflection embitters puo'ie misery, 'while it tantalizes the people for their want of wildom to improve the means of liappinels, obviou'ly within their power. Fkihddpkia, Dec. 10, 1792. At a meeting of the Ibsukanqs Company of North. America, held this day at the Stat e the following gettiemen were eledted Dneftors, viz. Jofeph^jl], Thomas L. Moore, Magnus Miller, John Roft, Michacl Prager, William Cramond. , John M. Nefbit, Walter Stewart, Sam. Blodfjct, jun. John Leamy, Matt. M'Contiell, John Swanwick, Movlan John Barclay, Ciia:'!es Petit, ESENEZER HAZARD, Sec'ry. M. de la Fayette appears to be equally the aveilion ot the Ariftocrnts and Leveller,both of the old world and the new—lt is well known that the French Aristocrats in Ann nc.i, as well as in Kurops have always corf, dered lnm as the enemy of every species < f tyranny—whether of the one, the few or the many—There have not been wantingtbo ein thi: country who have attempted to blast his reputation as the friend of man—and a foreiia paper informs us that the emigrants at Lux emburg, attempted to force his apartments in Shut city—which were at that time not ia a cattle, but in a private houie—they were however prevented. EXTRACT. " Ignorance is equally the friend of a rfef potic arid the enemy of * free goveri ment • wiiCii veiled with puv, e* it i,s tUo tttdft danfe rowt ,">