Star.
London, England, 1819-01-16 00:00:00

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the Committee on Military Affairs. Mr. Holmes
then sul!mitted the following :
" 'Thu the Committee on Military Affairs be di
charged from the farther consideration of so much of they
e
dent's Alelsage airclars,to the.gxecattion.of Atbutbirt,anm
MAMA I:AMC 17:4 tllFSEttdholt .;
and that the•-ranne be referred to the Committee of Foreign

lir
• '-'3lr. :I6*.asos,• of •I•entuciy, said he hactiat been
apprised tilt this morning of: the difficulty which
existed on this subject.. He cheerfully acquiesced in
the motion, and it-had been the intention of the Com-
mittee on. Military Affairs tea ask' to' be discharged
from the subject referred to in the Resolution. The
.11ibtary Committee would still have abundant busi-
• .nesS to occupy them on the military affairs of the
tomb* •
Mr. T. M. Ner.sosT objected to this course, lees he
thought the examination of the Seminole war, • and
particularly of the execution of Arbuthnot and Am-
brister, belonged properly and exclusively to the Mi-
litary Committee ; and he was, therefore averse ttv
taking the subject out of their hands.
Mr. POINDEXTER moved to amend the Resolution
by changing the word " execution" for the word
",trial," as it was the word in the original reference
of the subject to the Military Committee.
• Mr. Ilminisos suggested whether it would not be
• better to retain both words.
Mr. POINDEXTER stated, that his oject was only to
preserve consistency in the proceeding, by retaining
' in this Resolution the words used by the President in
'his Message on the subject, and in the original re-
ference of n. The President had said nothing about
the execution of these men, and, of course, the lteso-
lotion proposed to refer to a Committee a subject of
the President's Message which, was not mentioned in
the Message, &c.
The amendment was agreed to—Ayes 66, Noes 44.
• Mr..l4AnnisoN then moved to add the word
44 -execution," that the reference might embrace both
the trial and execution.
• Mr. HOPKINSON thought this would be improper ;
for, although he was very nearly indiffereat about
the question, it was certainly improper to refer to a
Committee, as a part of the Presidents Message, what
the Message did not contain, and the Message was
entirely silent about the execution of the individuals
named.
• The amendment-of Mr. Harrison was agreed to.
Mr. W.. P.. MACLAT suggested whether the object
• of the Resolution might not be got at better by sum--
• ply referring those documents to the Committee on
Foreign Relations, so fa as they were connected with
foreign affairs. The trial of those men seemed to
him a subject peculiarly proper for the investigation
. of the Military Committee, and ought not to be with-
drawn from it, &c.
• Mr. BARBOUR, as a Member of the Committee of
Foreign Relations, stated what had been done in the
Committee in relation to this subject. They had
found that, in investigating our relations with one of
the Powers of Europe; the Seminole war necessarily
constituted an important link in the inquiry, but that
this subject was referred to another Committee. It
was then proper' to ascertain the sense of the House
how they should proceed. The ComMittee wished
neither to infringe neon the duties of any other
Committee, nor to shrink from their own. As to
vrhat had Len said on the amendment,, he observed,
incidentally, that if the Cemmittee went into an in-'
• vestigation of the trial, it would be proper to pursue
it to the fruits of that trial. As to the question of
reference, he should be satisfied in whatever way it
was decided, &c.
Mr. JOHNSON, of Kentucky, had readily consented
to. this transfer of the subject, because he thought the
military question was not so important as the poli-
tical question. The niilitary inquiry could result in
nothing. but a report of :acts--not in any specific
commen4ation. The President had the power to act'
. when an'officer errs, even to striking 'Trim off the
.roll of the army. He asked if circumstances, seeing
that the President had refrained from any exercise of
.hit power in this case, bad not strewn that the con-
due! of the of was thus far sustained by the Ere-.
cutive? If so, the Committee could not interfere be-
tween then.-.. The political enquiry was of a different
character. That was tr. ascertain hew far the nation
has acted with. justice and ingood faith te wards a fo-
reign power. if, however, file House thought pro-
'per to refer the military question, or any other, to the
Military Committee, be would promise for them that
they would discharge their ditty faithfully.
Mr. lindinisoN supported the view taken by Mr.
'Maclay. It would certainly be highly improper to
take from the Military Committee this subject alto-
rtlier—a subject which was so strictly military, one
already referred to it, and one which greatly agitated
this !louse. It would, he admitted, be proper to let
so much of it as belonged to foreign affairs be re-
ferred to the Committee., and leave the remainder
wte:re ;.t was.
Mr. COBB thought all this proceeding premature,
because the documents had not been' ead in the House,
and were nut laid before it, since ordered to be
printed. Relying, however, oa the correctness of the
copies which had appeared in the Newpapers, he
thought it a proper subject of inquiry for the Corn.'
mittee of Foreign Relations, how those individuals,
subjects of a foreign nation, of Great Britain, came
to be condemned to death by an American officer?
In linaki.ag into this subject, there would be found
some very intereiting questions, intimately connected
with our foreign relations. Ile found, for one, that
these trials established an entirely new principle in
the law of nations, - Ile found it announced by the
• Commanding General, on that occasion, as "an es-
tablished principle of the laws of nations, that any
individual of a nation making war against the citi-
zens of any other nation, they being at peace, forfeits
his allegiance, and becomes an outlaw and a pirate l"
This, Mr. Cobb said, was a new principle to him,
though it might be found in some work on public law,
• from which he had not learned what the law of na-
tions was. lie then moved to amend the resolution
.bt adding the following
Vith instructions to inquire whether, in said trialti, the eon-
r:,tition and lava of the United States, or the law of nations,
have been violated t'
'lbis motion was agreed to.
Mr. Conn then, with the view of obviating the ob-
jections to the resolution, and accommodating it to the
getter al moved some further amendments ; but
Mr. 1-;A nuovrt conceiving tlp subject one in which
it was impoi-•iia to decide rightly, thought it had!

better lie on the table one day, aid moved that dispo-
sition of it.
After. some conversation on the postponement, in
which Mr. lloistes opposed it, the motion prevailed,
and the resolution was laid' n the table.
• •CiONtittESS,IN *SENATE; DEMMER to.
The Senate resumed the consideration of tile mo-
- of the 9th instant; requesting a copy of the cor-
respondence relative to the cession of the Floridas to
the United States ; and on the motion of Mr. Barbocr,
'the further consideration thereof was postponed to
this day foul- weeks.
Some observations were made on the subject, Le-
tween Mr. Barbour, Mr. Johnson, and others ; from
which we gather, that the correspondence between
the Secretary of State and the Spanish Minister is ::t
an end, or nearly so; and that it is probable it will
be laid before Congress shortly, without any request
of the Executive to that effect. It was on that ground
that the postponement of Mr. Johnson's motion took
place.

HOUSE Or• REPRESENTATIVE..
The SPEAK/It laid before the House a Report from
the Acting Secretary of the Navy, transmitting ad-
ditionaldocuments, in relation to the Navy Pension
Fund, which was referred to the Naval Committee.
On the motion of Mr. Rio', it was

Resolved—That the Committee of Claims be instructed to
inquire into the expediency of making compensation to Aaron
Belamy, of Vergennes, in Vermont, for Ms vessel, captured by
the enemy on Lake Champlain, in the summer of 1813, while
taking on board a cargo of dour fur the United States : and that
the testimony taken in the case, under a commission from the
late Commissioner of Claims, be referred to the said Committee.
On the mouton of Mr. J. S. SMITH. it was
Resolved—That the Secretary of the Treasury be instructed
to lay before the Houle a statement of the progress that' has
been made under an Act of Congress of the 3d March, 1817,
entitled," An Act to set apart and dispose of certain Lands. for
the encouragement of the cultivation of the Vine and the Olive ;"
~.etlter four townships of sit miles square each, have been laid
off and reserved for the purpose aforesaid ; and whether any
Agent or Agents, acting for the French Emigrants, have con-
tracted fur said lands, and on what terms • and whether such
Agent or Agents are now residing on said ; together with
the number of French Emigrants that have made settlements
on said reservation, and the progress that has been made in the
culture of the Vine and Olive.

On the motion of Mr. STORRS, it was

. Resolved—That the President of the United States be re-
.quested to lay before this 'louse copies of uny correspordence
between the Governor of the State of Georgia and Ilajor-Ge-
steal Andrew Iteksc.n. relative to the arrest or other proceed-
ings against Captain Wed Wright, which may have been trans-
mitted to any of the F.xecutive Departments of the United States.
On the motion of Alf. CANICBLILL, it WaS .

• Resolved—That a Select Committee be appointed to report
a Bill for taking the Fourth Censu3 or Eaumeration of the In-
habitants of the United States.

WASIIIKOTON, NOVEMBEn 28.
The Slave-trade continues to flourish on the Ocean,
in despite of stipulation to relinquish, and alliances
to put it down. Accounts received from Havannah,
of the most recent Sates, announce the following
arrivals:—October 110, ship Jupiter, from Africa,
337 slaves ; brig San Jost:/, 403 slaves ; b:ig Bril-
liant, 345 slaves ; rengador, 400 slaves ; schooner
Aitrea, 143 slaves : Nov. 1, Circassilna, 120 slaves—
upwards of 1,500 in one day. Most of these poor
wretches, we fear, will find their way to the Louisiana
market. We wish that the Spanish character of the
ships be xot a mere cover for American capital em-
ployed in this execrable traffic.