Chapter 4

George Washington
April 30, 1789, to March 4, 1797

George Washington was born at Bridges Creek, on the Potomac River, in
Westmoreland County, Va., on the 22d day of February (or 11th, old
style), 1732. Augustine Washington, his father, was a son of Lawrence
Washington, whose father, John Washington, came to Virginia from England
in 1657, and settled at Bridges Creek. Augustine Washington died in
1743, leaving several children, George being the eldest by his second
wife, Mary Ball. At the early age of 19 years he was appointed
adjutant-general of one of the districts of Virginia, with the rank of
major. In November, 1753, he was sent by Lieutenant-Governor Dinwiddie,
of Virginia, to visit the French army in the Ohio Valley on important
business. War followed, and in 1754 he was promoted to the rank of
lieutenant-colonel, and engaged in the war. In 1755 he acted as
aid-de-camp to General Braddock. Soon after this he was appointed by the
legislature commander in chief of all the forces of the Colony, and for
three years devoted himself to recruiting and organizing troops for her
defense. In 1758 he commanded a successful expedition to Fort Du Quesne.
He then left the Army, and was married to Mrs. Martha Custis, a widow
lady of Virginia. For sixteen years he resided at Mount Vernon,
occasionally acting as a magistrate or as a member of the legislature.
He was a delegate to the Williamsburg convention, August, 1773, which
resolved that taxation and representation were inseparable. In 1774
he was sent to the Continental Congress as a delegate from Virginia.
The following year he was unanimously chosen commander in chief, and
assumed the command of the Continental Army July 2, 1775. He commanded
the armies throughout the War for Independence. At the close he resigned
his commission, December 23, 1783, and retired to private life. He was
a delegate to, and president of, the National Convention which met
in Philadelphia, Pa., in May, 1787, and adopted a new Constitution,
that greatly increased the power of the Federal Government. He was
unanimously elected the first President of the United States, and was
inaugurated on the 30th of April, 1789, in New York City, and at the
end of his first term was unanimously reelected. He retired March 4,
1797, having declined a third term. In September, 1796, he issued his
Farewell Address to the people. July 3, 1798, he was again appointed
to the command of the armies of the United States, with the rank of
lieutenant-general. He was a Freemason, and served as master of his
lodge. He died at Mount Vernon, Va., after a short illness, December
14, 1799, and was buried there.

PROCEEDINGS INITIATORY TO THE FIRST PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION.

 (From the Washington Papers (Executive Proceedings, vol. 17), Department
of State.)

Charles Thomson, esq., Secretary of the late Congress, being appointed
by the Senate of the United States to carry to General Washington the
official information of his unanimous election to the office of
President of the United States of America, arrived at Mount Vernon on
the 14th day of April, A.D. 1789, when he communicated to General
Washington the purport of his mission in the following words:

Sir: The President of the Senate chosen for the special purpose, having
opened and counted the votes of the electors in presence of the Senate
and House of Representatives, I was honored with the commands of the
Senate to wait upon Your Excellency with the information of your being
elected to the office of President of the United States of America. This
commission was intrusted to me on account of my having been long in the
confidence of the late Congress, and charged with the duties of one of
the principal civil departments of Government.

I have now, sir, to inform you that the proofs you have given of your
patriotism, and of your readiness to sacrifice domestic ease and private
enjoyments to preserve the happiness of your country, did not permit the
two Houses to harbor a doubt of your undertaking this great and
important office, to which you are called, not only by the unanimous
vote of the electors, but by the voice of America.

I have it, therefore, in command to accompany you to New York, where the
Senate and House of Representatives are convened for the dispatch of
public business.

To which General Washington replied:

SIR: I have been accustomed to pay so much respect to the opinion of my
fellow-citizens that the knowledge of their having given their unanimous
suffrages in my favor scarcely leaves me the alternative for an option.
I can not, I believe, give a greater evidence of my sensibility of the
honor which they have done me than by accepting the appointment.

I am so much affected by this fresh proof of my country's esteem and
confidence that silence can best explain my gratitude. While I realize
the arduous nature of the task which is imposed upon me, and feel my own
inability to perform it, I wish, however, that there may not be reason
for regretting the choice, for, indeed, all I can promise is only to
accomplish that which can be done by an honest zeal.

Upon considering how long time some of the gentlemen of both Houses
of Congress have been at New York, how anxiously desirous they must be
to proceed to business, and how deeply the public mind appears to be
impressed with the necessity of doing it speedily, I can not find myself
at liberty to delay my journey. I shall therefore be in readiness to set
out the day after to-morrow, and shall be happy in the pleasure of your
company, for you will permit me to say that it is a peculiar
gratification to have received the communication from you.

OFFICIAL INFORMATION OF THE ELECTION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES, APRIL 6, 1789.

Be it known that the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America, being convened in the city and State of New York,
this 6th day of April, A.D. 1789, the underwritten, appointed President
of the Senate for the sole purpose of receiving, opening, and counting
the votes of the electors, did, in the presence of the said Senate and
House of Representatives, open all the certificates and count all the
votes of the electors for a President and Vice-President, by which it
appears that His Excellency George Washington, esq., was unanimously
elected, agreeably to the Constitution, to the office of President of
the said United States of America.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal.

JOHN LANGDON.

MOUNT VERNON,  April 14, 1789 .

To the Honorable JOHN LANGDON,

 President pro tempore of the Senate of the United States .

SIR: I had the honor to receive your official communication, by the hand
of Mr. Secretary Thomson, about 1 o'clock this day. Having concluded to
obey the important and flattering call of my country, and having been
impressed with an idea of the expediency of my being with Congress at as
early a period as possible, I propose to commence my journey on Thursday
morning, which will be the day after to-morrow.

I have the honor to be, with sentiments of esteem, sir, your most
obedient servant,

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

RESOLVE OF THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES RESPECTING MR. OSGOOD'S
PREPARING HIS HOUSE FOR THE RECEPTION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

 In Senate, April 15, 1789 .

The committee to whom it was referred to consider of and report to the
House respecting the ceremonial of receiving the President, and to whom
also was referred a letter from the chairman of a committee of the
Senate to the Speaker, communicating an instruction from that House to a
committee thereof to report if any and what arrangements are necessary
for the reception of the Vice-President, have agreed to the following
report:

That Mr. Osgood, the proprietor of the house lately occupied by the
President of Congress, be requested to put the same and the furniture
thereof in proper condition for the residence and use of the President
of the United States, and otherwise, at the expense of the United
States, to provide for his temporary accommodation.

That it will be more eligible, in the first instance, that a committee
of three members from the Senate and five members from the House of
Representatives, to be appointed by the two Houses respectively, attend
to receive the President at such place as he shall embark from New
Jersey for this city, and conduct him without form to the house lately
occupied by the President of Congress, and at such time thereafter as
the President shall signify it will be most convenient for him, he be
formally received by both Houses.

Read and accepted.

IN SENATE,  April 16, 1789 .

The Senate proceeded by ballot to the choice of a committee, agreeably
to the report of the committee of both Houses agreed to the 15th
instant, when the Honorable Mr. Langdon, the Honorable Mr. Carroll,
and the Honorable Mr. Johnson were chosen.

A true copy from the Journals of the Senate.

Attest:

SAM. A. OTIS,  Secretary .

RESOLVE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES RESPECTING
MR. OSGOOD'S PREPARING HIS HOUSE FOR THE RECEPTION OF THE PRESIDENT OF
THE UNITED STATES.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES

 Wednesday, April 15, 1789 .

Mr. Benson reported from the committee to whom it was referred to
consider of and report to the House respecting the ceremonial of
receiving the President, and to whom was also referred a letter from the
chairman of a committee of the Senate to the Speaker, communicating an
instruction from that House to a committee thereof to report if any and
what arrangements are necessary for the reception of the Vice-President,
that the committee had, according to order, considered of the same, and
had agreed to a report thereupon, which he delivered in at the Clerk's
table, and where the same was thrice read, and the question put
thereupon agreed to by the House as followeth:

That Mr. Osgood, the proprietor of the house lately occupied by the
President of Congress, be requested to put the same and the furniture
therein in proper order for the residence and use of the President of
the United States, and otherwise, at the expense of the United States,
to provide for his temporary accommodation.

That it will be most eligible, in the first instance, that a committee
of three members from the Senate and five members from the House of
Representatives, to be appointed by the Houses respectively, attend to
receive the President at such place as he shall embark from New Jersey
for this city, and conduct him without form to the house lately occupied
by the President of Congress, and that at such time thereafter as the
President shall signify it will be most convenient for him, he be
formally received by both Houses.

Extract from the Journal.

JOHN BECKLEY,  Clerk .

RESOLVE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES RESPECTING A COMMITTEE TO MEET
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES,

 Wednesday, April  15,  1789 .

 Resolved , That it will be most eligible, in the first instance,
that a committee of three members from the Senate and five members
from the House of Representatives, to be appointed by the Houses
respectively, attend to receive the President at such place as he shall
embark from New Jersey for this city, and conduct him without form to
the house lately occupied by the President of Congress, and that at such
time thereafter as the President shall signify, he be formally received
by both Houses.

THURSDAY,  April 16, 1789 .

The committee elected on the part of this House, Mr. Boudinot, Mr.
Bland, Mr. Tucker, Mr. Benson, and Mr. Lawrance.

Extract from the Journal.

JOHN BECKLEY,  Clerk .

REQUEST OF THE COMMITTEE APPOINTED BY CONGRESS TO KNOW WHEN THEY SHOULD
MEET THE PRESIDENT.

The committee appointed in consequence of the resolutions of both
Houses of Congress, and which accompany this note, most respectfully
communicate their appointment to the President of the United States,
with a request that he will please to have it signified to them when
they shall attend, with a barge which has been prepared for that
purpose, to receive him at Elizabeth Town, or at such other place as
he shall choose to embark from New Jersey for this city.

NEW YORK,  April 17, 1789 .

  JOHN LANGDON.
  CHARGES CARROLL, of Carrollton.
  WM. SAMUEL JOHNSON.
  ELIAS BOUDINOT.
  THEODORICK BLAND.
  THOS. TUDR. TUCKER.
  EGBT. BENSON.
  JOHN LAWRANCE.

TO THE COMMITTEE OF CONGRESS RESPECTING THE TIME OF THE PRESIDENT
MEETING THEM AT ELIZABETH TOWN.

PHILADELPHIA,  April 20, 1789 .

GENTLEMEN: Upon my arrival in this city I received your note, with
the resolutions of the two Houses which accompanied it, and in answer
thereto beg leave to inform you that, knowing how anxious both Houses
must be to proceed to business, I shall continue my journey dispatch
as possible. To-morrow evening I purpose to be at Trenton, the night
following at Brunswick, and hope to have the pleasure of meeting you
at Elizabeth Town point on Thursday at 12 o'clock.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

LETTER FROM THE HONORABLE ELIAS BOUDINOT.

NEW YORK,  April 21, 1789 .

His Excellency GEORGE WASHINGTON, Esq.

SIR: The committee have just received Your Excellency's letter of the
20th, and will be at Elizabeth Town on Thursday morning.

I must beg Your Excellency will alight at my house, where the committee
will attend, and where it will give me (in a particular manner) the
utmost pleasure to receive you.

I have the honor to be, with the most profound respect, sir, your most
obedient and very humble servant,

ELIAS BOUDINOT.

LETTER FROM THE HONORABLE ELIAS BOUDINOT, APRIL 23, 1789.

ELIZABETH TOWN,  Wednesday Evening .

His Excellency GEORGE WASHINGTON, Esq.

SIR: I have the honor of informing Your Excellency that the committees
of both Houses arrived here this afternoon, and will be ready to receive
Your Excellency at my house as soon as you can arrive here to-morrow
morning.

If you, sir, will honor us with your company at breakfast, it will give
us great pleasure. We shall wait Your Excellency's arrival in hopes of
that gratification. You can have a room to dress in, if you should think
it necessary, as convenient as you can have it in town.

I have the honor to be Your Excellency's most obedient humble servant,

ELIAS BOUDINOT.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF CONGRESS RESPECTING THE TIME OF THE
INAUGURATION OF THE PRESIDENT.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES

 Saturday, April 25, 1789 .

Mr. Benson, from the committee appointed to consider of the time, place,
and manner in which, and of the person by whom, the oath prescribed by
the Constitution shall be administered to the President of the United
States, and to confer with a committee of the Senate, appointed for the
purpose, reported as followeth:

That the President hath been pleased to signify to them that any time or
place which both Houses may think proper to appoint and any manner which
shall appear most eligible to them will be convenient and acceptable to
him.

That requisite preparations can not probably be made before Thursday
next; that the President be on that day formally received in the Senate
Chamber; that the Representatives' Chamber being capable of receiving
the greater number of persons, that therefore the President do take the
oath in that place and in the presence of both Houses; that after the
formal reception of the President in the Senate Chamber he be attended
by both Houses to the Representatives' Chamber, and that the oath be
administered by the chancellor of this State.

The committee further report it as their opinion that it will be proper
that a committee of both Houses be appointed to take order for further
conducting the ceremonial.

The said report was twice read, and on the question put thereupon was
agreed to by the House.

 Ordered , That Mr. Benson, Mr. Ames, and Mr. Carroll be a
committee on the part of this House pursuant to the said report.

Extract from the Journal.

JOHN BECKLEY,  Clerk .

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF CONGRESS TO THE SENATE RESPECTING THE TIME OF
THE INAUGURATION OF THE PRESIDENT.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

 In Senate ,  April 25, 1789 .

The committee appointed to consider of the time, place, and manner in
which and of the person by whom the oath prescribed by the Constitution
shall be administered to the President of the United States, and to
confer with a committee of the House appointed for that purpose, report:

That the President hath been pleased to signify to them that any time or
place which both Houses may think proper to appoint and any manner which
shall appear most eligible to them will be convenient and acceptable
to him; that requisite preparations can not probably be made before
Thursday next; that the President be on that day formally received in
the Senate Chamber by both Houses; that the Representatives' Chamber
being capable of receiving the greater number of persons, that therefore
the President do take the oath in that place in presence of both Houses;
that after the formal reception of the President in the Senate Chamber
he be attended by both Houses to the Representatives' Chamber, and that
the oath be administered by the chancellor of this State.

The committee further report it as their opinion that it will be proper
that a committee of both Houses be appointed to take order for conducting
the ceremonial.

Read and accepted.

And Mr. Lee, Mr. Izard, and Mr. Dalton, on the part of the Senate,
together with the committee that may be appointed on the part of the
House, are empowered to take order for conducting the business.

A true copy from the Journals of Senate.

IN SENATE,  April 27 ,  1789 

The committees appointed to take order for conducting the ceremonial of
the formal reception, etc., of the President report that it appears to
them more eligible that the oath should be administered to the President
in the outer gallery adjoining the Senate Chamber than in the
Representatives' Chamber, and therefore submit to the respective Houses
the propriety of authorizing their committees to take order as to the
place where the oath shall be administered to the President, the
resolutions of Saturday assigning the Representatives' Chamber as the
place notwithstanding.

Read and accepted.

A true copy from the Journals of the Senate.

SAM. A. OTIS,  Secretary .

ORDER FOR CONDUCTING THE CEREMONIAL FOR THE INAUGURATION OF THE
PRESIDENT.

The committees of both Houses of Congress appointed to take order
for conducting the ceremonial for the formal reception, etc., of the
President of the United States on Thursday next have agreed to the
following order thereon, viz:

That General Webb, Colonel Smith, Lieutenant-Colonel Fish, Major Franks,
Major L'Enfant, Major Bleeker, and Mr. John R. Livingston be requested
to serve as assistants on the occasion.

That a chair be placed in the Senate Chamber for the President.

That a chair be placed in the Senate Chamber for the Vice-President, to
the right of the President's chair, and that the Senators take their
seats on that side of the Chamber on which the Vice-President's chair
shall be placed. That a chair be placed in the Senate Chamber for the
Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the left of the President's
chair, and that the Representatives take their seats on that side of the
Chamber on which the Speaker's chair shall be placed.

That seats be provided in the Senate Chamber sufficient to accommodate
the late President of Congress, the governor of the Western Territory,
the five persons being the heads of the great Departments, the minister
plenipotentiary of France, the encargado de negocios of Spain, the
chaplains of Congress, the persons in the suite of the President, and
also to accommodate the following public officers of the State, viz:
The governor, lieutenant-governor, the chancellor, the chief justice of
the supreme court and other judges thereof, and the mayor of the city.

That one of the assistants wait on these gentlemen and inform them that
seats are provided for their accommodation, and also to signify to them
that no precedence of seats is intended, and that no salutation is
expected from them on their entrance into or their departure from the
Senate Chamber.

That the members of both Houses assemble in their respective chambers
precisely at 12 o'clock, and that the Representatives, preceded by their
Speaker and attended by their Clerk and other officers, proceed to the
Senate Chamber, there to be received by the Vice-President and Senators
rising.

That the committees attend the President from his residence to the
Senate Chamber, and that he be there received by the Vice-President, the
Senators and Representatives rising, and by the Vice-President conducted
to his chair.

That after the President shall be seated in his chair and the
Vice-President, Senators, and Representatives shall be again seated, the
Vice-President shall announce to the President that the members of both
Houses will attend him to be present at his taking the oath of office
required by the Constitution.

To the end that the oath of office may be administered to the President
in the most public manner and that the greatest number of the people
of the United States, and without distinction, may be witnesses to the
solemnity, that therefore the oath be administered in the outer gallery
adjoining to the Senate Chamber.

That when the President shall proceed to the gallery to take the oath
he be attended by the Vice-President, and be followed by the chancellor
of the State, and pass through the middle door; that the Senators pass
through the door on the right, and the Representatives pass through the
door on the left, and such of the persons who may have been admitted
into the Senate Chamber and may be desirous to go into the gallery are
then also to pass through the door on the right.

That when the President shall have taken the oath and returned into the
Senate Chamber, attended by the Vice-President, and shall be seated in
his chair, that Senators and Representatives also return into the Senate
Chamber, and that the Vice-President and they resume their respective
seats.

That when the President retire from the Senate Chamber he be conducted
by the Vice-President to the door, the members of both Houses rising,
and that he be there received by the committees and attended to his
residence.

That immediately as the President shall retire the Representatives do
also return from the Senate Chamber to their own.

That it be intrusted to the assistants to take proper precautions for
keeping the avenues to the hall open, and for that purpose they wait
on his excellency the governor of this State, and in the name of the
committees request his aid by an order or recommendation to the civil
officers or militia of the city to attend and serve on the occasion as
he shall judge most proper,

RESOLVE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES UPON THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE
RESPECTING THE INAUGURATION OF THE PRESIDENT.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES

 Monday, April 27, 1789 .

Mr. Benson, from the committee of both Houses appointed to take order
for conducting the ceremonial of the formal reception of the President
of the United States, reported as followeth:

That it appears to the committee more eligible that the oath should be
administered to the President in the outer gallery adjoining the Senate
Chamber than in the Representatives' Chamber, and therefore submits to
the respective Houses the propriety of authorizing their committees to
take order as to the place where the oath shall be administered to the
President, the resolutions of Saturday assigning the Representatives'
Chamber as the place notwithstanding.

The said report being twice read,

 Resolved , That this House doth concur in the said report and
authorize the committee to take order for the change of place thereby
proposed.

Extract from the Journal.

JOHN BECKLEY,  Clerk .

FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK.

APRIL 30, 1789.

 Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

Among the vicissitudes incident to life no event could have filled
me with greater anxieties than that of which the notification was
transmitted by your order, and received on the 14th day of the present
month. On the one hand, I was summoned by my country, whose voice I can
never hear but with veneration and love, from a retreat which I had
chosen with the fondest predilection, and, in my flattering hopes, with
an immutable decision, as the asylum of my declining years  a retreat
which was rendered every day more necessary as well as more dear to me
by the addition of habit to inclination, and of frequent interruptions
in my health to the gradual waste committed on it by time. On the other
hand, the magnitude and difficulty of the trust to which the voice of
my country called me, being sufficient to awaken in the wisest and
most experienced of her citizens a distrustful scrutiny into his
qualifications, could not but overwhelm with despondence one who
(inheriting inferior endowments from nature and unpracticed in the
duties of civil administration) ought to be peculiarly conscious of
his own deficiencies. In this conflict of emotions all I dare aver
is that it has been my faithful study to collect my duty from a just
appreciation of every circumstance by which it might be affected. All
I dare hope is that if, in executing this task, I have been too much
swayed by a grateful remembrance of former instances, or by an
affectionate sensibility to this transcendent proof of the confidence of
my fellow-citizens, and have thence too little consulted my incapacity
as well as disinclination for the weighty and untried cares before me,
my error will be palliated by the motives which mislead me, and its
consequences be judged by my country with some share of the partiality
in which they originated.

Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedience to the
public summons, repaired to the present station, it would be peculiarly
improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to
that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the
councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human
defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and
happiness of the people of the United States a Government instituted by
themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument
employed in its administration to execute with success the functions
allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the Great Author of
every public and private good, I assure myself that it expresses your
sentiments not less than my own, nor those of my fellow-citizens at
large less than either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore
the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those
of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the
character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by
some token of providential agency; and in the important revolution just
accomplished in the system of their united government the tranquil
deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities from
which the event has resulted can not be compared with the means by which
most governments have been established without some return of pious
gratitude, along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings
which the past seem to presage. These reflections, arising out of the
present crisis, have forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be
suppressed. You will join with me, I trust, in thinking that there are
none under the influence of which the proceedings of a new and free
government can more auspiciously commence.

By the article establishing the executive department it is made the duty
of the President "to recommend to your consideration such measures as
he shall judge necessary and expedient." The circumstances under which
I now meet you will acquit me from entering into that subject further
than to refer to the great constitutional charter under which you are
assembled, and which, in defining your powers, designates the objects
to which your attention is to be given. It will be more consistent with
those circumstances, and far more congenial with the feelings which
actuate me, to substitute, in place of a recommendation of particular
measures, the tribute that is due to the talents, the rectitude, and the
patriotism which adorn the characters selected to devise and adopt them.
In these honorable qualifications I behold the surest pledges that as on
one side no local prejudices or attachments, no separate views nor party
animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and equal eye which ought
to watch over this great assemblage of communities and interests, so, on
another, that the foundation of our national policy will be laid in the
pure and immutable principles of private morality, and the preeminence
of free government be exemplified by all the attributes which can win
the affections of its citizens and command the respect of the world.
I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction which an ardent love
for my country can inspire, since there is no truth more thoroughly
established than that there exists in the economy and course of nature
an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness; between duty and
advantage; between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous
policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity; since we
ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can
never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order
and right which Heaven itself has ordained; and since the preservation
of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model
of government are justly considered, perhaps, as  deeply , as
 finally , staked on the experiment intrusted to the hands of the
American people.

Besides the ordinary objects submitted to your care, it will remain with
your judgment to decide how far an exercise of the occasional power
delegated by the fifth article of the Constitution is rendered expedient
at the present juncture by the nature of objections which have been
urged against the system, or by the degree of inquietude which has given
birth to them. Instead of undertaking particular recommendations on this
subject, in which I could be guided by no lights derived from official
opportunities, I shall again give way to my entire confidence in your
discernment and pursuit of the public good; for I assure myself that
whilst you carefully avoid every alteration which might endanger the
benefits of an united and effective government, or which ought to await
the future lessons of experience, a reverence for the characteristic
rights of freemen and a regard for the public harmony will sufficiently
influence your deliberations on the question how far the former can be
impregnably fortified or the latter be safely and advantageously
promoted.

To the foregoing observations I have one to add, which will be most
properly addressed to the House of Representatives. It concerns myself,
and will therefore be as brief as possible. When I was first honored
with a call into the service of my country, then on the eve of an
arduous struggle for its liberties, the light in which I contemplated my
duty required that I should renounce every pecuniary compensation. From
this resolution I have in no instance departed; and being still under
the impressions which produced it, I must decline as inapplicable to
myself any share in the personal emoluments which may be indispensably
included in a permanent provision for the executive department, and must
accordingly pray that the pecuniary estimates for the station in which
I am placed may during my continuance in it be limited to such actual
expenditures as the public good may be thought to require.

Having thus imparted to you my sentiments as they have been awakened by
the occasion which brings us together, I shall take my present leave;
but not without resorting once more to the benign Parent of the Human
Race in humble supplication that, since He has been pleased to favor
the American people with opportunities for deliberating in perfect
tranquillity, and dispositions for deciding with unparalleled unanimity
on a form of government for the security of their union and the
advancement of their happiness, so His divine blessing may be equally
 conspicuous  in the enlarged views, the temperate consultations, and
the wise measures on which the success of this Government must depend.

ADDRESS OF THE SENATE TO GEORGE WASHINGTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES.

SIR: We, the Senate of the United States, return you our sincere
thanks for your excellent speech delivered to both Houses of Congress,
congratulate you on the complete organization of the Federal Government,
and felicitate ourselves and our fellow-citizens on your elevation
to the office of President, an office highly important by the powers
constitutionally annexed to it and extremely honorable from the manner
in which the appointment is made. The unanimous suffrage of the
elective body in your favor is peculiarly expressive of the gratitude,
confidence, and affection of the citizens of America, and is the highest
testimonial at once of your merit and their esteem. We are sensible,
sir, that nothing but the voice of your fellow-citizens could have
called you from a retreat chosen with the fondest predilection, endeared
by habit, and consecrated to the repose of declining years. We rejoice,
and with us all America, that in obedience to the call of our common
country you have returned once more to public life. In you all parties
confide; in you all interests unite; and we have no doubt that your
past services, great as they have been, will be equaled by your future
exertions, and that your prudence and sagacity as a statesman will tend
to avert the dangers to which we were exposed, to give stability to the
present Government and dignity and splendor to that country which your
skill and valor as a soldier so eminently contributed to raise to
independence and empire.

When we contemplate the coincidence of circumstances and wonderful
combination of causes which gradually prepared the people of this
country for independence; when we contemplate the rise, progress, and
termination of the late war, which gave them a name among the nations of
the earth, we are with you unavoidably led to acknowledge and adore the
Great Arbiter of the Universe, by whom empires rise and fall. A review
of the many signal instances of divine interposition in favor of this
country claims our most pious gratitude; and permit us, sir, to observe
that among the great events which have led to the formation and
establishment of a Federal Government we esteem your acceptance of
the office of President as one of the most propitious and important.

In the execution of the trust reposed in us we shall endeavor to pursue
that enlarged and liberal policy to which your speech so happily
directs. We are conscious that the prosperity of each State is
inseparably connected with the welfare of all, and that in promoting
the latter we shall effectually advance the former. In full persuasion
of this truth, it shall be our invariable aim to divest ourselves of
local prejudices and attachments, and to view the great assemblage of
communities and interests committed to our charge with an equal eye.
We feel, sir, the force and acknowledge the justness of the observation
that the foundation of our national policy should be laid in private
morality. If individuals be not influenced by moral principles, it is in
vain to look for public virtue. It is therefore the duty of legislators
to enforce, both by precept and example, the utility as well as the
necessity of a strict adherence to the rules of distributive justice.
We beg you to be assured that the Senate will at all times cheerfully
cooperate in every measure which may strengthen the Union, conduce
to the happiness or secure and perpetuate the liberties of this great
confederated Republic.

We commend you, sir, to the protection of Almighty God, earnestly
beseeching Him long to preserve a life so valuable and dear to the
people of the United States, and that your Administration may be
prosperous to the nation and glorious to yourself.

MAY 7, 1789.

REPLY OF THE PRESIDENT.

GENTLEMEN: I thank you for your address, in which the most affectionate
sentiments are expressed in the most obliging terms. The coincidence
of circumstances which led to this auspicious crisis, the confidence
reposed in me by my fellow-citizens, and the assistance I may expect
from counsels which will be dictated by an enlarged and liberal policy
seem to presage a more prosperous issue to my Administration than a
diffidence of my abilities had taught me to anticipate. I now feel
myself inexpressibly happy in a belief that Heaven, which has done so
much for our infant nation, will not withdraw its providential influence
before our political felicity shall have been completed, and in a
conviction that the Senate will at all times cooperate in every measure
which may tend to promote the welfare of this confederated Republic.
Thus supported by a firm trust in the Great Arbiter of the Universe,
aided by the collected wisdom of the Union, and imploring the divine
benediction on our joint exertions in the service of our country, I
readily engage with you in the arduous but pleasing task of attempting
to make a nation happy.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

MAY 18, 1789.

ADDRESS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO GEORGE WASHINGTON, PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES.

SIR: The Representatives of the people of the United States present
their congratulations on the event by which your fellow-citizens have
attested the preeminence of your merit. You have long held the first
place in their esteem. You have often received tokens of their
affection. You now possess the only proof that remained of their
gratitude for your services, of their reverence for your wisdom, and
of their confidence in your virtues. You enjoy the highest, because
the truest, honor of being the first Magistrate by the unanimous choice
of the freest people on the face of the earth.

We well know the anxieties with which you must have obeyed a summons
from the repose reserved for your declining years into public scenes, of
which you had taken your leave forever. But the obedience was due to the
occasion. It is already applauded by the universal joy which welcomes
you to your station. And we can not doubt that it will be rewarded with
all the satisfaction with which an ardent love for your fellow-citizens
must review successful efforts to promote their happiness.

This anticipation is not justified merely by the past experience
of your signal services. It is particularly suggested by the pious
impressions under which you commence your Administration and the
enlightened maxims by which you mean to conduct it. We feel with you
the strongest obligations to adore the Invisible Hand which has led the
American people through so many difficulties, to cherish a conscious
responsibility for the destiny of republican liberty, and to seek the
only sure means of preserving and recommending the precious deposit in a
system of legislation founded on the principles of an honest policy and
directed by the spirit of a diffusive patriotism.

The question arising out of the fifth article of the Constitution will
receive all the attention demanded by its importance, and will, we
trust, be decided under the influence of all the considerations to which
you allude.

In forming the pecuniary provisions for the executive department we
shall not lose sight of a wish resulting from motives which give it a
peculiar claim to our regard. Your resolution, in a moment critical to
the liberties of your country, to renounce all personal emolument, was
among the many presages of your patriotic services which have been amply
fulfilled; and your scrupulous adherence now to the law then imposed on
yourself can not fail to demonstrate the purity, whilst it increases the
luster, of a character which has so many titles to admiration.

Such are the sentiments which we have thought fit to address to you.
They flow from our own hearts, and we verily believe that among the
millions we represent there is not a virtuous citizen whose heart will
disown them.

All that remains is that we join in our fervent supplications for the
blessings of Heaven on our country, and that we add our own for the
choicest of these blessings on the most beloved of her citizens.

MAY 5, 1789.

REPLY OF THE PRESIDENT.

GENTLEMEN: Your very affectionate address produces emotions which I know
not how to express. I feel that my past endeavors in the service of my
country are far overpaid by its goodness, and I fear much that my future
ones may not fulfill your kind anticipation. All that I can promise is
that they will be invariably directed by an honest and an ardent zeal.
Of this resource my heart assures me. For all beyond I rely on the
wisdom and patriotism of those with whom I am to cooperate and a
continuance of the blessings of Heaven on our beloved country.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

MAY 8, 1789.

SPECIAL MESSAGES.

NEW YORK,  May 25, 1789 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate :

In pursuance of the order of the late Congress, treaties between the
United States and several nations of Indians have been negotiated and
signed. These treaties, with sundry papers respecting them, I now lay
before you, for your consideration and advice, by the hands of General
Knox, under whose official superintendence the business was transacted,
and who will be ready to communicate to you any information on such
points as may appear to require it,

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

NEW YORK,  June 11, 1789 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate :

A convention between His Most Christian Majesty and the United
States, for the purposes of determining and fixing the functions and
prerogatives of their respective consuls, vice-consuls, agents, and
commissaries, was signed by their respective plenipotentiaries on the
29th of July, 1784.

It appearing to the late Congress that certain alterations in that
convention ought to be made, they instructed their minister at the Court
of France to endeavor to obtain them.

It has accordingly been altered in several respects, and as amended was
signed by the plenipotentiaries of the contracting powers on the 14th of
November, 1788.

The sixteenth article provides that it shall be in force during the term
of twelve years, to be counted from the day of the exchange  of
ratifications, which shall be given in proper form , and exchanged on
both sides within the space of one year, or sooner if possible.

I now lay before you the original by the hands of Mr. Jay for your
consideration and advice. The papers relative to this negotiation are
in his custody, and he has my orders to communicate to you whatever
official papers and information on the subject he may possess and you
may require.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

NEW YORK,  June 15, 1789 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate :

Mr. Jefferson, the present minister of the United States at the Court of
France, having applied for permission to return home for a few months,
and it appearing to me proper to comply with his request, it becomes
necessary that some person be appointed  to take charge  of our affairs
at that Court during his absence.

For this purpose I nominate William Short, esq., and request your advice
on the propriety of appointing him.

There are in the Office for Foreign Affairs papers which will acquaint
you with his character, and which Mr. Jay has my directions to lay
before you at such time as you may think proper to assign.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

NEW YORK,  August 6, 1789 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate :

My nomination of Benjamin Fishbourn for the place of naval officer
of the port of Savannah not having met with your concurrence, I now
nominate Lachlan McIntosh for that office.

Whatever may have been the reasons which induced your dissent, I am
persuaded they were such as you deemed sufficient. Permit me to submit
to your consideration whether on occasions where the propriety of
nominations appear questionable to you it would not be expedient to
communicate that circumstance to me, and thereby avail yourselves of the
information which led me to make them, and which I would with pleasure
lay before you. Probably my reasons for nominating Mr. Fishbourn may
tend to show that such a mode of proceeding in such cases might be
useful. I will therefore detail them.

First. While Colonel Fishbourn was an officer in actual service and
chiefly under my own eye, his conduct appeared to me irreproachable; nor
did I ever hear anything injurious to his reputation as an officer or a
gentleman. At the storm of Stony Point his behavior was represented to
have been active and brave, and he was charged by his general to bring
the account of that success to the headquarters of the Army.

Secondly. Since his residence in Georgia he has been repeatedly elected
to the assembly as a representative of the county of Chatham, in which
the port of Savannah is situated, and sometimes of the counties of Glynn
and Camden; he has been chosen a member of the executive council of the
State and has lately been president of the same; he has been elected by
the officers of the militia in the county of Chatham lieutenant-colonel
of the militia in that district, and on a very recent occasion, to wit,
in the month of May last, he has been appointed by the council (on the
suspension of the late collector) to an office in the port of Savannah
nearly similar to that for which I nominated him, which office he
actually holds at this time. To these reasons for nominating Mr.
Fishbourn I might add that I received private letters of recommendation
and oral testimonials in his favor from some of the most respectable
characters in that State; but as they were secondary considerations
with me, I do not think it necessary to communicate them to you.

It appeared, therefore, to me that Mr. Fishbourn must have enjoyed the
 confidence  of the militia officers in order to have been elected to a
military rank; the  confidence  of the freemen to have been elected to
the assembly; the  confidence  of the assembly to have been selected for
the council, and the  confidence  of the council to have been appointed
collector of the port of Savannah.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

NEW YORK,  August 7, 1789 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate :

The business which has hitherto been under the consideration of Congress
has been of so much importance that I was unwilling to draw their
attention from it to any other subject; but the disputes which exist
between some of the United States and several powerful tribes of Indians
within the limits of the Union, and the hostilities which have in
several instances been committed on the frontiers, seem to require the
immediate interposition of the General Government.

I have therefore directed the several statements and papers which have
been submitted to me on this subject by General Knox to be laid before
you for your information.

While the measures of Government ought to be calculated to protect its
citizens from all injury and violence, a due regard should be extended
to those Indian tribes whose happiness in the course of events so
materially depends on the national justice and humanity of the United
States.

If it should be the judgment of Congress that it would be most
expedient to terminate all differences in the Southern district, and
to lay the foundation for future confidence by an amicable treaty
with the Indian tribes in that quarter, I think proper to suggest the
consideration of the expediency of instituting a temporary commission
for that purpose, to consist of three persons, whose authority should
expire with the occasion. How far such a measure, unassisted by posts,
would be competent to the establishment and preservation of peace and
tranquillity on the frontiers is also a matter which merits your serious
consideration.

Along with this object I am induced to suggest another, with the
national importance and necessity of which I am deeply impressed;
I mean some uniform and effective system for the militia of the United
States. It is unnecessary to offer arguments in recommendation of a
measure on which the honor, safety, and well-being of our country so
evidently and so essentially depend; but it may not be amiss to observe
that I am particularly anxious it should receive as early attention
as circumstances will admit, because it is now in our power to avail
ourselves of the military knowledge disseminated throughout the several
States by means of the many well-instructed officers and soldiers of
the late Army, a resource which is daily diminishing by death and other
causes. To suffer this peculiar advantage to pass away unimproved would
be to neglect an opportunity which will never again occur, unless,
unfortunately, we should again be involved in a long and arduous war.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

NEW YORK,  August 10, 1789 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate :

I have directed a statement of the troops in the service of the United
States to be laid before you for your information.

These troops were raised by virtue of the resolves of Congress of the
20th October, 1786, and the 3d of October, 1787, in order to protect the
frontiers from the depredations of the hostile Indians, to prevent all
intrusions on the public lands, and to facilitate the surveying and
selling of the same for the purpose of reducing the public debt.

As these important objects continue to require the aid of the troops, it
is necessary that the establishment thereof should in all respects be
conformed by law to the Constitution of the United States.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

NEW YORK,  August 20, 1789 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate 

In consequence of an act providing for the expenses which may attend
negotiations or treaties with the Indian tribes and the appointment of
commissioners for managing the same, I nominate Benjamin Lincoln as one
of three commissioners whom I shall propose to be employed to negotiate
a treaty with the Southern Indians. My reason for nominating him at this
early moment is that it will not be possible for the public to avail
itself of his services on this occasion unless his appointment can be
forwarded to him by the mail which will leave this place to-morrow
morning.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

NEW YORK,  August 21, 1789 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate :

The President of the United States will meet the Senate in the Senate
Chamber at half past 11 o'clock to-morrow, to advise with them on the
terms of the treaty to be negotiated with the Southern Indians.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

SEPTEMBER 16, 1789.

 Gentlemen of the Senate :

The governor of the Western territory has made a statement to me of the
reciprocal hostilities of the Wabash Indians and the people inhabiting
the frontiers bordering on the river Ohio, which I herewith lay before
Congress.

The United States in Congress assembled, by their acts of the 21st
day of July, 1787, and of the 12th August, 1788, made a provisional
arrangement for calling forth the militia of Virginia and Pennsylvania
in the proportions therein specified.

As the circumstances which occasioned the said arrangement continue
nearly the same, I think proper to suggest to your consideration the
expediency of making some temporary provision for calling forth
the militia of the United States for the purposes stated in the
Constitution, which would embrace the cases apprehended by the
governor of the Western territory.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

SEPTEMBER 17, 1789.

 Gentlemen of the Senate :

It doubtless is important that all treaties and compacts formed by the
United States with other nations, whether civilized or not, should be
made with caution and executed with fidelity.

It is said to be the general understanding and practice of nations, as a
check on the mistakes and indiscretions of ministers or commissioners,
not to consider any treaty negotiated and signed by such officers as
final and conclusive until ratified by the sovereign or government from
whom they derive their powers. This practice has been adopted by the
United States respecting their treaties with European nations, and I am
inclined to think it would be advisable to observe it in the conduct of
our treaties with the Indians; for though such treaties, being on their
part made by their chiefs or rulers, need not be ratified by them, yet,
being formed on our part by the agency of subordinate officers, it seems
to be both prudent and reasonable that their acts should not be binding
on the nation until approved and ratified by the Government. It strikes
me that this point should be well considered and settled, so that our
national proceedings in this respect may become uniform and be directed
by fixed and stable principles.

The treaties with certain Indian nations, which were laid before you
with my message of the 25th May last, suggested two questions to my
mind, viz: First, whether those treaties were to be considered as
perfected and consequently as obligatory without being ratified. If not,
then secondly, whether both or either, and which, of them ought to be
ratified. On these questions I request your opinion and advice.

You have, indeed, advised me " to execute and enjoin an observance of "
the treaty with the Wyandottes, etc. You, gentlemen, doubtless intended
to be clear and explicit, and yet, without further explanation, I fear
I may misunderstand your meaning, for if by my  executing  that treaty
you mean that I should make it (in a more particular and immediate manner
than it now is) the act of Government, then it follows that I am to
ratify it. If you mean by my  executing it  that I am to see that it be
carried into effect and operation, then I am led to conclude either that
you consider it as being perfect and obligatory in its present state,
and therefore to be executed and observed, or that you consider it as
to derive its completion and obligation from the silent approbation and
ratification which my proclamation may be construed to imply. Although I
am inclined to think that the latter is your intention, yet it certainly
is best that all doubts respecting it be removed.

Permit me to observe that it will be proper for me to be informed of
your sentiments relative to the treaty with the Six Nations previous to
the departure of the governor of the Western territory, and therefore
I recommend it to your early consideration.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  September 29, 1789 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate: 

His Most Christian Majesty, by a letter dated the 7th of June last,
addressed to the President and members of the General Congress of the
United States of North America, announces the much lamented death of his
son, the Dauphin. The generous conduct of the French monarch and nation
toward this country renders every event that may affect his or their
prosperity interesting to us, and I shall take care to assure him of the
sensibility with which the United States participate in the affliction
which a loss so much to be regretted must have occasioned both to him
and to them.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  September 29, 1789 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate: 

Agreeably to the act of Congress for adapting the establishment of the
troops in public service to the Constitution of the United States,
I nominate the persons specified in the inclosed list to be the
commissioned officers thereof.

This nomination differs from the existing arrangement only in the
following cases, to wit: Lieutenant Erkuries Beatty, promoted to a
vacant captaincy in the infantry; Ensign Edward Spear, promoted to a
vacant lieutenancy of artillery; Jacob Melcher, who has been serving as
a volunteer, to be an ensign, vice Benjamin Lawrence, who was appointed
nearly three years past and has never been mustered or joined the
troops.

It is to be observed that the order in which the captains and subalterns
are named is not to affect their relative rank, which has been hitherto
but imperfectly settled owing to the perplexity of promotions in the
State quotas conformably to the late Confederation.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  September 29, 1789 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate :

Having been yesterday informed by a joint committee of both Houses of
Congress that they had agreed to a recess to commence this day and to
continue until the first Monday of January next, I take the earliest
opportunity of acquainting you that, considering how long and laborious
this session has been and the reasons which I presume have produced this
resolution, it does not appear to me expedient to recommend any measures
to their consideration at present, or now to call your attention,
gentlemen, to any of those matters in my department which require your
advice and consent and yet remain to be dispatched.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  September 29, 1789 .

 Gentlemen of the House of Representatives: 

Having been yesterday informed by a joint committee of both Houses of
Congress that they had agreed to a recess to commence this day and to
continue until the first Monday of January next, I take the earliest
opportunity of acquainting you that, considering how long and laborious
this session has been and the reasons which I presume have produced this
resolution, it does not appear to me expedient to recommend any measures
to their consideration at present.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

PROCLAMATION.

A NATIONAL THANKSGIVING.

 (From Sparks's Washington, Vol. XII, p. 119.)

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of
Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and
humbly to implore His protection and favor; and

Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee,
requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of
public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with
grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially
by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of
government for their safety and happiness:"

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of
November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the
service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of
all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all
unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind
care and protection of the people of this country previous to their
becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable
interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the
late war; for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty which
we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which
we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our
safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately
instituted; for the civil and religious liberty with which we are
blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful
knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors
which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and
supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to
pardon our national and other trangressions; to enable us all, whether
in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative
duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a
blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise,
just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and
obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such
as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments,
peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true
religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us;
and, generally, to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal
prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October,
A.D. 1789.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.