Chapter 10 1795

UNITED STATES,  January 2, 1795 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate :

A spirit of discontent, from several causes, arose in the early part of
the present year among the Six Nations of Indians, and particularly on
the ground of a projected settlement by Pennsylvania, at Presque Isle,
upon Lake Erie. The papers upon this point have already been laid before
Congress. It was deemed proper on my part to endeavor to tranquillize
the Indians by pacific measures. Accordingly a time and place was
appointed at which a free conference should be had upon all the causes
of discontent, and an agent was appointed with the instructions of
which No. 1, herewith transmitted, is a copy.

A numerous assembly of Indians was held in Canandaigua, in the State of
New York the proceedings whereof accompany this message, marked No. 2.

The two treaties, the one with the Six Nations and the other with the
Oneida, Tuscorora, and Stockbridge Indians dwelling in the country of
the Oneidas, which have resulted from the mission of the agent, are
herewith laid before the Senate for their consideration and advice.

The original engagement of the United States to the Oneidas is also sent
herewith.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  January 8, 1795 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

I lay before Congress copies of acts passed by the legislatures of the
States of Vermont, Massachusetts, and New York, ratifying the amendment
proposed by the Senate and House of Representatives at their last
session to the Constitution of the United States respecting the
judicial power thereof.

The minister of the French Republic having communicated to the Secretary
of State certain proceedings of the committee of public safety
respecting weights and measures, I lay these also before Congress.

The letter from the governor of the Western territory, copies of which
are now transmitted, refers to a defect in the judicial system of that
territory deserving the attention of Congress.

The necessary absence of the judge of the district of Pennsylvania upon
business connected with the late insurrection is stated by him in a
letter of which I forward copies to have produced certain interruptions
in the judicial proceedings of that district which can not be removed
without the interposition of Congress.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  February 4, 1795 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

I lay before Congress, for their consideration, a letter from the
Secretary of State upon the subject of a loan which is extremely
interesting and urgent.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  February 17, 1795 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

I transmit to Congress copies of a letter from the governor of the State
of New Hampshire and of an act of the legislature thereof "ratifying the
article proposed in amendment to the Constitution of the United States
respecting the judicial power."

I also lay before Congress copies of a letter from the governor of
the State of North Carolina and of an act of the legislature thereof
ceding to the United States certain lands upon the conditions therein
mentioned.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  February 17, 1795 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

I have received copies of two acts of the legislature of Georgia,
one passed on the 28th day of December and the other on the 7th day
of January last, for appropriating and selling the Indian lands within
the territorial limits claimed by that State. These copies, though not
officially certified, have been transmitted to me in such a manner as to
leave no room to doubt their authenticity. These acts embrace an object
of such magnitude, and in their consequences may so deeply affect the
peace and welfare of the United States, that I have thought it necessary
now to lay them before Congress.

In  confidence , I also forward copies of several documents and papers
received from the governor of the Southwestern territory. By these it
seems that hostilities with the Cherokees have ceased, and that there is
a pleasing prospect of a permanent peace with that nation; but from all
the communications of the governor it appears that the Creeks, in small
parties, continue their depredations, and it is uncertain to what they
may finally lead.

The several papers now communicated deserve the immediate attention of
Congress, who will consider how far the subjects of them may require
their cooperation.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  February 25, 1795 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

I communicate to Congress copies of a letter from the governor of the
State of Georgia and of an act of the legislature thereof "to ratify the
resolution of Congress explanatory of the judicial power of the United
States."

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  February 28, 1795 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

In my first communication to Congress during their present session
I gave them reason to expect that "certain circumstances of our
intercourse with foreign nations" would be transmitted to them. There
was at that time every assurance for believing that some of the most
important of our foreign affairs would have been concluded and others
considerably matured before they should rise. But notwithstanding I have
waited until this moment, it has so happened that, either from causes
unknown to me or from events which could not be controlled, I am yet
unable to execute my original intention. That I may, however, fulfill
the expectation given as far as the actual situation of things will in
my judgment permit, I now,  in confidence ', lay before Congress the
following general statement:

Our minister near the French Republic has urged compensation for
the injuries which our commerce has sustained from captures by French
cruisers, from the nonfulfillment of the contracts of the agents of that
Republic with our citizens, and from the embargo at Bordeaux. He has
also pressed an allowance for the money voted by Congress for relieving
the inhabitants of Saint Domingo. It affords me the highest pleasure to
inform Congress that perfect harmony reigns between the two Republics,
and that those claims are in a train of being discussed with candor
and of being amicably adjusted.

So much of our relation to Great Britain may depend upon the result
of our late negotiations in London that until that result shall arrive
I can not undertake to make any communication upon this subject.

After the negotiation with Spain had been long depending unusual and
unexpected embarrassments were raised to interrupt its progress. But
the commissioner of His Catholic Majesty near the United States having
declared to the Secretary of State that if a particular accommodation
should be made in the  conducting  of the business no further delay
would ensue, I thought proper, under all circumstances, to send to
His Catholic Majesty an envoy extraordinary specially charged to bring
to a conclusion the discussions which have been formerly announced
to Congress.

The friendship of Her Most Faithful Majesty has been often manifested in
checking the passage of the Algerine corsairs into the Atlantic Ocean.
She has also furnished occasional convoys to the vessels of the United
States, even when bound to other ports than her own. We may therefore
promise ourselves that, as in the ordinary course of things few causes
can exist for dissatisfaction between the United States and Portugal,
so the temper with which accidental difficulties will be met on each
side will speedily remove them.

Between the Executive of the United States and the Government of the
United Netherlands but little intercourse has taken place during the
last year. It may be acceptable to Congress to learn that our credit in
Holland is represented as standing upon the most respectable footing.

Upon the death of the late Emperor of Morocco an agent was dispatched
to renew with his successor the treaty which the United States had made
with  him . The agent, unfortunately, died after he had reached Europe
in the prosecution of his mission. But until lately it was impossible
to determine with any degree of probability who of the competitors for
that Empire would be ultimately fixed in the supreme power. Although
the measures which have been since adopted for the renewal of the treaty
have been obstructed by the disturbed situation of Amsterdam, there are
good grounds for presuming as yet upon the pacific disposition of the
Emperor, in fact, toward the United States, and that the past
miscarriage will be shortly remedied.

Congress are already acquainted with the failure of the loan attempted
in Holland for the relief of our unhappy fellow-citizens in Algiers.
This subject, than which none deserves a more affectionate zeal, has
constantly commanded my best exertions. I am happy, therefore, in being
able to say that from the last authentic accounts the Dey was disposed
to treat for a peace and ransom, and that both would in all probability
have been accomplished had we not been disappointed in the means.
Nothing which depends upon the Executive shall be left undone for
carrying into immediate effect the supplementary act of Congress.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  March 2, 1795 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

It appears from the information which I have lately received that it may
be probably necessary to the more successful conduct of our affairs on
the coast of Barbary that one consul should reside in Morocco, another
in Algiers, and a third in Tunis or Tripoli. As no appointment for these
offices will be accepted without some emolument annexed, I submit to the
consideration of Congress whether it may not be advisable to authorize
a stipend to be allowed to two consuls for that coast in addition to the
one already existing.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  March 2, 1795 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

I transmit to you copies of a letter from the governor of the State
of Delaware and of an act inclosed "declaring the assent of that State
to an amendment therein mentioned to the Constitution of the United
States."

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  June 8, 1795 . (2)

 (Footnote 2: For proclamation convening Senate in extraordinary session
see p. 587.)

 Gentlemen of the Senate :

In pursuance of my nomination of John Jay as envoy extraordinary to His
Britannic Majesty on the 16th day of April, 1794, and of the advice and
consent of the Senate thereto on the 19th, a negotiation was opened in
London. On the 7th of March, 1795, the treaty resulting therefrom was
delivered to the Secretary of State. I now transmit to the Senate that
treaty and other documents connected with it. They will, therefore, in
their wisdom decide whether they will advise and consent that the said
treaty be made between the United States and His Britannic Majesty.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  June 25, 1795 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate :

It has been represented by our minister plenipotentiary near the French
Republic that such of our commercial relations with France as may
require the support of the United States in  detail  can not be well
executed without a consul-general. Of this I am satisfied when I
consider the extent of the mercantile claims now depending before the
French Government, the necessity of bringing into the hands of one agent
the various applications to the several committees of administration
residing at Paris, the attention which must be paid to the conduct of
consuls, and vice-consuls, and the nature of the services which are the
peculiar objects of a minister's care, and leave no leisure for his
intervention in business to which consular functions are competent.
I therefore nominate Fulwar Skipwith to be consul-general of the
United States in France.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  June 25, 1795 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate :

Just at the close of the last session of Congress I received from one
of the Senators and one of the Representatives of the State of Georgia
an application for a treaty to be held with the tribes or nations of
Indians claiming the right of soil to certain lands lying beyond the
present temporary boundary line of that State, and which were described
in an act of the legislature of Georgia passed on the 28th of December
last, which has already been laid before the Senate. This application
and the subsequent correspondence with the governor of Georgia are
herewith transmitted. The subject being very important, I thought proper
to postpone a decision upon that application. The views I have since
taken of the matter, with the information received of a more pacific
disposition on the part of the Creeks, have induced me now to accede to
the request, but with this explicit declaration, that neither my assent
nor the treaty which may be made shall be considered as affecting any
question which may arise upon the supplementary act passed by the
legislature of the State of Georgia on the 7th of January last, upon
which inquiries have been instituted in pursuance of a resolution
of the Senate and House of Representatives, and that any cession or
relinquishment of the Indian claims shall be made in the general terms
of the treaty of New York, which are contemplated as the form proper to
be generally used on such occasions, and on the condition that one-half
of the expense of the supplies of provisions for the Indians assembled
at the treaty be borne by the State of Georgia.

Having concluded to hold the treaty requested by that State, I was
willing to embrace the opportunity it would present of inquiring
into the causes of the dissatisfaction of the Creeks which has
been manifested since the treaty of New York by their numerous
and distressing depredations on our Southwestern frontiers. Their
depredations on the Cumberland have been so frequent and so peculiarly
destructive as to lead me to think they must originate in some claim to
the lands upon that river. But whatever may have been the cause, it is
important to trace it to its source; for, independent of the destruction
of lives and property, it occasions a very serious annual expense to the
United States. The commissioners for holding the proposed treaty will,
therefore, be instructed to inquire into the causes of the hostilities
to which I have referred, and to enter into such reasonable stipulations
as will remove them and give permanent peace to those parts of the
United States.

I now nominate Benjamin Hawkins, of North Carolina: George Clymer, of
Pennsylvania, and Andrew Pickens, of South Carolina, to be commissioners
to hold a treaty with the Creek Nation of Indians, for the purposes
hereinbefore expressed.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

PROCLAMATIONS.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

When we review the calamities which afflict so many other nations,
the present condition of the United States affords much matter of
consolation and satisfaction. Our exemption hitherto from foreign war,
an increasing prospect of the continuance of that exemption, the great
degree of internal tranquillity we have enjoyed, the recent confirmation
of that tranquillity by the suppression of an insurrection which so
wantonly threatened it, the happy course of our public affairs in
general, the unexampled prosperity of all classes of our citizens,
are circumstances which peculiarly mark our situation with indications
of the Divine beneficence toward us. In such a state of things it is
in an especial manner our duty as a people, with devout reverence and
affectionate gratitude, to acknowledge our many and great obligations
to Almighty God and to implore Him to continue and confirm the blessings
we experience.

Deeply penetrated with this sentiment, I, George Washington, President
of the United States, do recommend to all religious societies and
denominations, and to all persons whomsoever, within the United States
to set apart and observe Thursday, the 19th day of February next, as a
day of public thanksgiving and prayer, and on that day to meet together
and render their sincere and hearty thanks to the Great Ruler of Nations
for the manifold and signal mercies which distinguish our lot as a
nation, particularly for the possession of constitutions of government
which unite and by their union establish liberty with order; for the
preservation of our peace, foreign and domestic; for the seasonable
control which has been given to a spirit of disorder in the suppression
of the late insurrection, and generally, for the prosperous course
of our affairs, public and private; and at the same time humbly and
fervently to beseech the kind Author of these blessings graciously to
prolong them to us; to imprint on our hearts a deep and solemn sense of
our obligations to Him for them; to teach us rightly to estimate their
immense value; to preserve us from the arrogance of prosperity, and
from hazarding the advantages we enjoy by delusive pursuits; to dispose
us to merit the continuance of His favors by not abusing them; by our
gratitude for them, and by a correspondent conduct as citizens and men;
to render this country more and more a safe and propitious asylum for
the unfortunate of other countries; to extend among us true and useful
knowledge; to diffuse and establish habits of sobriety, order, morality,
and piety, and finally, to impart all the blessings we possess, or ask
for ourselves, to the whole family of mankind.

In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States of
America to be affixed to these presents, and signed the same with
my hand.

 (SEAL.)

Done at the city of Philadelphia, the 1st day of January, 1795, and
of the Independence of the United States of America the nineteenth.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

By the President:
  EDM. RANDOLPH.

 (From Sparks's Washington, Vol. XII, p. 134.)

PROCLAMATION.

Whereas the commissioners appointed by the President of the United
States to confer with the citizens in the western counties of
Pennsylvania during the late insurrection which prevailed therein, by
their act and agreement bearing date the 2d day of September last, in
pursuance of the powers in them vested, did promise and engage that,
if assurances of submission to the laws of the United States should
be bona fide given by the citizens resident in the fourth survey of
Pennsylvania, in the manner and within the time in the said act and
agreement specified, a general pardon should be granted on the 10th day
of July then next ensuing of all treasons and other indictable offenses
against the United States committed within the said survey before the
22d day of August last, excluding therefrom, nevertheless, every person
who should refuse or neglect to subscribe such assurance and engagement
in manner aforesaid, or who should after such subscription violate the
same, or willfully obstruct or attempt to obstruct the execution of the
acts for raising a revenue on distilled spirits and stills, or be aiding
or abetting therein; and

Whereas I have since thought proper to extend the said pardon to
all persons guilty of the said treasons, misprisions of treasons, or
otherwise concerned in the late insurrection within the survey aforesaid
who have not since been indicted or convicted thereof, or of any other
offense against the United States:

Therefore be it known that I, George Washington, President of the said
United States, have granted, and by these presents do grant, a full,
free, and entire pardon to all persons (excepting as is hereinafter
excepted) of all treasons, misprisions of treason, and other indictable
offenses against the United States committed within the fourth survey of
Pennsylvania before the said 22d day of August last past, excepting and
excluding therefrom, nevertheless, every person who refused or neglected
to give and subscribe the said assurances in the manner aforesaid
(or having subscribed hath violated the same) and now standeth indicted
or convicted of any treason, misprision of treason, or other offense
against the said United States, hereby remitting and releasing unto all
persons, except as before excepted, all penalties incurred, or supposed
to be incurred, for or on account of the premises.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed, this 10th day of July, A.D. 1795, and
the twentieth year of the Independence of the said United States.

 (SEAL.)

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

SEVENTH ANNUAL ADDRESS.

UNITED STATES,  December 8, 1795 .

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

I trust I do not deceive myself when I indulge the persuasion that
I have never met you at any period when more than at the present the
situation of our public affairs has afforded just cause for mutual
congratulation, and for inviting you to join with me in profound
gratitude to the Author of all Good for the numerous and extraordinary
blessings we enjoy.

The termination of the long, expensive, and distressing war in which we
have been engaged with certain Indians northwest of the Ohio is placed
in the option of the United States by a treaty which the commander of
our army has concluded provisionally with the hostile tribes in that
region.

In the adjustment of the terms the satisfaction of the Indians was
deemed an object worthy no less of the policy than of the liberality of
the United States as the necessary basis of durable tranquillity. The
object, it is believed, has been fully attained. The articles agreed
upon will immediately be laid before the Senate for their consideration.

The Creek and Cherokee Indians, who alone of the Southern tribes had
annoyed our frontiers, have lately confirmed their preexisting treaties
with us, and were giving evidence of a sincere disposition to carry them
into effect by the surrender of the prisoners and property they had
taken. But we have to lament that the fair prospect in this quarter has
been once more clouded by wanton murders, which some citizens of Georgia
are represented to have recently perpetrated on hunting parties of the
Creeks, which have again subjected that frontier to disquietude and
danger, which will be productive of further expense, and may occasion
more effusion of blood. Measures are pursuing to prevent or mitigate
the usual consequences of such outrages, and with the hope of their
succeeding at least to avert general hostility.

A letter from the Emperor of Morocco announces to me his recognition of
our treaty made with his father, the late Emperor, and consequently the
continuance of peace with that power. With peculiar satisfaction I add
that information has been received from an agent deputed on our part to
Algiers importing that the terms of the treaty with the Dey and Regency
of that country had been adjusted in such a manner as to authorize the
expectation of a speedy peace and the restoration of our unfortunate
fellow-citizens from a grievous captivity.

The latest advices from our envoy at the Court of Madrid give, moreover,
the pleasing information that he had received assurances of a speedy and
satisfactory conclusion of his negotiation. While the event depending
upon unadjusted particulars can not be regarded as ascertained, it
is agreeable to cherish the expectation of an issue which, securing
amicably very essential interests of the United States, will at the same
time lay the foundation of lasting harmony with a power whose friendship
we have uniformly and sincerely desired to cultivate.

Though not before officially disclosed to the House of Representatives,
you, gentlemen, are all apprised that a treaty of amity, commerce, and
navigation has been negotiated with Great Britain, and that the Senate
have advised and consented to its ratification upon a condition which
excepts part of one article. Agreeably thereto, and to the best judgment
I was able to form of the public interest after full and mature
deliberation, I have added my sanction. The result on the part of His
Britannic Majesty is unknown. When received, the subject will without
delay be placed before Congress.

This interesting summary of our affairs with regard to the foreign
powers between whom and the United States controversies have subsisted,
and with regard also to those of our Indian neighbors with whom we have
been in a state of enmity or misunderstanding, opens a wide field for
consoling and gratifying reflections. If by prudence and moderation
on every side the extinguishment of all the causes of external discord
which have heretofore menaced our tranquillity, on terms compatible
with our national rights and honor, shall be the happy result, how firm
and how precious a foundation will have been laid for accelerating,
maturing, and establishing the prosperity of our country.

Contemplating the internal situation as well as the external
relations of the United States, we discover equal cause for contentment
and satisfaction. While many of the nations of Europe, with their
American dependencies, have been involved in a contest unusually bloody,
exhausting, and calamitous, in which the evils of foreign war have been
aggravated by domestic convulsion and insurrection; in which many of
the arts most useful to society have been exposed to discouragement and
decay; in which scarcity of subsistence has imbittered other sufferings;
while even the anticipations of a return of the blessings of peace and
repose are alloyed by the sense of heavy and accumulating burthens,
which press upon all the departments of industry and threaten to clog
the future springs of government, our favored country, happy in a
striking contrast, has enjoyed general tranquillity  a tranquillity
the more satisfactory because maintained at the expense of no duty.
Faithful to ourselves, we have violated no obligation to others. Our
agriculture, commerce, and manufactures prosper beyond former example,
the molestations of our trade (to prevent a continuance of which,
however, very pointed remonstrances have been made) being overbalanced
by the aggregate benefits which it derives from a neutral position. Our
population advances with a celerity which, exceeding the most sanguine
calculations, proportionally augments our strength and resources,
and guarantees our future security. Every part of the Union displays
indications of rapid and various improvement; and with burthens so
light as scarcely to be perceived, with resources fully adequate to our
present exigencies, with governments founded on the genuine principles
of rational liberty, and with mild and wholesome laws, is it too much
to say that our country exhibits a spectacle of national happiness
never surpassed, if ever before equaled?

Placed in a situation every way so auspicious, motives of commanding
force impel us, with sincere acknowledgment to Heaven and pure love to
our country, to unite our efforts to preserve, prolong, and improve our
immense advantages. To cooperate with you in this desirable work is a
fervent and favorite wish of my heart.

It is a valuable ingredient in the general estimate of our welfare that
the part of our country which was lately the scene of disorder and
insurrection now enjoys the blessings of quiet and order. The misled
have abandoned their errors, and pay the respect to our Constitution and
laws which is due from good citizens to the public authorities of the
society. These circumstances have induced me to pardon generally the
offenders here referred to, and to extend forgiveness to those who had
been adjudged to capital punishment. For though I shall always think it
a sacred duty to exercise with firmness and energy the constitutional
powers with which I am vested, yet it appears to me no less consistent
with the public good than it is with my personal feelings to mingle in
the operations of Government every degree of moderation and tenderness
which the national justice, dignity, and safety may permit.

GENTLEMEN: Among the objects which will claim your attention in the
course of the session, a review of our military establishment is not the
least important. It is called for by the events which have changed, and
maybe expected still further to change, the relative situation of our
frontiers. In this review you will doubtless allow due weight to the
considerations that the questions between us and certain foreign powers
are not yet finally adjusted, that the war in Europe is not yet
terminated, and that our Western posts, when recovered, will demand
provision for garrisoning and securing them. A statement of our present
military force will be laid before you by the Department of War.

With the review of our Army establishment is naturally connected that of
the militia. It will merit inquiry what imperfections in the existing
plan further experience may have unfolded. The subject is of so much
moment in my estimation as to excite a constant solicitude that the
consideration of it may be renewed until the greatest attainable
perfection shall be accomplished. Time is wearing away some advantages
for forwarding the object, while none better deserves the persevering
attention of the public councils.

While we indulge the satisfaction which the actual condition of our
Western borders so well authorizes, it is necessary that we should
not lose sight of an important truth which continually receives new
confirmations, namely, that the provisions heretofore made with a view
to the protection of the Indians from the violences of the lawless part
of our frontier inhabitants are insufficient. It is demonstrated that
these violences can now be perpetrated with impunity, and it can need no
argument to prove that unless the murdering of Indians can be restrained
by bringing the murderers to condign punishment, all the exertions of
the Government to prevent destructive retaliations by the Indians will
prove fruitless and all our present agreeable prospects illusory. The
frequent destruction of innocent women and children, who are chiefly the
victims of retaliation, must continue to shock humanity, and an enormous
expense to drain the Treasury of the Union.

To enforce upon the Indians the observance of justice it is
indispensable that there shall be competent means of rendering justice
to them. If these means can be devised by the wisdom of Congress, and
especially if there can be added an adequate provision for supplying the
necessities of the Indians on reasonable terms (a measure the mention
of which I the more readily repeat, as in all the conferences with them
they urge it with solicitude), I should not hesitate to entertain a
strong hope of rendering our tranquillity permanent. I add with pleasure
that the probability even of their civilization is not diminished by
the experiments which have been thus far made under the auspices of
Government. The accomplishment of this work, if practicable, will
reflect undecaying luster on our national character and administer
the most grateful consolations that virtuous minds can know.

 Gentlemen of the House of Representatives :

The state of our revenue, with the sums which have been borrowed and
reimbursed pursuant to different acts of Congress, will be submitted
from the proper Department, together with an estimate of the
appropriations necessary to be made for the service of the ensuing year.

Whether measures may not be advisable to reenforce the provision for the
redemption of the public debt will naturally engage your examination.
Congress have demonstrated their sense to be, and it were superfluous
to repeat mine, that whatsoever will tend to accelerate the honorable
extinction of our public debt accords as much with the true interest
of our country as with the general sense of our constituents.

 Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

The statements which will be laid before you relative to the Mint will
shew the situation of that institution and the necessity of some further
legislative provisions for carrying the business of it more completely
into effect, and for checking abuses which appear to be arising in
particular quarters.

The progress in providing materials for the frigates and in building
them, the state of the fortifications of our harbors, the measures which
have been pursued for obtaining proper sites for arsenals and for
replenishing our magazines with military stores, and the steps which
have been taken toward the execution of the law for opening a trade with
the Indians will likewise be presented for the information of Congress.

Temperate discussion of the important subjects which may arise in the
course of the session and mutual forbearance where there is a difference
of opinion are too obvious and necessary for the peace, happiness, and
welfare of our country to need any recommendation of mine.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

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

SIR: It is with peculiar satisfaction that we are informed by your
speech to the two Houses of Congress that the long and expensive war in
which we have been engaged with the Indians northwest of the Ohio is in
a situation to be finally terminated; and though we view with concern
the danger of an interruption of the peace so recently confirmed with
the Creeks, we indulge the hope that the measures that you have adopted
to prevent the same, if followed by those legislative provisions
that justice and humanity equally demand, will succeed in laying the
foundation of a lasting peace with the Indian tribes on the Southern
as well as on the Western frontiers.

The confirmation of our treaty with Morocco, and the adjustment of
a treaty of peace with Algiers, in consequence of which our captive
fellow-citizens shall be delivered from slavery, are events that will
prove no less interesting to the public humanity than they will be
important in extending and securing the navigation and commerce of
our country.

As a just and equitable conclusion of our depending negotiations with
Spain will essentially advance the interest of both nations, and thereby
cherish and confirm the good understanding and friendship which we have
at all times desired to maintain, it will afford us real pleasure to
receive an early confirmation of our expectations on this subject.

The interesting prospect of our affairs with regard to the foreign
powers between whom and the United States controversies have subsisted
is not more satisfactory than the review of our internal situation.
If from the former we derive an expectation of the extinguishment of
all the causes of external discord that have heretofore endangered
our tranquillity, and on terms consistent with our national honor
and safety, in the latter we discover those numerous and widespread
tokens of prosperity which in so peculiar a manner distinguish our
happy country.

Circumstances thus every way auspicious demand our gratitude and sincere
acknowledgments to Almighty God, and require that we should unite our
efforts in imitation of your enlightened, firm, and persevering example
to establish and preserve the peace, freedom, and prosperity of our
country.

The objects which you have recommended to the notice of the Legislature
will in the course of the session receive our careful attention, and
with a true zeal for the public welfare we shall cheerfully cooperate
in every measure that shall appear to us best calculated to promote
the same.

JOHN ADAMS,

 Vice-President of the United States and President of the Senate .

DECEMBER 11, 1795.

REPLY OF THE PRESIDENT.

GENTLEMEN: With real pleasure I receive your address, recognizing
the prosperous situation of our public affairs, and giving assurances
of your careful attention to the objects demanding legislative
consideration, and that with a true zeal for the public welfare you
will cheerfully cooperate in every measure which shall appear to you
best calculated to promote the same.

But I derive peculiar satisfaction from your concurrence with me in
the expressions of gratitude to Almighty God, which a review of the
auspicious circumstances that distinguish our happy country have
excited, and I trust the sincerity of our acknowledgments will be
evinced by a union of efforts to establish and preserve its peace,
freedom, and prosperity.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

DECEMBER 12, 1795.

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

The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

SIR: As the Representatives of the people of the United States, we can
not but participate in the strongest sensibility to every blessing which
they enjoy, and cheerfully join with you in profound gratitude to the
Author of all Good for the numerous and extraordinary blessings which
He has conferred on our favored country.

A final and formal termination of the distressing war which has
ravaged our Northwestern frontier will be an event which must afford a
satisfaction proportionate to the anxiety with which it has long been
sought, and in the adjustment of the terms we perceive the true policy
of making them satisfactory to the Indians as well as to the United
States as the best basis of a durable tranquillity. The disposition of
such of the Southern tribes as had also heretofore annoyed our frontier
is another prospect in our situation so important to the interest and
happiness of the United States that it is much to be lamented that any
clouds should be thrown over it, more especially by excesses on the
part of our own citizens.

While our population is advancing with a celerity which exceeds the most
sanguine calculations; while every part of the United States displays
indications of rapid and various improvement; while we are in the
enjoyment of protection and security by mild and wholesome laws,
administered by governments founded on the genuine principles of
rational liberty, a secure foundation will be laid for accelerating,
maturing, and establishing the prosperity of our country if, by treaty
and amicable negotiation, all those causes of external discord which
heretofore menaced our tranquillity shall be extinguished on terms
compatible with our national rights and honor and with our Constitution
and great commercial interests.

Among the various circumstances in our internal situation none can be
viewed with more satisfaction and exultation than that the late scene of
disorder and insurrection has been completely restored to the enjoyment
of order and repose. Such a triumph of reason and of law is worthy of
the free Government under which it happened, and was justly to be hoped
from the enlightened and patriotic spirit which pervades and actuates
the people of the United States.

In contemplating that spectacle of national happiness which our
country exhibits, and of which you, sir, have been pleased to make an
interesting summary, permit us to acknowledge and declare the very great
share which your zealous and faithful services have contributed to it,
and to express the affectionate attachment which we feel for your
character.

The several interesting subjects which you recommend to our
consideration will receive every degree of attention which is due
to them; and whilst we feel the obligation of temperance and mutual
indulgence in all our discussions, we trust and pray that the result
to the happiness and welfare of our country may correspond with the
pure affection we bear to it.

DECEMBER 16, 1795.

REPLY OF THE PRESIDENT.

GENTLEMEN: Coming as you do from all parts of the United States,
I receive great satisfaction from the concurrence of your testimony
in the justness of the interesting summary of our national happiness
which, as the result of my inquiries, I presented to your view. The
sentiments we have mutually expressed of profound gratitude to the
source of those numerous blessings, the Author of all Good, are pledges
of our obligations to unite our sincere and zealous endeavors, as the
instruments of Divine Providence, to preserve and perpetuate them.

Accept, gentlemen, my thanks for your declaration that to my agency you
ascribe the enjoyment of a great share of these benefits. So far as my
services contribute to the happiness of my country, the acknowledgment
thereof by my fellow-citizens and their affectionate attachment will
ever prove an abundant reward.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

DECEMBER 17, 1795.

SPECIAL MESSAGES.

UNITED STATES,  December 9, 1795 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate :

I lay before you, for your consideration, a treaty of peace which has
been negotiated by General Wayne, on behalf of the United States, with
all the late hostile tribes of Indians northwest of the river Ohio,
together with the instructions which were given to General Wayne and
the proceedings at the place of treaty.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  December 21, 1795 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate :

Herewith I transmit, for your information and consideration, the
original letter from the Emperor of Morocco, recognizing the treaty of
peace and friendship between the United States and his father, the late
Emperor, accompanied with a translation thereof, and various documents
relating to the negotiation by which the recognition was effected.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.