Part 5

That you may form your judgments with greater facility, I shall direct the proper officer to lay before you an estimate of such articles and expenses as may be thought indispensable.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, _January 18, 1798_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives_:

A representation has been made to me by the judge of the Pennsylvania district of the United States of certain inconveniences and disagreeable circumstances which have occurred in the execution of the law passed on the 28th day of May, 1796, entitled "An act for the relief of persons imprisoned for debt," as well as of certain doubts which have been raised concerning its construction. This representation, together with a report of the Attorney-General on the same subject, I now transmit to Congress for their consideration, that if any amendments or explanations of that law should be thought advisable they may be adopted.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, _January 23, 1798_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives_:

At the commencement of this session of Congress I proposed in the course of it to communicate to both Houses further information concerning the situation of our affairs in the territories of the United States situated on the Mississippi River and in its neighborhood; our intercourse with the Indian nations; our relations with the Spanish Government, and the conduct of their officers and agents. This information will be found in a report of the Secretary of State and the documents attending it, which I now present to the Senate and House of Representatives.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, _February 2, 1798_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives_:

I have received from our minister in London two acts of the Parliament of Great Britain, one passed on the 4th of July, 1797, entitled "An act for carrying into execution the treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation concluded between His Majesty and the United States of America," the other passed on the 19th day of July, 1797, entitled "An act for regulating the trade to be carried on with the British possessions in India by the ships of nations in amity with His Majesty." These acts have such connections with the commercial and political interests of the United States that it is proper they should be communicated to Congress. I have accordingly transmitted copies of them with this message.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, _February 5, 1798_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives_:

I have received a letter from His Excellency Charles Pinckney, esq., governor of the State of South Carolina, dated the 22d of October, 1797, inclosing a number of depositions of witnesses to several captures and outrages committed within and near the limits of the United States by a French privateer belonging to Cape Francois, or Monte Christo, called the _Vertitude_ or _Fortitude_, and commanded by a person of the name of Jordan or Jourdain, and particularly upon an English merchant ship named the _Oracabissa_, which he first plundered and then burned, with the rest of her cargo, of great value, within the territory of the United States, in the harbor of Charleston, on the 17th day of October last, copies of which letter and depositions, and also of several other depositions relative to the same subject, received from the collector of Charleston, are herewith communicated.

Whenever the channels of diplomatical communication between the United States and France shall be opened, I shall demand satisfaction for the insult and reparation for the injury.

I have transmitted these papers to Congress not so much for the purpose of communicating an account of so daring a violation of the territory of the United States as to show the propriety and necessity of enabling the Executive authority of Government to take measures for protecting the citizens of the United States and such foreigners as have a right to enjoy their peace and the protection of their laws within their limits in that as well as some other harbors which are equally exposed.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, _February 12, 1798_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives_:

In obedience to the law, I now present to both Houses of Congress my annual account of expenditures from the contingent fund during the year 1797, by which it appears that on the 1st day of January last there remained in the Treasury a balance of $15,494.24 subject to future dispositions of Government.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, _February 18, 1798_.

_Gentlemen of the House of Representatives_:

In the report of the Secretary of State and the documents herewith transmitted will be found such information as is in our possession of the losses recovered by the citizens of the United States under the treaty made with Great Britain, which are now presented to the House of Representatives in compliance with their request in their resolution of the 1st of this month.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, _February 20, 1798_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives_:

In obedience to the law of the United States of the 3d of March, 1797, entitled "An act authorizing an expenditure and making an appropriation for the prosecution of the claims of certain citizens of the United States for property captured by the belligerent powers," I submit to Congress the account exhibited to me by the Secretary of State with his report of the 17th of this month.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, _February 21, 1798_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate_:

Having received the original treaty concluded between the United States and the Government of Tunis, I lay it before the Senate of the United States whether they advise and consent to its ratification.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, _February 23, 1798_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives_:

The inclosed memorial from the commissioners appointed under an act of the United States entitled "An act for establishing the temporary and permanent seat of the Government of the United States," representing the situation and circumstances of the city of Washington, I take this opportunity to present to both Houses of the Legislature and recommend to their consideration. Alexander White, esq., one of those commissioners, is now in this city, and will be able to give to Congress, or any of their committees, any explanation or further information which the subject may require.

JOHN ADAMS

UNITED STATES, _March 5, 1798_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives_:

The first dispatches from our envoys extraordinary since their arrival at Paris were received at the Secretary of State's office at a late hour last evening. They are all in a character which will require some days to be deciphered, except the last, which is dated the 8th of January, 1798. The contents of this letter are of so much importance to be immediately made known to Congress and to the public, especially to the mercantile part of our fellow-citizens, that I have thought it my duty to communicate them to both Houses without loss of time.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, _March 12, 1798_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate_:

Insinuations having been repeatedly made in the name of the Court of Sweden of an inclination to renew the connection between the United States and that power, I sent, in the recess of the Senate, to our minister at Berlin a full power to negotiate that business, with such alterations as might be agreeable to both parties; but as that commission, if not renewed with the advice and consent of the Senate, will expire with the present session of Congress, I now nominate John Quincy Adams to be a commissioner with full powers to negotiate a treaty of amity and commerce with His Majesty the King of Sweden.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, _March 19, 1798_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives_:

The dispatches from the envoys extraordinary of the United States to the French Republic, which were mentioned in my message to both Houses of Congress of the 5th instant, have been examined and maturely considered.

While I feel a satisfaction in informing you that their exertions for the adjustment of the differences between the two nations have been sincere and unremitted, it is incumbent on me to declare that I perceive no ground of expectation that the objects of their mission can be accomplished on terms compatible with the safety, the honor, or the essential interests of the nation.

This result can not with justice be attributed to any want of moderation on the part of this Government, or to any indisposition to forego secondary interests for the preservation of peace. Knowing it to be my duty, and believing it to be your wish, as well as that of the great body of the people, to avoid by all reasonable concessions any participation in the contentions of Europe, the powers vested in our envoys were commensurate with a liberal and pacific policy and that high confidence which might justly be reposed in the abilities, patriotism, and integrity of the characters to whom the negotiation was committed. After a careful review of the whole subject, with the aid of all the information I have received, I can discern nothing which could have insured or contributed to success that has been omitted on my part, and nothing further which can be attempted consistently with maxims for which our country has contended at every hazard, and which constitute the basis of our national sovereignty.

Under these circumstances I can not forbear to reiterate the recommendations which have been formerly made, and to exhort you to adopt with promptitude, decision, and unanimity such measures as the ample resources of the country afford for the protection of our seafaring and commercial citizens, for the defense of any exposed portions of our territory, for replenishing our arsenals, establishing foundries and military manufactures, and to provide such efficient revenue as will be necessary to defray extraordinary expenses and supply the deficiencies which may be occasioned by depredations on our commerce.

The present state of things is so essentially different from that in which instructions were given to the collectors to restrain vessels of the United States from sailing in an armed condition that the principle on which those orders were issued has ceased to exist. I therefore deem it proper to inform Congress that I no longer conceive myself justifiable in continuing them, unless in particular cases where there may be reasonable ground of suspicion that such vessels are intended to be employed contrary to law.

In all your proceedings it will be important to manifest a zeal, vigor, and concert in defense of the national rights proportioned to the danger with which they are threatened.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, _April 3, 1798_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the request of the House of Representatives expressed in their resolution of the 2d of this month, I transmit to both Houses those instructions to and dispatches from the envoys extraordinary of the United States to the French Republic which were mentioned in my message of the 19th of March last, omitting only some names and a few expressions descriptive of the persons.

I request that they may be considered in confidence until the members of Congress are fully possessed of their contents and shall have had opportunity to deliberate on the consequences of their publication, after which time I submit them to your wisdom.

JOHN ADAMS

UNITED STATES, _April 12, 1798_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate_:

A treaty with the Mohawk Nation of Indians has by accident lain long neglected. It was executed under the authority of the Honorable Isaac Smith, a commissioner of the United States. I now submit it to the Senate for their consideration.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, _May 3, 1798_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate_:

His Excellency John Jay, esq., governor of New York, has informed me that the Oneida tribe of Indians have proposed to sell a part of their land to the said State, and that the legislature at their late session authorized the purchase, and to accomplish this object the governor has desired that a commissioner may be appointed to hold a treaty with the Oneida tribe of Indians, at which the agents of the State of New York may agree with them on the terms of the purchase. I therefore nominate Joseph Hopkinson, esq., of Pennsylvania, to be the commissioner to hold a treaty with the said Oneida tribe of Indians for the purpose above mentioned.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, _June 21, 1798_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives_:

While I congratulate you on the arrival of General Marshall, one of our late envoys extraordinary to the French Republic, at a place of safety, where he is justly held in honor, I think it my duty to communicate to you a letter received by him from Mr. Gerry, the only one of the three who has not received his congé. This letter, together with another from the minister of foreign relations to him of the 3d of April, and his answer of the 4th, will shew the situation in which he remains--his intentions and prospects.

I presume that before this time he has received fresh instructions (a copy of which accompanies this message) to consent to no loans, and therefore the negotiation may be considered at an end.

I will never send another minister to France without assurances that he will be received, respected, and honored as the representative of a great, free, powerful, and independent nation.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, _June 27, 1798_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives_:

I have received a letter from His Excellency Thomas Mifflin, governor of Pennsylvania, inclosing some documents which I judge it my duty to lay before Congress without loss of time.

As my opinion coincides entirely with that of his excellency the governor, I recommend the subject to the consideration of both Houses of Congress, whose authority alone appears to me adequate to the occasion.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, _July 2, 1798_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate_:

I nominate George Washington, of Mount Vernon, to be Lieutenant-General and Commander in Chief of all the armies raised or to be raised in the United States.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, _July 13, 1798_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate_:

A resolution of both Houses of Congress authorizing an adjournment on Monday, the 16th of this month, has been laid before me. Sensible of the severity of the service in so long a session, it is with great reluctance that I find myself obliged to offer any consideration which may operate against the inclinations of the members; but certain measures of Executive authority which will require the consideration of the Senate, and which can not be matured, in all probability, before Monday or Tuesday, oblige me to request of the Senate that they would continue their session until Wednesday or Thursday.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, _July 17, 1798_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate_:

Believing that the letter received this morning from General Washington will give high satisfaction to the Senate, I transmit them a copy of it, and congratulate them and the public on this great event--the General's acceptance of his appointment as Lieutenant-General and Commander in Chief of the Army.

JOHN ADAMS.

MOUNT VERNON, _July 13, 1798_.

JOHN ADAMS,

_President of the United States_.

DEAR SIR: I had the honor, on the evening of the 11th instant, to receive from the hands of the Secretary of War your favor of the 7th, announcing that you had, with the advice and consent of the Senate, appointed me "Lieutenant-General and Commander in Chief of all the armies raised or to be raised for the service of the United States."

I can not express how greatly affected I am at this new proof of public confidence and the highly flattering manner in which you have been pleased to make the communication. At the same time I must not conceal from you my earnest wish that the choice had fallen upon a man less declined in years and better qualified to encounter the usual vicissitudes of war.

You know, sir, what calculation I had made relative to the probable course of events on my retiring from office, and the determination I had consoled myself with of closing the remnant of my days in my present peaceful abode. You will therefore be at no loss to conceive and appreciate the sensations I must have experienced to bring my mind to any conclusion that would pledge me, at so late a period of life, to leave scenes I sincerely love to enter upon the boundless field of public action, incessant trouble, and high responsibility.

It was not possible for me to remain ignorant of or indifferent to recent transactions. The conduct of the Directory of France toward our country, their insidious hostility to its Government, their various practices to withdraw the affections of the people from it, the evident tendency of their acts and those of their agents to countenance and invigorate opposition, their disregard of solemn treaties and the laws of nations, their war upon our defenseless commerce, their treatment of our ministers of peace, and their demands amounting to tribute could not fail to excite in me corresponding sentiments with those my countrymen have so generally expressed in their affectionate addresses to you. Believe me, sir, no one can more cordially approve of the wise and prudent measures of your Administration. They ought to inspire universal confidence, and will no doubt, combined with the state of things, call from Congress such laws and means as will enable you to meet the full force and extent of the crisis.

Satisfied, therefore, that you have sincerely wished and endeavored to avert war, and exhausted to the last drop the cup of reconciliation, we can with pure hearts appeal to Heaven for the justice of our cause, and may confidently trust the final result to that kind Providence who has heretofore and so often signally favored the people of these United States.

Thinking in this manner, and feeling how incumbent it is upon every person, of every description, to contribute at all times to his country's welfare, and especially in a moment like the present, when everything we hold dear and sacred is so seriously threatened, I have finally determined to accept the commission of Commander in Chief of the armies of the United States, with the reserve only that I shall not be called into the field until the Army is in a situation to require my presence or it becomes indispensable by the urgency of circumstances.

In making this reservation I beg it to be understood that I do not mean to withhold any assistance to arrange and organize the Army which you may think I can afford. I take the liberty also to mention that I must decline having my acceptance considered as drawing after it any immediate charge upon the public, or that I can receive any emoluments annexed to the appointment before entering into a situation to incur expense.

The Secretary of War being anxious to return to the seat of Government, I have detained him no longer than was necessary to a full communication upon the several points he had in charge.

With very great respect and consideration, I have the honor to be, dear sir, your most obedient and humble servant,

G'o. WASHINGTON.

PROCLAMATIONS.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

As the safety and prosperity of nations ultimately and essentially depend on the protection and the blessing of Almighty God, and the national acknowledgment of this truth is not only an indispensable duty which the people owe to Him, but a duty whose natural influence is favorable to the promotion of that morality and piety without which social happiness can not exist nor the blessings of a free government be enjoyed; and as this duty, at all times incumbent, is so especially in seasons of difficulty or of danger, when existing or threatening calamities, the just judgments of God against prevalent iniquity, are a loud call to repentance and reformation; and as the United States of America are at present placed in a hazardous and afflictive situation by the unfriendly disposition, conduct, and demands of a foreign power, evinced by repeated refusals to receive our messengers of reconciliation and peace, by depredations on our commerce, and the infliction of injuries on very many of our fellow-citizens while engaged in their lawful business on the seas--under these considerations it has appeared to me that the duty of imploring the mercy and benediction of Heaven on our country demands at this time a special attention from its inhabitants.

I have therefore thought fit to recommend, and I do hereby recommend, that Wednesday, the 9th day of May next, be observed throughout the United States as a day of solemn humiliation, fasting, and prayer; that the citizens of these States, abstaining on that day from their customary worldly occupations, offer their devout addresses to the Father of Mercies agreeably to those forms or methods which they have severally adopted as the most suitable and becoming; that all religious congregations do, with the deepest humility, acknowledge before God the manifold sins and transgressions with which we are justly chargeable as individuals and as a nation, beseeching Him at the same time, of His infinite grace, through the Redeemer of the World, freely to remit all our offenses, and to incline us by His Holy Spirit to that sincere repentance and reformation which may afford us reason to hope for his inestimable favor and heavenly benediction; that it be made the subject of particular and earnest supplication that our country may be protected from all the dangers which threaten it; that our civil and religious privileges may be preserved inviolate and perpetuated to the latest generations; that our public councils and magistrates may be especially enlightened and directed at this critical period; that the American people may be united in those bonds of amity and mutual confidence and inspired with that vigor and fortitude by which they have in times past been so highly distinguished and by which they have obtained such invaluable advantages; that the health of the inhabitants of our land may be preserved, and their agriculture, commerce, fisheries, arts, and manufactures be blessed and prospered; that the principles of genuine piety and sound morality may influence the minds and govern the lives of every description of our citizens, and that the blessings of peace, freedom, and pure religion may be speedily extended to all the nations of the earth.

And finally, I recommend that on the said day the duties of humiliation and prayer be accompanied by fervent thanksgiving to the Bestower of Every Good Gift, not only for His having hitherto protected and preserved the people of these United States in the independent enjoyment of their religious and civil freedom, but also for having prospered them in a wonderful progress of population, and for conferring on them many and great favors conducive to the happiness and prosperity of a nation.

[SEAL.]

Given under my hand and the seal of the United States of America, at Philadelphia, this 23d day of March, A.D. 1798, and of the Independence of the said States the twenty-second.

JOHN ADAMS.

By the President: TIMOTHY PICKERING, _Secretary of State_.

[From C.R. Adams's Works of John Adams, Vol. IX, p. 170.]

PROCLAMATION.

JULY 13, 1798.