In the meantime some other points of discussion had arisen with that country, to wit, the restitution of property escaping into the territories of each other, the mutual exchange of fugitives from justice, and, above all the mutual interferences with the Indians lying between us. I had the best reason to believe that the hostilities threatened and exercised by the Southern Indians on our border were excited by the agents of that Government. Representations were thereon directed to be made by our commissioners to the Spanish Government, and a proposal to cultivate with good faith the peace of each other with those people. In the meantime corresponding suspicions were entertained, or pretended to be entertained, on their part of like hostile excitements by our agents to disturb their peace with the same nations. These were brought forward by the representatives of Spain here in a style which could not fail to produce attention. A claim of patronage and protection of those Indians was asserted; a mediation between them and us by that sovereign assumed; their boundaries with us made a subject of his interference, and at length, at the very moment when these savages were committing daily inroads upon our frontier, we were informed by them that "the continuation of the peace, good harmony, and perfect friendship of the two nations was very problematical for the future, unless the United States should take more convenient measures and of greater energy than those adopted for a long time past."

If their previous correspondence had worn the appearance of a desire to urge on a disagreement, this last declaration left no room to evade it, since it could not be conceived we would submit to the scalping knife and tomahawk of the savage without any resistance. I thought it time, therefore, to know if these were the views of their sovereign, and dispatched a special messenger with instructions to our commissioners, which are among the papers now communicated. Their last letter gives us reason to expect very shortly to know the result. I must add that the Spanish representatives here, perceiving that their last communication had made considerable impression, endeavored to abate this by some subsequent professions, which, being also among the communications to the Legislature, they will be able to form their own conclusions.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, December 16, 1793.

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

I lay before you a report of the Secretary of State on the measures which have been taken on behalf of the United States for the purpose of obtaining a recognition of our treaty with Morocco and for the ransom of our citizens and establishment of peace with Algiers.

While it is proper our citizens should know that subjects which so much concern their interest and their feelings have duly engaged the attention of their Legislature and Executive, it would still be improper that some particulars of this communication should be made known. The confidential conversation stated in one of the last letters sent herewith is one of these. Both justice and policy require that the source of that information should remain secret. So a knowledge of the sums meant to have been given for peace and ransom might have a disadvantageous influence on future proceedings for the same objects.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, December 23, 1793.

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

Since the communications which were made to you on the affairs of the United States with Spain and on the truce between Portugal and Algiers some other papers have been received, which, making a part of the same subjects, are now communicated for your information.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, December 30, 1793.

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

I lay before you, for your consideration, a letter from the Secretary of State, informing me of certain impediments which have arisen to the coinage of the precious metals at the Mint, as also a letter from the same officer relative to certain advances of money which have been made on public account. Should you think proper to sanction what has been done, or be of opinion that anything more shall be done in the same way, you will judge whether there are not circumstances which would render secrecy expedient.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, January 7, 1794.

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

Experience has shewn that it would be useful to have an officer particularly charged, under the direction of the Department of War, with the duties of receiving, safe-keeping, and distributing the public supplies in all cases in which the laws and the course of service do not devolve them upon other officers, and also with that of superintending in all cases the issues in detail of supplies, with power for that purpose to bring to account all persons intrusted to make such issues in relation thereto.

An establishment of this nature, by securing a regular and punctual accountability for the issues of public supplies, would be a great guard against abuse, would tend to insure their due application and to give public satisfaction on that point.

I therefore recommend to the consideration of Congress the expediency of an establishment of this nature, under such regulations as shall appear to them advisable,

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, January 20, 1794.

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

Having already laid before you a letter of the 16th of August, 1793, from the Secretary of State to our minister at Paris, stating the conduct and urging the recall of the minister plenipotentiary of the Republic of France, I now communicate to you that his conduct has been unequivocally disapproved, and that the strongest assurances have been given that his recall should be expedited without delay.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, January 21, 1794.

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

It is with satisfaction I announce to you that the alterations which have been made by law in the original plan for raising a duty on spirits distilled within the United States, and on stills, cooperating with better information, have had a considerable influence in obviating the difficulties which have embarrassed that branch of the public revenue. But the obstacles which have been experienced, though lessened, are not yet entirely surmounted, and it would seem that some further legislative provisions may usefully be superadded, which leads me to recall the attention of Congress to the subject. Among the matters which may demand regulation is the effect, in point of organization, produced by the separation of Kentucky from the State of Virginia, and the situation with regard to the law of the territories northwest and southwest of the Ohio.

The laws respecting light-house establishments require, as a condition of their permanent maintenance at the expense of the United States, a complete cession of soil and jurisdiction. The cessions of different States having been qualified with a reservation of the right of serving legal process within the ceded jurisdiction are understood to be inconclusive as annexing a qualification not consonant with the terms of the law. I present this circumstance to the view of Congress, that they may judge whether any alteration ought to be made.

As it appears to be conformable with the intention of the "ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio," although it is not expressly directed that the laws of that territory should be laid before Congress, I now transmit to you a copy of such as have been passed from July to December, 1792, inclusive. being the last which have been received by the Secretary of State.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, January 30, 1794.

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

Communications have been made to Congress during the present session with the intention of affording a full view of the posture of affairs on the Southwestern frontiers. By the information which has lately been laid before Congress it appeared that the difficulties with the Creeks had been amicably and happily terminated; but it will be perceived with regret by the papers herewith transmitted that the tranquillity has, unfortunately, been of short duration, owing to the murder of several friendly Indians by some lawless white men.

The condition of things in that quarter requires the serious and immediate consideration of Congress, and the adoption of such wise and vigorous laws as will be competent to the preservation of the national character and of the peace made under the authority of the United States with the several Indian tribes. Experience demonstrates that the existing legal provisions are entirely inadequate to those great objects.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, February 7, 1794.

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

I transmit to you an act and three ordinances passed by the government of the territory of the United States south of the river Ohio on the 13th and 21st of March and the 7th of May, 1793, and also certain letters from the minister plenipotentiary of the French Republic to the Secretary of State, inclosing dispatches from the general and extraordinary commission of Guadaloupe.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, February 19, 1794.

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

I lay before you the copy of a letter which I have received from the Chief Justice and associate justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, and, at their desire, the representation mentioned in the said letter, pointing out certain defects in the judiciary system.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, February 24, 1794.

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

The extracts which I now lay before you, from a letter of our minister at London, are supplementary to some of my past communications, and will appear to be of a confidential nature.

I also transmit to you copies of a letter from the Secretary of State to the minister plenipotentiary of His Britannic Majesty, and of the answer thereto, upon the subject of the treaty between the United States and Great Britain, together with the copy of a letter from Messrs. Carmichael and Short, relative to our affairs with Spain, which letter is connected with a former confidential message,

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, February 26, 1794.

Gentlemen of the Senate:

I have caused the correspondence which is the subject of your resolution of the 24th day of January last to be laid before me. After an examination of it I directed copies and translations to be made, except in those particulars which, in my judgment, for public considerations, ought not to be communicated.

These copies and translations are now transmitted to the Senate; but the nature of them manifests the propriety of their being received as confidential.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, March 3, 1794.

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

I transmit to you an extract from a letter of Mr. Short, relative to our affairs with Spain, and copies of two letters from our minister at Lisbon, with their inclosures, containing intelligence from Algiers. The whole of these communications are made in confidence, except the passage in Mr. Short's letter which respects the Spanish convoy.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, March 5, 1794.

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

The Secretary of State having reported to me upon the several complaints which have been lodged in his office against the vexations and spoliations on our commerce since the commencement of the European war, I transmit to you a copy of his statement, together with the documents upon which it is founded.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, March 18, 1794.

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

The minister plenipotentiary of the French Republic having requested an advance of money, I transmit to Congress certain documents relative to that subject.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, March 28, 1794.

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives;

In the execution of the resolution of Congress bearing date the 26th of March, 1794, and imposing an embargo, I have requested the governors of the several States to call forth the force of their militia, if it should be necessary, for the detention of vessels. This power is conceived to be incidental to an embargo.

It also deserves the attention of Congress how far the clearances from one district to another, under the law as it now stands, may give rise to evasions of the embargo. As one security the collectors have been instructed to refuse to receive the surrender of coasting licenses for the purpose of taking out registers, and to require bond from registered vessels bound from one district to another, for the delivery of the cargo within the United States.

It is not understood that the resolution applies to fishing vessels, although their occupations lie generally in parts beyond the United States. But without further restrictions there is an opportunity of their privileges being used as means of eluding the embargo.

All armed vessels possessing public commissions from any foreign power (letters of marque excepted) are considered as not liable to the embargo.

These circumstances are transmitted to Congress for their consideration.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, April 4, 1794.

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

I lay before you three letters from our minister in London, advices concerning the Algerine mission from our minister at Lisbon and others, and a letter from the minister plenipotentiary of the French Republic to the Secretary of State, with his answer.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, April 15, 1794.

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

I lay before you a letter from the minister plenipotentiary of His Britannic Majesty to the Secretary of State; a letter from the secretary of the territory south of the river Ohio, inclosing an ordinance and proclamation of the governor thereof; the translation of so much of a petition of the inhabitants of Post Vincennes, addressed to the President, as relates to Congress, and certain dispatches lately received from our commissioners at Madrid. These dispatches from Madrid being a part of the business which has been hitherto deemed confidential, they are forwarded under that view.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, April 16, 1794.

Gentlemen of the Senate:

The communications which I have made to you during your present session from the dispatches of our minister in London contain a serious aspect of our affairs with Great Britain. But as peace ought to be pursued with unremitted zeal before the last resource, which has so often been the scourge of nations, and can not fail to check the advanced prosperity of the United States, is contemplated, I have thought proper to nominate, and do hereby nominate, John Jay as envoy extraordinary of the United States to His Britannic Majesty.

My confidence in our minister plenipotentiary in London continues undiminished. But a mission like this, while it corresponds with the solemnity of the occasion, will announce to the world a solicitude for a friendly adjustment of our complaints and a reluctance to hostility. Going immediately from the United States, such an envoy will carry with him a full knowledge of the existing temper and sensibility of our country, and will thus be taught to vindicate our rights with firmness and to cultivate peace with sincerity.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, May 12, 1794.

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

As the letter which I forwarded to Congress on the 15th day of April last, from the minister plenipotentiary of His Britannic Majesty to the Secretary of State, in answer to a memorial of our minister in London, related to a very interesting subject, I thought it proper not to delay its communication. But since that time the memorial itself has been received in a letter from our minister, and a reply has been made to that answer by the Secretary of State. Copies of them are therefore now transmitted.

I also send the copy of a letter from the governor of Rhode Island, inclosing an act of the legislature of that State empowering the United States to hold lands within the same for the purpose of erecting fortifications, and certain papers concerning patents for the donation lands to the ancient settlers of Vincennes upon the Wabash.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, May 20, 1794.

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

In the communications which I have made to Congress during the present session relative to foreign nations I have omitted no opportunity of testifying my anxiety to preserve the United States in peace. It is peculiarly, therefore, my duty at this time to lay before you the present state of certain hostile threats against the territories of Spain in our neighborhood.

The documents which accompany this message develop the measures which I have taken to suppress them, and the intelligence which has been lately received.

It will be seen from thence that the subject has not been neglected; that every power vested in the Executive on such occasions has been exerted, and that there was reason to believe that the enterprise projected against the Spanish dominions was relinquished.

But it appears to have been revived upon principles which set public order at defiance and place the peace of the United States in the discretion of unauthorized individuals. The means already deposited in the different departments of Government are shewn by experience not to be adequate to these high exigencies, although such of them as are lodged in the hands of the Executive shall continue to be used with promptness, energy, and decision proportioned to the case. But I am impelled by the position of our public affairs to recommend that provision be made for a stronger and more vigorous opposition than can be given to such hostile movements under the laws as they now stand.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, May 21, 1794.

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

I lay before you in confidence sundry papers, by which you will perceive the state of affairs between us and the Six Nations, and the probable cause to which it is owing, and also certain information whereby it would appear that some encroachment was about to be made on our territory by an officer and party of British troops. Proceeding upon a supposition of the authenticity of this information, although of a private nature, I have caused the representation to be made to the British minister a copy of which accompanies this message.

It can not be necessary to comment upon the very serious nature of such an encroachment, nor to urge that this new state of things suggests the propriety of placing the United States in a posture of effectual preparation for an event which, notwithstanding the endeavors making to avert it, may by circumstances beyond our control be forced upon us.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, May 26, 1794.

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

The commissioners of His Catholic Majesty having communicated to the Secretary of State the form of a certificate without which the vessels of the United States can not be admitted into the ports of Spain, I think it proper to lay it before Congress.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, May 27, 1794.

Gentlemen of the Senate:

The Executive Provisory Council of the French Republic having requested me to recall Gouverneur Morris, our minister plenipotentiary in France, I have thought proper, in pursuance of that request, to recall him. I therefore nominate James Monroe, of Virginia, as minister plenipotentiary of the United States to the said Republic.

I also nominate William Short, now minister resident for the United States with Their High Mightinesses the States-General of the United Netherlands, to be minister resident for the United States to His Catholic Majesty, in the room of William Carmichael, who is recalled.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, June 2, 1794.

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

I send you certain communications, recently received from Georgia, which materially change the prospect of affairs in that quarter, and seem to render a war with the Creek Nations more probable than it has been at any antecedent period. While the attention of Congress will be directed to the consideration of measures suited to the exigency, it can not escape their observation that this intelligence brings a fresh proof of the insufficiency of the existing provisions of the laws toward the effectual cultivation and preservation of peace with our Indian neighbors.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



PROCLAMATIONS.

[From a broadside in the archives of the Department of State.]

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas it appears that a state of war exists between Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, Great Britain, and the United Netherlands of the one part and France on the other, and the duty and interest of the United States require that they should with sincerity and good faith adopt and pursue a conduct friendly and impartial toward the belligerent powers:

I have therefore thought fit by these presents to declare the disposition of the United States to observe the conduct aforesaid toward those powers respectively, and to exhort and warn the citizens of the United States carefully to avoid all acts and proceedings whatsoever which may in any manner tend to contravene such disposition.

And I do hereby also make known that whosoever of the citizens of the United States shall render himself liable to punishment or forfeiture under the law of nations by committing, aiding, or abetting hostilities against any of the said powers, or by carrying to any of them those articles which are deemed contraband by the modern usage of nations, will not receive the protection of the United States against such punishment or forfeiture; and further, that I have given instructions to those officers to whom it belongs to cause prosecutions to be instituted against all persons who shall, within the cognizance of the courts of the United States, violate the law of nations with respect to the powers at war, or any of them.

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 22d day of April, 1793, and of the Independence of the United States of America the seventeenth.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

By the President: THOMAS JEFFERSON.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas I have received information that certain persons, in violation of the laws, have presumed, under color of a foreign authority, to enlist citizens of the United States and others within the State of Kentucky, and have there assembled an armed force for the purpose of invading and plundering the territories of a nation at peace with the said United States; and

Whereas such unwarrantable measures, being contrary to the laws of nations and to the duties incumbent on every citizen of the United States, tend to disturb the tranquillity of the same, and to involve them in the calamities of war; and

Whereas it is the duty of the Executive to take care that such criminal proceedings should be suppressed, the offenders brought to justice, and all good citizens cautioned against measures likely to prove so pernicious to their country and themselves, should they be seduced into similar infractions of the laws:

I have therefore thought proper to issue this proclamation, hereby solemnly warning every person, not authorized by the laws, against enlisting any citizen or citizens of the United States, or levying troops, or assembling any persons within the United States for the purposes aforesaid, or proceeding in any manner to the execution thereof, as they will answer for the same at their peril; and I do also admonish and require all citizens to refrain from enlisting, enrolling, or assembling themselves for such unlawful purposes and from being in anywise concerned, aiding, or abetting therein, as they tender their own welfare, inasmuch as all lawful means will be strictly put in execution for securing obedience to the laws and for punishing such dangerous and daring violations thereof.

And I do moreover charge and require all courts, magistrates, and other officers whom it may concern, according to their respective duties, to exert the powers in them severally vested to prevent and suppress all such unlawful assemblages and proceedings, and to bring to condign punishment those who may have been guilty thereof, as they regard the due authority of Government and the peace and welfare of the United States.

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 24th day of March, 1794, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighteenth.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

By the President: EDM. RANDOLPH.



[From Annals of Congress, Fourth Congress, second session, 2796.]

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas combinations to defeat the execution of the laws laying duties upon spirits distilled within the United States and upon stills have from the time of the commencement of those laws existed in some of the western parts of Pennsylvania; and

Whereas the said combinations, proceeding in a manner subversive equally of the just authority of government and of the rights of individuals, have hitherto effected their dangerous and criminal purpose by the influence of certain irregular meetings whose proceedings have tended to encourage and uphold the spirit of opposition by misrepresentations of the laws calculated to render them odious; by endeavors to deter those who might be so disposed from accepting offices under them through fear of public resentment and of injury to person and property, and to compel those who had accepted such offices by actual violence to surrender or forbear the execution of them; by circulating vindictive menaces against all those who should otherwise, directly or indirectly, aid in the execution of the said laws, or who, yielding to the dictates of conscience and to a sense of obligation, should themselves comply therewith; by actually injuring and destroying the property of persons who were understood to have so complied; by inflicting cruel and humiliating punishments upon private citizens for no other cause than that of appearing to be the friends of the laws; by intercepting the public officers on the highways, abusing, assaulting, and otherwise ill treating them; by going to their houses in the night, gaining admittance by force, taking away their papers, and committing other outrages, employing for these unwarrantable purposes the agency of armed banditti disguised in such manner as for the most part to escape discovery; and

Whereas the endeavors of the Legislature to obviate objections to the said laws by lowering the duties and by other alterations conducive to the convenience of those whom they immediately affect (though they have given satisfaction in other quarters), and the endeavors of the executive officers to conciliate a compliance with the laws by explanations, by forbearance, and even by particular accommodations founded on the suggestion of local considerations, have been disappointed of their effect by the machinations of persons whose industry to excite resistance has increased with every appearance of a disposition among the people to relax in their opposition and to acquiesce in the laws, insomuch that many persons in the said western parts of Pennsylvania have at length been hardy enough to perpetrate acts which I am advised amount to treason, being overt acts of levying war against the United States, the said persons having on the 16th and 17th July last past proceeded in arms (on the second day amounting to several hundreds) to the house of John Neville, inspector of the revenue for the fourth survey of the district of Pennsylvania; having repeatedly attacked the said house with the persons therein, wounding some of them; having seized David Lenox, marshal of the district of Pennsylvania, who previous thereto had been fired upon while in the execution of his duty by a party of armed men, detaining him for some time prisoner, till for the preservation of his life and the obtaining of his liberty he found it necessary to enter into stipulations to forbear the execution of certain official duties touching processes issuing out of a court of the United States; and having finally obliged the said inspector of the said revenue and the said marshal from considerations of personal safety to fly from that part of the country, in order, by a circuitous route, to proceed to the seat of Government, avowing as the motives of these outrageous proceedings an intention to prevent by force of arms the execution of the said laws, to oblige the said inspector of the revenue to renounce his said office, to withstand by open violence the lawful authority of the Government of the United States, and to compel thereby an alteration in the measures of the Legislature and a repeal of the laws aforesaid; and

Whereas by a law of the United States entitled "An act to provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions," it is enacted "that whenever the laws of the United States shall be opposed or the execution thereof obstructed in any State by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings or by the powers vested in the marshals by that act, the same being notified by an associate justice or the district judge, it shall be lawful for the President of the United States to call forth the militia of such State to suppress such combinations and to cause the laws to be duly executed. And if the militia of a State where such combinations may happen shall refuse or be insufficient to suppress the same, it shall be lawful for the President, if the Legislature of the United States shall not be in session, to call forth and employ such numbers of the militia of any other State or States most convenient thereto as may be necessary; and the use of the militia so to be called forth may be continued, if necessary, until the expiration of thirty days after the commencement of the ensuing session: Provided always, That whenever it may be necessary in the judgment of the President to use the military force hereby directed to be called forth, the President shall forthwith, and previous thereto, by proclamation, command such insurgents to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes within a limited time;" and

Whereas James Wilson, an associate justice, on the 4th instant, by writing under his hand, did from evidence which had been laid before him notify to me that "in the counties of Washington and Allegany, in Pennsylvania, laws of the United States are opposed and the execution thereof obstructed by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings or by the powers vested in the marshal of that district;" and

Whereas it is in my judgment necessary under the circumstances of the case to take measures for calling forth the militia in order to suppress the combinations aforesaid, and to cause the laws to be duly executed; and I have accordingly determined so to do, feeling the deepest regret for the occasion, but withal the most solemn conviction that the essential interests of the Union demand it, that the very existence of Government and the fundamental principles of social order are materially involved in the issue, and that the patriotism and firmness of all good citizens are seriously called upon, as occasions may require, to aid in the effectual suppression of so fatal a spirit:

Wherefore, and in pursuance of the proviso above recited, I, George Washington, President of the United States, do hereby command all persons being insurgents as aforesaid, and all others whom it may concern, on or before the 1st day of September next to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes. And I do moreover warn all persons whomsoever against aiding, abetting, or comforting the perpetrators of the aforesaid treasonable acts, and do require all officers and other citizens, according to their respective duties and the laws of the land, to exert their utmost endeavors to prevent and suppress such dangerous proceedings.

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 7th day of August, 1794, and of the Independence of the United States of America the nineteenth.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

By the President: EDM. RANDOLPH.



[From Annals of Congress, Third Congress, 1413.]

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas from a hope that the combinations against the Constitution and laws of the United States in certain of the western counties of Pennsylvania would yield to time and reflection I thought it sufficient in the first instance rather to take measures for calling forth the militia than immediately to embody them, but the moment is now come when the overtures of forgiveness, with no other condition than a submission to law, have been only partially accepted; when every form of conciliation not inconsistent with the being of Government has been adopted without effect; when the well-disposed in those counties are unable by their influence and example to reclaim the wicked from their fury, and are compelled to associate in their own defense; when the proffered lenity has been perversely misinterpreted into an apprehension that the citizens will march with reluctance; when the opportunity of examining the serious consequences of a treasonable opposition has been employed in propagating principles of anarchy, endeavoring through emissaries to alienate the friends of order from its support, and inviting its enemies to perpetrate similar acts of insurrection; when it is manifest that violence would continue to be exercised upon every attempt to enforce the laws; when, therefore, Government is set at defiance, the contest being whether a small portion of the United States shall dictate to the whole Union, and, at the expense of those who desire peace, indulge a desperate ambition:

Now, therefore, I, George Washington, President of the United States, in obedience to that high and irresistible duty consigned to me by the Constitution "to take care that the laws be faithfully executed," deploring that the American name should be sullied by the outrages of citizens on their own Government, commiserating such as remain obstinate from delusion, but resolved, in perfect reliance on that gracious Providence which so signally displays its goodness towards this country, to reduce the refractory to a due subordination to the law, do hereby declare and make known that, with a satisfaction which can be equaled only by the merits of the militia summoned into service from the States of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, I have received intelligence of their patriotic alacrity in obeying the call of the present, though painful, yet commanding necessity; that a force which, according to every reasonable expectation, is adequate to the exigency is already in motion to the scene of disaffection; that those who have confided or shall confide in the protection of Government shall meet full succor under the standard and from the arms of the United States; that those who, having offended against the laws, have since entitled themselves to indemnity will be treated with the most liberal good faith if they shall not have forfeited their claim by any subsequent conduct, and that instructions are given accordingly.

And I do moreover exhort all individuals, officers, and bodies of men to contemplate with abhorrence the measures leading directly or indirectly to those crimes which produce this resort to military coercion; to check in their respective spheres the efforts of misguided or designing men to substitute their misrepresentation in the place of truth and their discontents in the place of stable government, and to call to mind that, as the people of the United States have been permitted, under the Divine favor, in perfect freedom, after solemn deliberation, and in an enlightened age, to elect their own government, so will their gratitude for this inestimable blessing be best distinguished by firm exertions to maintain the Constitution and the laws.

And, lastly, I again warn all persons whomsoever and wheresoever not to abet, aid, or comfort the insurgents aforesaid, as they will answer the contrary at their peril; and I do also require all officers and other citizens, according to their several duties, as far as may be in their power, to bring under the cognizance of the laws all offenders in the premises. 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 25th day of September, 1794, and of the Independence of the United States of America the nineteenth.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

By the President: EDM. RANDOLPH.



SIXTH ANNUAL ADDRESS.

UNITED STATES, November 19, 1794.

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

When we call to mind the gracious indulgence of Heaven by which the American people became a nation; when we survey the general prosperity of our country, and look forward to the riches, power, and happiness to which it seems destined, with the deepest regret do I announce to you that during your recess some of the citizens of the United States have been found capable of an insurrection. It is due, however, to the character of our Government and to its stability, which can not be shaken by the enemies of order, freely to unfold the course of this event.

During the session of the year 1790 it was expedient to exercise the legislative power granted by the Constitution of the United States "to lay and collect excises." In a majority of the States scarcely an objection was heard to this mode of taxation. In some, indeed, alarms were at first conceived, until they were banished by reason and patriotism. In the four western counties of Pennsylvania a prejudice, fostered and imbittered by the artifice of men who labored for an ascendency over the will of others by the guidance of their passions, produced symptoms of riot and violence. It is well known that Congress did not hesitate to examine the complaints which were presented, and to relieve them as far as justice dictated or general convenience would permit. But the impression which this moderation made on the discontented did not correspond with what it deserved. The arts of delusion were no longer confined to the efforts of designing individuals. The very forbearance to press prosecutions was misinterpreted into a fear of urging the execution of the laws, and associations of men began to denounce threats against the officers employed. From a belief that by a more formal concert their operation might be defeated, certain self-created societies assumed the tone of condemnation. Hence, while the greater part of Pennsylvania itself were conforming themselves to the acts of excise, a few counties were resolved to frustrate them. It was now perceived that every expectation from the tenderness which had been hitherto pursued was unavailing, and that further delay could only create an opinion of impotency or irresolution in the Government. Legal process was therefore delivered to the marshal against the rioters and delinquent distillers.

No sooner was he understood to be engaged in this duty than the vengeance of armed men was aimed at his person and the person and property of the inspector of the revenue. They fired upon the marshal, arrested him, and detained him for some time as a prisoner. He was obliged, by the jeopardy of his life, to renounce the service of other process on the west side of the Allegheny Mountain, and a deputation was afterwards sent to him to demand a surrender of that which he had served. A numerous body repeatedly attacked the house of the inspector, seized his papers of office, and finally destroyed by fire his buildings and whatsoever they contained. Both of these officers, from a just regard to their safety, fled to the seat of Government, it being avowed that the motives to such outrages were to compel the resignation of the inspector, to withstand by force of arms the authority of the United States, and thereby to extort a repeal of the laws of excise and an alteration in the conduct of Government.

Upon the testimony of these facts an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States notified to me that "in the counties of Washington and Allegheny, in Pennsylvania, laws of the United States were opposed, and the execution thereof obstructed, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings or by the powers vested in the marshal of that district." On this call, momentous in the extreme, I sought and weighed what might best subdue the crisis. On the one hand the judiciary was pronounced to be stripped of its capacity to enforce the laws; crimes which reached the very existence of social order were perpetrated without control; the friends of Government were insulted, abused, and overawed into silence or an apparent acquiescence; and to yield to the treasonable fury of so small a portion of the United States would be to violate the fundamental principle of our Constitution, which enjoins that the will of the majority shall prevail. On the other, to array citizen against citizen, to publish the dishonor of such excesses, to encounter the expense and other embarrassments of so distant an expedition, were steps too delicate, too closely interwoven with many affecting considerations, to be lightly adopted. I postponed, therefore, the summoning the militia immediately into the field, but I required them to be held in readiness, that if my anxious endeavors to reclaim the deluded and to convince the malignant of their danger should be fruitless, military force might be prepared to act before the season should be too far advanced.

My proclamation of the 7th of August last was accordingly issued, and accompanied by the appointment of commissioners, who were charged to repair to the scene of insurrection. They were authorized to confer with any bodies of men or individuals. They were instructed to be candid and explicit in stating the sensations which had been excited in the Executive, and his earnest wish to avoid a resort to coercion; to represent, however, that, without submission, coercion must be the resort; but to invite them, at the same time, to return to the demeanor of faithful citizens, by such accommodations as lay within the sphere of Executive power. Pardon, too, was tendered to them by the Government of the United States and that of Pennsylvania, upon no other condition than a satisfactory assurance of obedience to the laws.

Although the report of the commissioners marks their firmness and abilities, and must unite all virtuous men, by shewing that the means of conciliation have been exhausted, all of those who had committed or abetted the tumults did not subscribe the mild form which was proposed as the atonement, and the indications of a peaceable temper were neither sufficiently general nor conclusive to recommend or warrant the further suspension of the march of the militia.

Thus the painful alternative could not be discarded. I ordered the militia to march, after once more admonishing the insurgents in my proclamation of the 25th of September last.

It was a task too difficult to ascertain with precision the lowest degree of force competent to the quelling of the insurrection. From a respect, indeed, to economy and the ease of my fellow-citizens belonging to the militia, it would have gratified me to accomplish such an estimate. My very reluctance to ascribe too much importance to the opposition, had its extent been accurately seen, would have been a decided inducement to the smallest efficient numbers, In this uncertainty, therefore, I put into motion 15,000 men, as being an army which, according to all human calculation, would be prompt and adequate in every view, and might, perhaps, by rendering resistance desperate, prevent the effusion of blood. Quotas had been assigned to the States of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, the governor of Pennsylvania having declared on this occasion an opinion which justified a requisition to the other States.

As commander in chief of the militia when called into the actual service of the United States, I have visited the places of general rendezvous to obtain more exact information and to direct a plan for ulterior movements. Had there been room for a persuasion that the laws were secure from obstruction; that the civil magistrate was able to bring to justice such of the most culpable as have not embraced the proffered terms of amnesty, and may be deemed fit objects of example; that the friends to peace and good government were not in need of that aid and countenance which they ought always to receive, and, I trust, ever will receive, against the vicious and turbulent, I should have caught with avidity the opportunity of restoring the militia to their families and homes. But succeeding intelligence has tended to manifest the necessity of what has been done, it being now confessed by those who were not inclined to exaggerate the ill conduct of the insurgents that their malevolence was not pointed merely to a particular law, but that a spirit inimical to all order has actuated many of the offenders. If the state of things had afforded reason for the continuance of my presence with the army, it would not have been withholden. But every appearance assuring such an issue as will redound to the reputation and strength of the United States, I have judged it most proper to resume my duties at the seat of Government, leaving the chief command with the governor of Virginia.

Still, however, as it is probable that in a commotion like the present, whatsoever may be the pretense, the purposes of mischief and revenge may not be laid aside, the stationing of a small force for a certain period in the four western counties of Pennsylvania will be indispensable, whether we contemplate the situation of those who are connected with the execution of the laws or of others who may have exposed themselves by an honorable attachment to them. Thirty days from the commencement of this session being the legal limitation of the employment of the militia, Congress can not be too early occupied with this subject.

Among the discussions which may arise from this aspect of our affairs, and from the documents which will be submitted to Congress, it will not escape their observation that not only the inspector of the revenue, but other officers of the United States in Pennsylvania have, from their fidelity in the discharge of their functions, sustained material injuries to their property. The obligation and policy of indemnifying them are strong and obvious. It may also merit attention whether policy will not enlarge this provision to the retribution of other citizens who, though not under the ties of office, may have suffered damage by their generous exertions for upholding the Constitution and the laws. The amount, even if all the injured were included, would not be great, and on future emergencies the Government would be amply repaid by the influence of an example that he who incurs a loss in its defense shall find a recompense in its liberality.

While there is cause to lament that occurrences of this nature should have disgraced the name or interrupted the tranquillity of any part of our community, or should have diverted to a new application any portion of the public resources, there are not wanting real and substantial consolations for the misfortune. It has demonstrated that our prosperity rests on solid foundations, by furnishing an additional proof that my fellow-citizens understand the true principles of government and liberty; that they feel their inseparable union; that notwithstanding all the devices which have been used to sway them from their interest and duty, they are now as ready to maintain the authority of the laws against licentious invasions as they were to defend their rights against usurpation. It has been a spectacle displaying to the highest advantage the value of republican government to behold the most and the least wealthy of our citizens standing in the same ranks as private soldiers, preeminently distinguished by being the army of the Constitution—undeterred by a march of 300 miles over rugged mountains, by the approach of an inclement season, or by any other discouragement. Nor ought I to omit to acknowledge the efficacious and patriotic cooperation which I have experienced from the chief magistrates of the States to which my requisitions have been addressed.

To every description of citizens, indeed, let praise be given. But let them persevere in their affectionate vigilance over that precious depository of American happiness, the Constitution of the United States. Let them cherish it, too, for the sake of those who, from every clime, are daily seeking a dwelling in our land. And when in the calm moments of reflection they shall have retraced the origin and progress of the insurrection, let them determine whether it has not been fomented by combinations of men who, careless of consequences and disregarding the unerring truth that those who rouse can not always appease a civil convulsion, have disseminated, from an ignorance or perversion of facts, suspicions, jealousies, and accusations of the whole Government.

Having thus fulfilled the engagement which I took when I entered into office, "to the best of my ability to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States," on you, gentlemen, and the people by whom you are deputed, I rely for support.

In the arrangements to which the possibility of a similar contingency will naturally draw your attention it ought not to be forgotten that the militia laws have exhibited such striking defects as could not have been supplied but by the zeal of our citizens, Besides the extraordinary expense and waste, which are not the least of the defects, every appeal to those laws is attended with a doubt on its success.

The devising and establishing of a well-regulated militia would be a genuine source of legislative honor and a perfect title to public gratitude. I therefore entertain a hope that the present session will not pass without carrying to its full energy the power of organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia, and thus providing, in the language of the Constitution, for calling them forth to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions.

As auxiliary to the state of our defense, to which Congress can never too frequently recur, they will not omit to inquire whether the fortifications which have been already licensed by law be commensurate with our exigencies.

The intelligence from the army under the command of General Wayne is a happy presage to our military operations against the hostile Indians north of the Ohio. From the advices which have been forwarded, the advance which he has made must have damped the ardor of the savages and weakened their obstinacy in waging war against the United States, And yet, even at this late hour, when our power to punish them can not be questioned, we shall not be unwilling to cement a lasting peace upon terms of candor, equity, and good neighborhood.

Toward none of the Indian tribes have overtures of friendship been spared. The Creeks in particular are covered from encroachment by the interposition of the General Government and that of Georgia. From a desire also to remove the discontents of the Six Nations, a settlement meditated at Presque Isle, on Lake Erie, has been suspended, and an agent is now endeavoring to rectify any misconception into which they may have fallen. But I can not refrain from again pressing upon your deliberations the plan which I recommended at the last session for the improvement of harmony with all the Indians within our limits by the fixing and conducting of trading houses upon the principles then expressed.

Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:

The time which has elapsed since the commencement of our fiscal measures has developed our pecuniary resources so as to open the way for a definite plan for the redemption of the public debt. It is believed that the result is such as to encourage Congress to consummate this work without delay. Nothing can more promote the permanent welfare of the nation and nothing would be more grateful to our constituents. Indeed, whatsoever is unfinished of our system of public credit can not be benefited by procrastination; and as far as may be practicable we ought to place that credit on grounds which can not be disturbed, and to prevent that progressive accumulation of debt which must ultimately endanger all governments.

An estimate of the necessary appropriations, including the expenditures into which we have been driven by the insurrection, will be submitted to Congress.

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives.

The Mint of the United States has entered upon the coinage of the precious metals, and considerable sums of defective coins and bullion have been lodged with the Director by individuals. There is a pleasing prospect that the institution will at no remote day realize the expectation which was originally formed of its utility.

In subsequent communications certain circumstances of our intercourse with foreign nations will be transmitted to Congress. However, it may not be unseasonable to announce that my policy in our foreign transactions has been to cultivate peace with all the world; to observe treaties with pure and absolute faith; to check every deviation from the line of impartiality; to explain what may have been misapprehended and correct what may have been injurious to any nation, and having thus acquired the right, to lose no time in acquiring the ability to insist upon justice being done to ourselves.

Let us unite, therefore, in imploring the Supreme Ruler of Nations to spread his holy protection over these United States; to turn the machinations of the wicked to the confirming of our Constitution; to enable us at all times to root out internal sedition and put invasion to flight; to perpetuate to our country that prosperity which His goodness has already conferred, and to verify the anticipations of this Government being a safeguard to human rights.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



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

SIR: We receive with pleasure your speech to the two Houses of Congress. In it we perceive renewed proofs of that vigilant and paternal concern for the prosperity, honor, and happiness of our country which has uniformly distinguished your past Administration.

Our anxiety arising from the licentious and open resistance to the laws in the western counties of Pennsylvania has been increased by the proceedings of certain self-created societies relative to the laws and administration of the Government; proceedings, in our apprehension, founded in political error, calculated, if not intended, to disorganize our Government, and which, by inspiring delusive hopes of support, have been influential in misleading our fellow-citizens in the scene of insurrection.

In a situation so delicate and important the lenient and persuasive measures which you adopted merit and receive our affectionate approbation. These failing to procure their proper effect, and coercion having become inevitable, we have derived the highest satisfaction from the enlightened patriotism and animating zeal with which the citizens of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia have rallied around the standard of Government in opposition to anarchy and insurrection.

Our warm and cordial acknowledgments are due to you, sir, for the wisdom and decision with which you arrayed the militia to execute the public will, and to them for the disinterestedness and alacrity with which they obeyed your summons.

The example is precious to the theory of our Government, and confers the brightest honor upon the patriots who have given it.

We shall readily concur in such further provisions for the security of internal peace and a due obedience to the laws as the occasion manifestly requires.

The effectual organization of the militia and a prudent attention to the fortifications of our ports and harbors are subjects of great national importance, and, together with the other measures you have been pleased to recommend, will receive our deliberate consideration.

The success of the troops under the command of General Wayne can not fail to produce essential advantages. The pleasure with which we acknowledge the merits of that gallant general and army is enhanced by the hope that their victories will lay the foundation of a just and durable peace with the Indian tribes.

At a period so momentous in the affairs of nations the temperate, just, and firm policy that you have pursued in respect to foreign powers has been eminently calculated to promote the great and essential interest of our country, and has created the fairest title to the public gratitude and thanks.

JOHN ADAMS,

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

NOVEMBER 21, 1794.



REPLY OF THE PRESIDENT.

GENTLEMEN: Among the occasions which have been afforded for expressing my sense of the zealous and steadfast cooperation of the Senate in the maintenance of Government, none has yet occurred more forcibly demanding my unqualified acknowledgments than the present.

Next to the consciousness of upright intentions, it is the highest pleasure to be approved by the enlightened representatives of a free nation. With the satisfaction, therefore, which arises from an unalterable attachment to public order do I learn that the Senate discountenance those proceedings which would arrogate the direction of our affairs without any degree of authority derived from the people.

It has been more than once the lot of our Government to be thrown into new and delicate situations, and of these the insurrection has not been the least important. Having been compelled at length to lay aside my repugnance to resort to arms, I derive much happiness from being confirmed by your judgment in the necessity of decisive measures, and from the support of my fellow-citizens of the militia, who were the patriotic instruments of that necessity.

With such demonstrations of affection for our Constitution; with an adequate organization of the militia; with the establishment of necessary fortifications; with a continuance of those judicious and spirited exertions which have brought victory to our Western army; with a due attention to public credit, and an unsullied honor toward all nations, we may meet, under every assurance of success, our enemies from within and from without.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

NOVEMBER 22, 1794.



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

SIR: The House of Representatives, calling to mind the blessings enjoyed by the people of the United States, and especially the happiness of living under constitutions and laws which rest on their authority alone, could not learn with other emotions than those you have expressed that any part of our fellow-citizens should have shewn themselves capable of an insurrection. And we learn with the greatest concern that any misrepresentations whatever of the Government and its proceedings, either by individuals or combinations of men, should have been made and so far credited as to foment the flagrant outrage which has been committed on the laws. We feel with you the deepest regret at so painful an occurrence in the annals of our country. As men regardful of the tender interests of humanity, we look with grief at scenes which might have stained our land with civil blood; as lovers of public order, we lament that it has suffered so flagrant a violation; as zealous friends of republican government, we deplore every occasion which in the hands of its enemies may be turned into a calumny against it.

This aspect of the crisis, however, is happily not the only one which it presents. There is another, which yields all the consolations which you have drawn from it. It has demonstrated to the candid world, as well as to the American people themselves, that the great body of them everywhere are equally attached to the luminous and vital principle of our Constitution, which enjoins that the will of the majority shall prevail; that they understand the indissoluble union between true liberty and regular government; that they feel their duties no less than they are watchful over their rights; that they will be as ready at all times to crush licentiousness as they have been to defeat usurpation. In a word, that they are capable of carrying into execution that noble plan of self-government which they have chosen as the guaranty of their own happiness and the asylum for that of all, from every clime, who may wish to unite their destiny with ours.

These are the just inferences flowing from the promptitude with which the summons to the standard of the laws has been obeyed, and from the sentiments which have been witnessed in every description of citizens in every quarter of the Union. The spectacle, therefore, when viewed in its true light, may well be affirmed to display in equal luster the virtues of the American character and the value of republican government. All must particularly acknowledge and applaud the patriotism of that portion of citizens who have freely sacrificed everything less dear than the love of their country to the meritorious task of defending its happiness.

In the part which you have yourself borne through this delicate and distressing period we trace the additional proofs it has afforded of your solicitude for the public good. Your laudable and successful endeavors to render lenity in executing the laws conducive to their real energy, and to convert tumult into order without the effusion of blood, form a particular title to the confidence and praise of your constituents. In all that may be found necessary on our part to complete this benevolent purpose, and to secure the ministers and friends of the laws against the remains of danger, our due cooperation will be afforded.

The other subjects which you have recommended or communicated, and of which several are peculiarly interesting, will all receive the attention which they demand. We are deeply impressed with the importance of an effectual organization of the militia. We rejoice at the intelligence of the advance and success of the army under the command of General Wayne, whether we regard it as a proof of the perseverance, prowess, and superiority of our troops, or as a happy presage to our military operations against the hostile Indians, and as a probable prelude to the establishment of a lasting peace upon terms of candor, equity, and good neighborhood. We receive it with the greater pleasure as it increases the probability of sooner restoring a part of the public resources to the desirable object of reducing the public debt.

We shall on this, as on all occasions, be disposed to adopt any measures which may advance the safety and prosperity of our country. In nothing can we more cordially unite with you than in imploring the Supreme Ruler of Nations to multiply his blessings on these United States; to guard our free and happy Constitution against every machination and danger, and to make it the best source of public happiness, by verifying its character of being the best safeguard of human rights,

NOVEMBER 28, 1794.



REPLY OF THE PRESIDENT.

GENTLEMEN: I anticipated with confidence the concurrence of the House of Representatives in the regret produced by the insurrection. Every effort ought to be used to discountenance what has contributed to foment it, and thus discourage a repetition of like attempts; for notwithstanding the consolations which may be drawn from the issue of this event, it is far better that the artful approaches to such a situation of things should be checked by the vigilant and duly admonished patriotism of our fellow-citizens than that the evil should increase until it becomes necessary to crush it by the strength of their arm.

I am happy that the part which I have myself borne on this occasion receives the approbation of your House. For the discharge of a constitutional duty it is a sufficient reward to me to be assured that you will unite in consummating what remains to be done.

I feel also great satisfaction in learning that the other subjects which I have communicated or recommended will meet with due attention; that you are deeply impressed with the importance of an effectual organization of the militia, and that the advance and success of the army under the command of General Wayne is regarded by you, no less than myself, as a proof of the perseverance, prowess, and superiority of our troops.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

NOVEMBER 29, 1794.



SPECIAL MESSAGES.

UNITED STATES, November 21, 1794.

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

I lay before Congress copies of a letter from the governor of the State of New York and of the exemplification of an act of the legislature thereof ratifying the amendment of the Constitution of the United States proposed by the Senate and House of Representatives at their last session, respecting the judicial power.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, November 21, 1794.

Gentlemen of the Senate:

In the negotiation between the United States and His Catholic Majesty I have received satisfactory proofs of attention and ability exerted in behalf of the United States to bring it to a happy and speedy issue. But it is probable that by complying with an intimation made to the Secretary of State by the commissioners of His Catholic Majesty much further delay in concluding it may be prevented. Notwithstanding, therefore, I retain full confidence in our minister resident at Madrid, who is charged with powers as commissioner plenipotentiary, I nominate Thomas Pinckney to be envoy extraordinary of the United States to His Catholic Majesty, for the purpose of negotiating of and concerning the navigation of the river Mississippi, and such other matters relative to the confines of their territories, and the intercourse to be had thereon, as the mutual interests and general harmony of neighboring and friendly nations require should be precisely adjusted and regulated, and of and concerning the general commerce between the United States and the kingdoms and dominions of his said Catholic Majesty.

It is believed that by his temporary absence from London in the discharge of these new functions no injury will arise to the United States.

I also nominate:

John Miller Russell, of Massachusetts, to be consul of the United States of America for the port of St. Petersburg, in Russia, and for such other places as shall be nearer to the said port than to the residence of any other consul or vice-consul of the United States within the same allegiance;

Joseph Pitcairn, of New York, to be vice-consul of the United States of America at Paris, vice Alexander Duvernet, superseded; and

Nathaniel Brush, of Vermont, to be supervisor for the United States in the district of Vermont, vice Noah Smith, who has resigned.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, November 25, 1794.

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

I lay before you a statement of the troops in the service of the United States, which has been submitted to me by the Secretary of War. It will rest with Congress to consider and determine whether further inducements shall be held out for entering into the military service of the United States in order to complete the establishment authorized by law.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, December 17, 1794.

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

I lay before Congress copies of the journal of the proceedings of the executive department of the government of the United States south of the river Ohio to the 1st of September, 1794.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



UNITED STATES, December 30, 1794.

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

I lay before you a report, made to me by the Secretary of War, respecting the frontiers of the United States. The disorders and the great expenses which incessantly arise upon the frontiers are of a nature and magnitude to excite the most serious considerations.

I feel a confidence that Congress will devise such constitutional and efficient measures as shall be equal to the great objects of preserving our treaties with the Indian tribes and of affording an adequate protection to our frontiers.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.



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 St. 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.