Chapter V: Part 5

It would be unbecoming the representatives of this nation to assemble for the first time in this solemn temple without looking up to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe and imploring His blessing.

May this territory be the residence of virtue and happiness! In this city may that piety and virtue, that wisdom and magnanimity, that constancy and self-government, which adorned the great character whose name it bears be forever held in veneration! Here and throughout our country may simple manners, pure morals, and true religion flourish forever!

It is with you, gentlemen, to consider whether the local powers over the District of Columbia vested by the Constitution in the Congress of the United States shall be immediately exercised. If in your opinion this important trust ought now to be executed, you can not fail while performing it to take into view the future probable situation of the territory for the happiness of which you are about to provide. You will consider it as the capital of a great nation advancing with unexampled rapidity in arts, in commerce, in wealth, and in population, and possessing within itself those energies and resources which, if not thrown away or lamentably misdirected, will secure to it a long course of prosperity and self-government.

In compliance with a law of the last session of Congress, the officers and soldiers of the temporary army have been discharged. It affords real pleasure to recollect the honorable testimony they gave of the patriotic motives which brought them into the service of their country, by the readiness and regularity with which they returned to the station of private citizens.

It is in every point of view of such primary importance to carry the laws into prompt and faithful execution, and to render that part of the administration of justice which the Constitution and laws devolve on the Federal courts as convenient to the people as may consist with their present circumstances, that I can not omit once more to recommend to your serious consideration the judiciary system of the United States. No subject is more interesting than this to the public happiness, and to none can those improvements which may have been suggested by experience be more beneficially applied.

A treaty of amity and commerce with the King of Prussia has been concluded and ratified. The ratifications have been exchanged, and I have directed the treaty to be promulgated by proclamation.

The difficulties which suspended the execution of the sixth article of our treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation with Great Britain have not yet been removed. The negotiation on this subject is still depending. As it must be for the interest and honor of both nations to adjust this difference with good faith, I indulge confidently the expectation that the sincere endeavors of the Government of the United States to bring it to an amicable termination will not be disappointed.

The envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary from the United States to France were received by the First Consul with the respect due to their character, and three persons with equal powers were appointed to treat with them. Although at the date of the last official intelligence the negotiation had not terminated, yet it is to be hoped that our efforts to effect an accommodation will at length meet with a success proportioned to the sincerity with which they have been so often repeated.

While our best endeavors for the preservation of harmony with all nations will continue to be used, the experience of the world and our own experience admonish us of the insecurity of trusting too confidently to their success. We can not, without committing a dangerous imprudence, abandon those measures of self-protection which are adapted to our situation and to which, notwithstanding our pacific policy, the violence and injustice of others may again compel us to resort While our vast extent of seacoast, the commercial and agricultural habits of our people, the great capital they will continue to trust on the ocean, suggest the system of defense which will be most beneficial to ourselves, our distance from Europe and our resources for maritime strength will enable us to employ it with effect. Seasonable and systematic arrangements, so far as our resources will justify, for a navy adapted to defensive war, and which may in case of necessity be quickly brought into use, seem to be as much recommended by a wise and true economy as by a just regard for our future tranquillity, for the safety of our shores, and for the protection of our property committed to the ocean.

The present Navy of the United States, called suddenly into existence by a great national exigency, has raised us in our own esteem, and by the protection afforded to our commerce has effected to the extent of our expectations the objects for which it was created.

In connection with a navy ought to be contemplated the fortification of some of our principal seaports and harbors. A variety of considerations, which will readily suggest themselves, urge an attention to this measure of precaution. To give security to our principal ports considerable sums have already been expended, but the works remain incomplete. It is for Congress to determine whether additional appropriations shall be made in order to render competent to the intended purposes the fortifications which have been commenced.

The manufacture of arms within the United States still invites the attention of the National Legislature. At a considerable expense to the public this manufacture has been brought to such a state of maturity as, with continued encouragement, will supersede the necessity of future importations from foreign countries.

_Gentlemen of the House of Representatives_:

I shall direct the estimates of the appropriations necessary for the ensuing year, together with an account of the public revenue and expenditure to a late period, to be laid before you. I observe with much satisfaction that the product of the revenue during the present year has been more considerable than during any former equal period. This result affords conclusive evidence of the great resources of this country and of the wisdom and efficiency of the measures which have been adopted by Congress for the protection of commerce and preservation of public credit.

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

As one of the grand community of nations, our attention is irresistibly drawn to the important scenes which surround us. If they have exhibited an uncommon portion of calamity, it is the province of humanity to deplore and of wisdom to avoid the causes which may have produced it. If, turning our eyes homeward, we find reason to rejoice at the prospect which presents itself; if we perceive the interior of our country prosperous, free, and happy; if all enjoy in safety, under the protection of laws emanating only from the general will, the fruits of their own labor, we ought to fortify and cling to those institutions which have been the source of such real felicity and resist with unabating perseverance the progress of those dangerous innovations which may diminish their influence.

To your patriotism, gentlemen, has been confided the honorable duty of guarding the public interests; and while the past is to your country a sure pledge that it will be faithfully discharged, permit me to assure you that your labors to promote the general happiness will receive from me the most zealous cooperation.

JOHN ADAMS.

ADDRESS OF THE SENATE TO JOHN ADAMS, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

SIR: Impressed with the important truth that the hearts of rulers and people are in the hand of the Almighty, the Senate of the United States most cordially join in your invocations for appropriate blessings upon the Government and people of this Union.

We meet you, sir, and the other branch of the National Legislature in the city which is honored by the name of our late hero and sage, the illustrious Washington, with sensations and emotions which exceed our power of description.

While we congratulate ourselves on the convention of the Legislature at the permanent seat of Government, and ardently hope that permanence and stability may be communicated as well to the Government itself as to its seat, our minds are irresistibly led to deplore the death of him who bore so honorable and efficient a part in the establishment of both. Great indeed would have been our gratification if his sum of earthly happiness had been completed by seeing the Government thus peaceably convened at this place; but we derive consolation from a belief that the moment in which we were destined to experience the loss we deplore was fixed by that Being whose counsels can not err, and from a hope that since in this seat of Government, which bears his name, his earthly remains will be deposited, the members of Congress, and all who inhabit the city, with these memorials before them, will retain his virtues in lively recollection, and make his patriotism, morals, and piety models for imitation. And permit us to add, sir, that it is not among the least of our consolations that you, who have been his companion and friend from the dawning of our national existence, and trained in the same school of exertion to effect our independence, are still preserved by a gracious Providence in health and activity to exercise the functions of Chief Magistrate.

The question whether the local powers over the District of Columbia, vested by the Constitution in the Congress of the United States, shall be immediately exercised is of great importance, and in deliberating upon it we shall naturally be led to weigh the attending circumstances and every probable consequence of the measures which may be proposed.

The several subjects for legislative consideration contained in your speech to both Houses of Congress shall receive from the Senate all the attention which they can give, when contemplating those objects, both in respect to their national importance and the additional weight that is given them by your recommendation.

We deprecate with you, sir, all spirit of innovation from whatever quarter it may arise, which may impair the sacred bond that connects the different parts of this Empire, and we trust that, under the protection of Divine Providence the wisdom and virtue of the citizens of the United States will deliver our national compact unimpaired to a grateful posterity.

From past experience it is impossible for the Senate of the United States to doubt of your zealous cooperation with the Legislature in every effort to promote the general happiness and tranquillity of the Union.

Accept, sir, our warmest wishes for your health and happiness.

JOHN E. HOWARD,

_President of the Senate pro tempore_.

NOVEMBER 25, 1800.

REPLY OF THE PRESIDENT.

CITY OF WASHINGTON, _November 26, 1800_.

_Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Senate_:

For this excellent address, so respectful to the memory of my illustrious predecessor, which I receive from the Senate of the United States at this time and in this place with peculiar satisfaction, I pray you to accept of my unfeigned acknowledgments. With you I ardently hope that permanence and stability will be communicated as well to the Government itself as to its beautiful and commodious seat. With you I deplore the death of that hero and sage who bore so honorable and efficient a part in the establishment of both. Great indeed would have been my gratification if his sum of earthly happiness had been completed by seeing the Government thus peaceably convened at this place, himself at its head; but while we submit to the decisions of Heaven, whose councils are inscrutable to us, we can not but hope that the members of Congress, the officers of Government, and all who inhabit the city or the country will retain his virtues in lively recollection and make his patriotism, morals, and piety models for imitation.

I thank you, gentlemen, for your assurance that the several subjects for legislative consideration recommended in my communication to both Houses shall receive from the Senate a deliberate and candid attention.

With you, gentlemen, I sincerely deprecate all spirit of innovation which may weaken the sacred bond that connects the different parts of this nation and Government, and with you I trust that under the protection of Divine Providence the wisdom and virtue of our citizens will deliver our national compact unimpaired to a free, prosperous, happy, and grateful posterity. To this end it is my fervent prayer that in this city the foundations of wisdom may be always opened and the streams of eloquence forever flow. Here may the youth of this extensive country forever look up without disappointment, not only to the monuments and memorials of the dead, but to the examples of the living, in the members of Congress and officers of Government, for finished models of all those virtues, graces, talents, and accomplishments which constitute the dignity of human nature and lay the only foundation for the prosperity or duration of empires.

JOHN ADAMS.

ADDRESS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO JOHN ADAMS, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

JOHN ADAMS,

_President of the United States_.

SIR: The House of Representatives have received with great respect the communication which you have been pleased to make to the two Houses of Congress at the commencement of the present session.

The final establishment of the seat of National Government, which has now taken place, within the District of Columbia is an event of no small importance in the political transactions of our country, and we cordially unite our wishes with yours that this Territory may be the residence of happiness and virtue.

Nor can we on this occasion omit to express a hope that the spirit which animated the great founder of this city may descend to future generations, and that the wisdom, magnanimity, and steadiness which marked the events of his public life may be imitated in all succeeding ages.

A consideration of those powers which have been vested in Congress over the District of Columbia will not escape our attention, nor shall we forget that in exercising these powers a regard must be had to those events which will necessarily attend the capital of America.

The cheerfulness and regularity with which the officers and soldiers of the temporary army have returned to the condition of private citizens is a testimony clear and conclusive of the purity of those motives which induced them to engage in the public service, and will remain a proof on all future occasions that an army of soldiers drawn from the citizens of our country deserve our confidence and respect.

No subject can be more important than that of the judiciary, which you have again recommended to our consideration, and it shall receive our early and deliberate attention.

The Constitution of the United States having confided the management of our foreign negotiations to the control of the Executive power, we cheerfully submit to its decisions on this important subject; and in respect to the negotiations now pending with France, we sincerely hope that the final result may prove as fortunate to our country as the most ardent mind can wish.

So long as a predatory war is carried on against our commerce we should sacrifice the interests and disappoint the expectations of our constituents should we for a moment relax that system of maritime defense which has resulted in such beneficial effects. At this period it is confidently believed that few persons can be found within the United States who do not admit that a navy, well organized, must constitute the natural and efficient defense of this country against all foreign hostility.

The progress which has been made in the manufacture of arms leaves no doubt that the public patronage has already placed this country beyond all necessary dependence on foreign markets for an article so indispensable for defense, and gives us assurances that, under the encouragement which Government will continue to extend to this important object, we shall soon rival foreign countries not only in the number but in the quality of arms completed from our own manufactories.

Few events could have been more pleasing to our constituents than that great and rapid increase of revenue which has arisen from permanent taxes. Whilst this event explains the great and increasing resources of our country, it carries along with it a proof which can not be resisted that those measures of maritime defense which were calculated to meet our enemy upon the ocean, and which have produced such extensive protection to our commerce, were founded in wisdom and policy. The mind must, in our opinion, be insensible to the plainest truths which can not discern the elevated ground on which this policy has placed our country. That national spirit which alone could vindicate our common rights has been roused, and those latent energies which had not been fully known were unfolded and brought into view, and our fellow-citizens were prepared to meet every event which national honor or national security could render necessary. Nor have its effects been much less important in other respects.

Whilst many of the nations of the earth have been impoverished and depopulated by internal commotions and national contests, our internal peace has not been materially impaired; our commerce has extended, under the protection of our infant Navy, to every part of the globe; wealth has flowed without intermission into our seaports, and the labors of the husbandman have been rewarded by a ready market for the productions of the soil.

Be assured, sir, that the various and important subjects recommended to our consideration shall receive our early and deliberate attention; and, confident of your cooperation in every measure which may be calculated to promote the general interest, we shall endeavor on our part to testify by our industry and dispatch the zeal and sincerity with which we regard the public good

NOVEMBER 26, 1800.

REPLY OF THE PRESIDENT.

WASHINGTON, _November 27, 1800_.

_Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives_:

Compelled by the habits of a long life, as well as by all the principles of society and government which I could ever understand and believe, to consider the great body of the people as the source of all legitimate authority no less than of all efficient power, it is impossible for me to receive this address from the immediate Representatives of the American people at this time and in this place without emotions which it would be improper to express if any language could convey them.

May the spirit which animated the great founder of this city descend to future generations, and may the wisdom, magnanimity, and steadiness which marked the events of his public life be imitated in all succeeding ages.

I thank you, gentlemen, for your assurance that the judiciary system shall receive your deliberate attention.

With you, gentlemen, I sincerely hope that the final result of the negotiations now pending with France may prove as fortunate to our country as they have been commenced with sincerity and prosecuted with deliberation and caution. With you I cordially agree that so long as a predatory war is carried on against our commerce we should sacrifice the interests and disappoint the expectations of our constituents should we for a moment relax that system of maritime defense which has resulted in such beneficial effects. With you I confidently believe that few persons can be found within the United States who do not admit that a navy, well organized, must constitute the natural and efficient defense of this country against all foreign hostility.

Those who recollect the distress and danger to this country in former periods from the want of arms must exult in the assurance from their Representatives that we shall soon rival foreign countries not only in the number but in the quality of arms completed from our own manufactories.

With you, gentlemen, I fully agree that the great increase of revenue is a proof that the measures of maritime defense were founded in wisdom. This policy has raised us in the esteem of foreign nations. That national spirit and those latent energies which had not been and are not yet fully known to any were not entirely forgotten by those who had lived long enough to see in former times their operation and some of their effects. Our fellow-citizens were undoubtedly prepared to meet every event which national honor or national security could render necessary. These, it is to be hoped, are secured at the cheapest and easiest rate; if not, they will be secured at more expense.

I thank you, gentlemen, for your assurance that the various subjects recommended to your consideration shall receive your deliberate attention. No further evidence is wanting to convince me of the zeal and sincerity with which the House of Representatives regard the public good.

I pray you, gentlemen, to accept of my best wishes for your health and happiness.

JOHN ADAMS.

SPECIAL MESSAGES.

UNITED STATES, _December 15, 1800_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate_:

I transmit to the Senate, for their consideration and decision, a convention, both in English and French, between the United States of America and the French Republic, signed at Paris on the 30th day of September last by the respective plenipotentiaries of the two powers. I also transmit to the Senate three manuscript volumes containing the journal of our envoys.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, _January 7, 1801_.

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

I transmit to both Houses of Congress, for their information and consideration, copies of laws enacted by the governor and judges of the Mississippi Territory from the 30th of June until the 31st of December, A.D. 1799.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, _January 17, 1801_.

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

I have received from Elias Boudinot, esq., Director of the Mint of the United States, a report of the 2d of January, representing the state of it, together with an abstract of the coins struck at the Mint from the 1st of January to the 31st of December, 1800; an abstract of the expenditures of the Mint from the 1st of January to the 31st of December, inclusive; a statement of gain on copper coined at the Mint from the 1st of January to the 31st of December, 1800, and a certificate from Joseph Richardson, assayer of the Mint, ascertaining the value of Spanish milled doubloons in proportion to the gold coins of the United States to be no more than 84 cents and 424/500 parts of a cent for 1 pennyweight, or 28 grains and 24256/84848 parts of a grain to one dollar. These papers I transmit to Congress for their consideration,

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, _January 21, 1801_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate_:

In compliance with your request, signified in your resolution of the 20th day of this month, I transmit you a report made to me by the Secretary of State on the same day, a letter of our late envoys to him of the 4th of October last, an extract of a letter from our minister plenipotentiary in London to him of the 22d of November last, and an extract of another letter from the minister to the Secretary of the 31st of October last.

The reasoning in the letter of our late envoys to France is so fully supported by the writers on the law of nations, particularly by Vattel, as well as by his great masters, Grotius and Puffendorf, that nothing is left to be desired to settle the point that if there be a collision between two treaties made with two different powers the more ancient has the advantage, for no engagement contrary to it can be entered into in the treaty afterwards made; and if this last be found in any case incompatible with the more ancient one its execution is considered as impossible, because the person promising had not the power of acting contrary to his antecedent engagement. Although our right is very clear to negotiate treaties according to our own ideas of right and justice, honor and good faith, yet it must always be a satisfaction to know that the judgment of other nations with whom we have connection coincides with ours, and that we have no reason to apprehend that any disagreeable questions and discussions are likely to arise. The letters from Mr. King will therefore be read by the Senate with particular satisfaction.

The inconveniences to public officers and the mischiefs to the public arising from the publication of the dispatches of ministers abroad are so numerous and so obvious that I request of the Senate that these papers, especially the letters from Mr. King, be considered in close confidence.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, _January 30, 1801_.

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

I transmit to Congress for their consideration a letter from William Thornton, Alexander White, and William Cranch, esquires, commissioners of the city of Washington, with a representation of the affairs of the city made by them to the President of the United States, dated 28th of January, 1801, accompanied with a series of documents marked from A to H, inclusively.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, _February 16, 1801_.

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

I wish to know the pleasure of Congress and request their direction concerning the disposition of the property of the United States now in my possession; whether I shall deliver it into the hands of the heads of Departments, or of the commissioners of the city of Washington, or of a committee of Congress, or to any other persons Congress may appoint, to be delivered into the hands of my successor, or whether I shall present it myself to the President of the United States on the 4th of March next. Any of these modes will be agreeable to me.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, _February 20, 1801_.

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

I transmit to Congress a report received this morning from Elias Boudinot, esq., Director of the Mint, dated February 13, 1801, which will require the attention and decision of Congress before the close of the session.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, _March 2, 1801_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate_:

I have considered the advice and consent of the Senate to the ratification of the convention with France under certain conditions. Although it would have been more conformable to my own judgment and inclination to have agreed to that instrument unconditionally, yet as in this point I found I had the misfortune to differ in opinion from so high a constitutional authority as the Senate, I judged it more consistent with the honor and interest of the United States to ratify it under the conditions prescribed than not at all. I accordingly nominated Mr. Bayard minister plenipotentiary to the French Republic, that he might proceed without delay to Paris to negotiate the exchange of ratifications; but as that gentleman has declined his appointment, for reasons equally applicable to every other person suitable for the service, I shall take no further measures relative to this business, and leave the convention, with all the documents, in the Office of State, that my successor may proceed with them according to his wisdom.

JOHN ADAMS.

PROCLAMATION.

JANUARY 30, 1801.

_To the Senators of the United States, respectively_.

SIR: It appearing to me proper and necessary for the public service that the Senate of the United States should be convened on Wednesday, the 4th of March next, you are desired to attend in the Chamber of the Senate on that day, at 10 o'clock in the forenoon, to receive and act upon any communications which the President of the United States may then lay before you touching their interests, and to do and consider all other things which may be proper and necessary for the public service for the Senate to do and consider.

JOHN ADAMS, _President of the United States_.