_April 30, 1789._
The President, the Vice President, the Senate, and House of
Representatives, &c., then proceeded to St. Paul's Chapel, where divine
service was performed by the chaplain of Congress, after which the
President was reconducted to his house by the committee appointed for
that purpose.
The Vice President and Senate returned to the Senate Chamber; and,
Upon motion, unanimously agreed, That a committee of three should be
appointed to prepare an answer to the President's speech. Mr. JOHNSON,
Mr. PATERSON, and Mr. CARROLL, were elected.
THURSDAY, May 7.
The committee appointed to confer with such committee as might be
appointed on the part of the House of Representatives, to report what
style or titles it will be proper to annex to the offices of President
and of Vice President of the United States, if any other than those
given in the Constitution, reported.
Which report was ordered to lie for consideration.
The committee appointed to prepare an answer to the President's speech,
delivered to the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States, reported as follows:
SIR: We, the Senate of the United States, return you our
sincere thanks for your excellent speech delivered to both
Houses of Congress; congratulate you on the complete
organization of the Federal Government; and felicitate
ourselves and our fellow-citizens on your elevation to the
office of President; an office highly important by the
powers constitutionally annexed to it, and extremely
honorable from the manner in which the appointment is made.
The unanimous suffrage of the elective body in your favor,
is peculiarly expressive of the gratitude, confidence, and
affection of the citizens of America, and is the highest
testimonial at once of your merit and their esteem. We are
sensible, sir, that nothing but the voice of your
fellow-citizens could have called you from a retreat,
chosen with the fondest predilection, endeared by habit,
and consecrated to the repose of declining years. We
rejoice, and with us all America, that, in obedience to the
call of our common country, you have returned once more to
public life. In you all parties confide; in you all
interests unite; and we have no doubt that your past
services, great as they have been, will be equalled by your
future exertions; and that your prudence and sagacity as a
statesman will tend to avert the dangers to which we are
exposed, to give stability to the present Government, and
dignity and splendor to that country, which your skill and
valor, as a soldier, so eminently contributed to raise to
independence and empire.
When we contemplate the coincidence of circumstances, and
wonderful combination of causes, which gradually prepared
the people of this country for independence; when we
contemplate the rise, progress, and termination of the late
war, which gave them a name among the nations of the earth;
we are, with you, unavoidably led to acknowledge and adore
the great Arbiter of the universe, by whom empires rise and
fall. A review of the many signal instances of divine
interposition in favor of this country claims our most
pious gratitude; and permit us, sir, to observe, that,
among the great events which have led to the formation and
establishment of a Federal Government, we esteem your
acceptance of the office of President as one of the most
propitious and important.
In the execution of the trust reposed in us, we shall
endeavor to pursue that enlarged and liberal policy to
which your speech so happily directs. We are conscious that
the prosperity of each State is inseparably connected with
the welfare of all, and that, in promoting the latter, we
shall effectually advance the former. In full persuasion of
this truth, it shall be our invariable aim to divest
ourselves of local prejudices and attachments, and to view
the great assemblage of communities and interests committed
to our charge with an equal eye. We feel, sir, the force,
and acknowledge the justness of the observation, that the
foundation of our national policy should be laid in private
morality. If individuals be not influenced by moral
principles, it is in vain to look for public virtue; it is,
therefore, the duty of legislators to enforce, both by
precept and example, the utility, as well as the necessity,
of a strict adherence to the rules of distributive justice.
We beg you to be assured that the Senate will, at all
times, cheerfully co-operate in every measure which may
strengthen the Union, conduce to the happiness, or secure
and perpetuate the liberties of this great confederated
republic.
We commend you, sir, to the protection of Almighty God,
earnestly beseeching him long to preserve a life so
valuable and dear to the people of the United States; and
that your administration may be prosperous to the nation,
and glorious to yourself.