MONDAY, November 5, 1792.
This being the day appointed by law for the meeting of the present
Congress, the following members appeared, produced their credentials,
and took their seats:
_From New Hampshire_, NICHOLAS GILMAN, SAMUEL LIVERMORE, and JEREMIAH
SMITH.
_From Massachusetts_, FISHER AMES, SHEARJASHUR BOURNE, ELBRIDGE GERRY,
BENJAMIN GOODHUE, GEORGE THATCHER, and ARTEMAS WARD.
_From Rhode Island_, GEORGE LEONARD, BENJAMIN BOURNE.
_From Connecticut_, AMASA LEARNED, JONATHAN STURGES, and JONATHAN
TRUMBULL, (Speaker.)
_From Vermont_, NATHANIEL NILES and ISRAEL SMITH.
_From New York_, EGBERT BENSON, JOHN LAURANCE, and THOMAS TREDWELL.
_From New Jersey_, ELIAS BOUDINOT, ABRAHAM CLARK, and JONATHAN DAYTON.
_From Pennsylvania_, THOMAS FITZSIMONS and FREDERICK AUGUSTUS
MUHLENBERG.
_From Maryland_, PHILIP KEY and WILLIAM VANS MURRAY.
_From Virginia_, WILLIAM B. GILES, JAMES MADISON, ANDREW MOORE, JOSIAH
PARKER, ABRAHAM VENABLE, and ALEXANDER WHITE.
_From North Carolina_, NATHANIEL MACON, JOHN STEELE, and HUGH
WILLIAMSON.
_From South Carolina_, WILLIAM SMITH, THOMAS SUMTER, and THOMAS TUDOR
TUCKER.
_From Georgia_, ABRAHAM BALDWIN and FRANCIS WILLIS.
A quorum of members being present, a message was sent to the Senate to
inform that body thereof. And a similar message was received by the
House from the Senate; and that JOHN LANGDON had been chosen their
President _pro tempore_.
A joint committee were then appointed to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED STATES, to inform him that a quorum of the two Houses is
assembled, and ready to receive any communications he may think proper
to make them.
_Resolved_, That two Chaplains, of different denominations, be appointed
to Congress, one by each House, to interchange weekly.
The House then proceeded to appoint a Chaplain on their part, when a
majority of votes appeared in favor of the Reverend ASHBEL GREEN.
The SPEAKER laid before the House a letter from the Governor of Georgia,
enclosing a proclamation and return of the election of JOHN MILLEDGE, to
serve as one of the members of this House for the said State, in the
room of ANTHONY WAYNE, whose seat was declared vacant; which was read
and ordered to lie on the table.
Mr. BOUDINOT, from the joint committee appointed to wait on the
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and notify him that a quorum of the two
Houses is assembled and ready to receive any communications he may be
pleased to make to them, reported that the committee had performed that
service, and that the PRESIDENT was pleased to say, that he would make a
communication to both Houses of Congress to-morrow, at twelve o'clock in
the Senate Chamber.
TUESDAY, November 6.
Several other members, viz: from New York, JAMES GORDON; from
Pennsylvania, JOHN WILKES KITTERA; and from Virginia, SAMUEL GRIFFIN and
JOHN PAGE, appeared, and took their seats in the House.
A message from the Senate informed the House that the Senate are now
ready, in the Senate Chamber, to attend this House in receiving the
communication from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, agreeably to his
notification to both Houses yesterday.
The SPEAKER, attended by the members of this House, then withdrew to the
Senate Chamber for the purpose expressed in the message from the Senate;
and, being returned, the SPEAKER laid before the House a copy of the
Speech delivered by the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES to both Houses of
Congress, in the Senate Chamber. [A copy of the Speech appears in the
proceedings of the Senate.]
_Ordered_, That the said Speech be committed to the consideration of a
Committee of the whole House to-morrow.
WEDNESDAY, November 7.
_Defeat of General St. Clair._
_Ordered_, That the report of the committee appointed to inquire into
the causes of the failure of the late expedition under Major General St.
Clair, which was made on the 8th day of May last, be referred to the
consideration of a Committee of the whole House on Wednesday next.
_Answer to the President._
The order of the day being called for, (Mr. LAURANCE in the chair,) the
Speech of the PRESIDENT, delivered yesterday to Congress, was taken up;
and, on motion of Mr. SMITH, of South Carolina, the following resolve
was agreed to: "That a committee be appointed to prepare and report a
respectful Address to the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, in answer to
his Speech delivered to both Houses of Congress at the opening of the
present session; with assurances, that they would take into
consideration the important matters therein contained." An amendment was
now moved, to strike out the word "important;" but it was negatived, as
being a word of too much importance to be neglected. The resolution was
carried, in substance, as above, and the committee rose and reported it.
The House immediately agreed, and a committee of three--Messrs. MADISON,
BENSON, and MURRAY--were appointed by the SPEAKER to prepare the answer
in conformity with the said resolve.
The following Message was received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES:
_Gentlemen of the Senate, and of the House of
Representatives:_
I lay before you copies of certain papers relative to the
Spanish interference in the execution of the treaty entered
into in the year 1790, between the United States, and the
Creek nation of Indians, together with a letter from the
Secretary of State to the President of the United States,
on the same subject.