_Resolved_, That the rules and orders of proceeding established by the
late House of Representatives, shall be deemed and taken to be the rules
and orders of proceeding to be observed in this House, until a revision
or alteration of the same shall take place.
_Resolved_, That each member be furnished with three newspapers, printed
in this city, during the session, at the expense of this House.
Mr. MARSHALL, from the joint committee appointed to wait on the
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, reported, that they had performed that
service; and that the PRESIDENT had appointed to-morrow forenoon, 12
o'clock, to meet both Houses in the Representatives' Chamber.
The House then adjourned, till to-morrow morning at eleven o'clock.
TUESDAY, December 3.
JAMES A. BAYARD, from Delaware, appeared produced his credentials, was
qualified, and took his seat in the House.
_President's Speech._
_Ordered_, That a message be sent to the Senate to inform them that this
House is now ready to attend them in receiving the communication from
the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, agreeably to his notification to
both Houses yesterday.
The Senate attended and took seats in the House; when, both Houses being
assembled, the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES came into the
Representatives' Chamber, and addressed them as follows. (For the
Speech, see Senate proceedings, _ante_.)
The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES then withdrew and the two Houses
separated.
A copy of the Speech being delivered by the PRESIDENT to the SPEAKER,
and read by the Clerk, it was ordered, that it be committed to a
Committee of the whole House to-morrow.
WEDNESDAY, December 4.
Mr. LIVINGSTON said he conceived some notice ought to be taken of the
letter received from Mr. TRUMBULL, and therefore moved that it be
referred to a select committee. Agreed to, and Messrs. LIVINGSTON,
TALIAFERRO, and HILL, were appointed.
_The President's Speech._
The House went into a Committee of the Whole on the PRESIDENT'S Speech,
Mr. RUTLEDGE in the chair. The Speech having been read,
Mr. MARSHALL moved the following resolution, which was agreed to by the
committee, viz:
_Resolved_, That it is the opinion of this committee, that
a respectful Address ought to be presented by the House of
Representatives to the President of the United States, in
answer to his Speech to both Houses of Congress, on the
opening of the present session, containing assurances that
this House will duly attend to the important objects
recommended by him to their consideration.
The committee rose, and the resolution having been agreed to by the
House, Messrs. MARSHALL, RUTLEDGE, SEWALL, LIVINGSTON, and NICHOLAS,
were appointed a committee to draft the Address.
FRIDAY, December 6.
Mr. MARSHALL, from the committee appointed to draft an Address in answer
to the Speech of the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, at the commencement
of the present session, reported the same, which was committed to a
Committee of the Whole on Monday next, and ordered to be printed.
Mr. LIVINGSTON, from the committee to whom was referred the letter of
Mr. Trumbull, reported the following resolution, which was adopted by
the House:
"_Resolved_, That the two elegant prints offered by Mr.
Trumbull, be accepted; and that the Speaker be instructed
to write an answer, expressive of the pleasure with which
this House has observed his genius and talents exerted in
the patriotic task of celebrating the events which led to
his country's independence, and dedicated to the memory of
those heroes who fell in its defence."
MONDAY, December 9.
JOSIAH PARKER and ROBERT PAGE, from Virginia, appeared, produced their
credentials, were qualified, and took their seats.
_Address to the President._
The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole, on the Address
to be presented to the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES in answer to his
Speech to both Houses, at the commencement of the present session.
Mr. GREGG moved, that the words distinguished by italics, in the third
and fourth lines of the second paragraph of the Address, be struck out,
and that the words "act in" be inserted in their stead; which produced a
short debate, and was finally negatived.
The committee then rose, and the Address was reported without amendment;
and was agreed to by the House, in the words following, viz:
_To the President of the United States:_
SIR: While the House of Representatives contemplate the
flattering prospects of abundance from the labors of the
people, by land and by sea, the prosperity of our extended
commerce, notwithstanding the interruptions occasioned by
the belligerent state of a great part of the world, the
return of health, industry and trade, to those cities which
have lately been afflicted with disease, and the various
and inestimable advantages, civil and religious, which,
secured under our happy frame of Government, are continued
to us unimpaired, we cannot fail to offer up to the
benevolent Deity our sincere thanks for these the merciful
dispensations of his protecting Providence.
That any portion of the people of America should permit
themselves, amid such numerous blessings, to _be seduced by
the arts and misrepresentations of designing men into an_
open resistance of a law of the United States, cannot be
heard without deep and serious regret. Under a constitution
where the public burdens can only be imposed by the people
themselves, for their own benefit, and to promote their own
objects, a hope might well have been indulged that the
general interest would have been too well understood, and
the general welfare too highly prized, to have produced in
any of our citizens a disposition to hazard so much
felicity, by the criminal effort of a part, to oppose with
lawless violence the will of the whole. While we lament
that depravity which could produce a defiance of the civil
authority, and render indispensable the aid of the military
force of the nation, real consolation is to be derived from
the promptness and fidelity with which that aid was
afforded. That zealous and active co-operation with the
judicial power, of the volunteers and militia called into
service, which has restored order and submission to the
laws, is a pleasing evidence of the attachment of out
fellow-citizens to their own free Government, and of the
truly patriotic alacrity with which they will support it.
To give due effect to the civil administration of
Government, and to ensure a just execution of the laws, are
objects of such real magnitude as to secure proper
attention to your recommendation of a revision and
amendment of the judiciary system.
Highly approving, as we do, the pacific and humane policy
which has been invariably professed and sincerely pursued
by the Executive authority of the United States, a policy
which our best interests enjoined and of which honor has
permitted the observance, we consider as the most
unequivocal proof of your inflexible perseverance in the
same well chosen system, your preparation to meet the first
indications on the part of the French Republic, of a
disposition to accommodate the existing differences between
the two countries, by a nomination of Ministers on certain
conditions, which the honor of our country unquestionably
dictated, and which its moderation had certainly given it a
right to prescribe. When the assurances thus required of
the French Government, previous to the departure of our
Envoys, had been given through their Minister of Foreign
Relations, the direction that they should proceed on their
mission, was, on your part, a completion of the measure,
and manifests the sincerity with which it was commenced. We
offer up our fervent prayers to the Supreme Ruler of the
Universe for the success of their embassy, and that it may
be productive of peace and happiness to our common country.
The uniform tenor of your conduct, through a life useful to
your fellow-citizens and honorable to yourself, gives a
sure pledge of the sincerity with which the avowed objects
of the negotiation will be pursued on your part, and we
earnestly pray that similar dispositions may be displayed
on the part of France. The differences which unfortunately
subsist between the two nations, cannot fail, in that
event, to be happily terminated. To produce this end, to
all so desirable, firmness, moderation, and union at home,
constitute, we are persuaded, the surest means. The
character of the gentlemen you have deputed, and still
more, the character of the Government which deputes them,
are safe pledges to their country, that nothing
incompatible with its honor or interest, nothing
inconsistent with our obligations of good faith or
friendship to any other nation, will be stipulated.
We learn, with pleasure, that our citizens, with their
property, trading to those ports of St. Domingo with which
commercial intercourse has been renewed, have been duly
respected, and that privateering from those ports has
ceased.
With you, we sincerely regret that the execution of the
sixth article of the Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and
Navigation, with Great Britain, an article produced by a
mutual spirit of amity and justice, should have been
unavoidably interrupted. We doubt not the same spirit of
amity, and the same sense of justice in which it
originated, will lead to satisfactory explanations; and we
hear with approbation that our Minister at London will be
immediately instructed to obtain them. While the
engagements which America has contracted by her treaty with
Great Britain, ought to be fulfilled with that scrupulous
punctuality and good faith to which our Government has ever
so tenaciously adhered, yet no motive exists to induce, and
every principle forbids us to adopt a construction which
might extend them beyond the instrument by which they are
created. We cherish the hope that the Government of Great
Britain will disclaim such extension, and by cordially
uniting with that of the United States for the removal of
all difficulties, will soon enable the boards appointed
under the sixth and seventh articles of our treaty with
that nation, to proceed, and bring the business committed
to them respectively to a satisfactory conclusion.
The buildings for the accommodation of Congress, and of the
President, and for the public offices of the Government at
its permanent seat, being in such a state as to admit of a
removal to that District by the time prescribed by the act
of Congress, no obstacle, it is presumed, will exist to a
compliance with the law.
With you, sir, we deem the present period critical and
momentous. The important changes which are occurring, the
new and great events which are every hour preparing in the
political world, the spirit of war which is prevalent in
almost every nation with whose affairs the interests of the
United States have any connection, demonstrate how unsafe
and precarious would be our situation, should we neglect
the means of maintaining our just rights. Respecting, as we
have ever done, the rights of others, America estimates too
correctly the value of her own, and has received evidence
too complete that they are only to be preserved by her own
vigilance, ever to permit herself to be seduced by a love
of ease, or by other considerations, into that deadly
disregard of the means of self-defence, which could only
result from a carelessness as criminal as it would be fatal
concerning the future destinies of our growing Republic.
The result of the mission to France is, indeed, sir,
uncertain. It depends not on America alone. The most
pacific temper will not always ensure peace. We should
therefore exhibit a system of conduct as indiscreet as it
would be new in the history of the world, if we considered
the negotiation happily terminated because we have
attempted to commence it, and peace restored because we
wish its restoration. But, sir, however this mission may
terminate, a steady perseverance in a system of national
defence, commensurate with our resources and the situation
of our country, is an obvious dictate of duty. Experience,
the parent of wisdom, and the great instructor of nations,
has established the truth of your position, that, remotely
as we are placed from the belligerent nations, and desirous
as we are, by doing justice to all, to avoid offence to
any, yet nothing short of the power of repelling
aggressions will secure to our country a rational prospect
of escaping the calamities of war or national degradation.
In the progress of the session, we shall take into our
serious consideration the various and important matters
recommended to our attention.
A life devoted to the service of your country, talents and
integrity which have so justly acquired and so long
retained the confidence and affection of your
fellow-citizens, attest the sincerity of your declaration,
that it is your anxious desire so to execute the trust
reposed in you as to render the people of the United States
prosperous and happy.
_Resolved_, That the SPEAKER, attended by the House, do present the said
Address.
Messrs. MARSHALL, RUTLEDGE, and SEWALL, were appointed a committee to
wait on the PRESIDENT, to know when and where he would be ready to
receive the Address; and having performed that service, reported, that
the PRESIDENT had appointed to-morrow, two o'clock, for that purpose, at
his own house.
_Delegate from North-west Territory._
_Ordered_, That the credentials of WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, who has
appeared as a Delegate from the territory of the United States
north-west of the river Ohio, be referred to the Committee of Elections;
and that they be directed to report whether the Territory is entitled to
elect a Delegate who may have a seat in this House.
TUESDAY, December 10.
MATTHEW CLAY, from Virginia, appeared, produced his credentials, was
qualified, and took his seat in the House.
_Address to the President._
The hour having arrived which the PRESIDENT had appointed, Mr. SPEAKER,
attended by the members present, proceeded to the President's house, to
present him their Address in answer to his Speech at the opening of the
present session; and having returned, the PRESIDENT'S reply thereto was
read, as follows:
_Gentlemen of the House of Representatives_:
This very respectful address from the Representatives of
the people of the United States at their first assembly,
after a fresh election, under the strong impression of the
public opinion and national sense, at this interesting and
singular crisis of our public affairs, has excited my
sensibility, and receives my sincere and grateful
acknowledgments.
As long as we can maintain, with harmony and affection, the
honor of our country, consistently with its peace,
externally and internally, while that is attainable, or in
war, when that becomes necessary, assert its real
independence and sovereignty, and support the
constitutional energies and dignity of its government, we
may be perfectly sure, under the smiles of Divine
Providence, that we shall effectually promote and extend
our national interests and happiness.
The applause of the Senate and House of Representatives, so
justly bestowed upon the volunteers and militia, for their
zealous and active co-operation with the judicial power,
which has restored order and submission to the laws, as it
comes with peculiar weight and propriety from the
Legislature, cannot fail to have an extensive and permanent
effect, for the support of Government, upon all those
ingenuous minds who receive delight from the approving and
animating voice of their country.