_Resolved_, That they do concur therein with the following amendment:
after the word "Chaplains," insert "of different denominations."
WEDNESDAY, November 26.
Mr. TRACY reported, from the committee yesterday appointed for the
purpose, that they had waited on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and
that he would receive the Address of the Senate this day, at 12 o'clock,
at his own house.
Whereupon, the Senate waited on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
accordingly: and the President of the Senate, in their name, presented
the Address yesterday agreed to.
To which the PRESIDENT made the following reply:
_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 decision of
Heaven, whose councils are inscrutable to us, we cannot 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 fountains of
wisdom may be always open, and the streams of eloquence for
ever flow. Here may the youth of this extensive country for
ever 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.