UNITED STATES, _March 5, 1798_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives_:
The first dispatches from our envoys extraordinary since their arrival
at Paris were received at the Secretary of State's office at a late hour
last evening. They are all in a character which will require some days
to be deciphered, except the last, which is dated the 8th of January,
1798. The contents of this letter are of so much importance to be
immediately made known to Congress and to the public, especially to the
mercantile part of our fellow-citizens, that I have thought it my duty
to communicate them to both Houses without loss of time.