UNITED STATES, _May 3, 1798_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate_:
His Excellency John Jay, esq., governor of New York, has informed me
that the Oneida tribe of Indians have proposed to sell a part of their
land to the said State, and that the legislature at their late session
authorized the purchase, and to accomplish this object the governor has
desired that a commissioner may be appointed to hold a treaty with the
Oneida tribe of Indians, at which the agents of the State of New York
may agree with them on the terms of the purchase. I therefore nominate
Joseph Hopkinson, esq., of Pennsylvania, to be the commissioner to hold
a treaty with the said Oneida tribe of Indians for the purpose above
mentioned.