H. OF R.

DECEMBER, 1799.

The oath to support the Constitution of the United States, as prescribed by the act, entitled "An act to regulate the time and manner of administering certain oaths," was administered by Mr. RUTLEDGE, one of the Representatives for the State of South Carolina, to the SPEAKER, and then the same oath or affirmation was administered by Mr. SPEAKER to each of the members present.

WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON having also appeared, as a Representative for the Territory of the United States Northwest of the River Ohio, the said oath was administered to him by Mr. SPEAKER.

The same affirmation, together with the affirmation of office prescribed by the said recited act, were also administered by Mr. SPEAKER to the

Clerk.

A message was received from the Senate, informing the House, that they had passed a resolution, appointing a joint committee to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and inform him that Congress had met and were ready to receive any communications he might think proper to make; and, in case of concurrence, that Messrs. READ and BINGHAM were appointed a committee on behalf of the Senate.

The House concurred in the resolution, and Messrs. MARSHALL, RUTLEDGE, and SEWALL, were appointed to wait on the PRESIDENT, in conjunction with the committee from the Senate. The following letter was read by the SPEAKER: 72 WELBECK-STREET, LONDON, September 20, 1798. SIR: I beg leave, through you, to offer to the House of Representatives of the United States, impressions of the two prints of the American Revolution, which I have lately caused to be published.*

The importance of the events, and the illustrious characters of the two great men to whose memory they are particularly devoted, give to these works their best claim to your notice; and the patriotism of my countrymen, I trust, will give them a kinder reception than their intrinsic merit might entitle me to hope.

With great respect, I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient, humble servant,

JNO. TRUMBULL.

The SPEAKER of the House of Reps. U. S.

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.

*The prints referred to by Mr. Trumbull, in his letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, are, first, a representation of the Battle of Quebec, and death of General Montgomery; second, the Battle of Bunker's Hill-both elegant engravings. They are

placed on the right and left of the Speaker's chair, and are highly

rnamental to the Representatives' Chamber.

vice; and that the PRESIDENT had appointed tomorrow 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:

Gentlemen of the Senate, and

Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:

It is with peculiar satisfaction that I meet the sixth Congress of the United States of America. Coming from all parts of the Union, at this critical and interesting period, the members must be fully possessed of the sentiments and wishes of our constituents.

The flattering prospects of abundance, from the labors of the people, by land and by sea; the prosperity of our extended commerce, notwithstanding 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, demand, of the whole American people, sincere thanks to a benevolent Deity, for the merciful dispensations of his providence.

But, while these numerous blessings are recollected, it is a painful duty to advert to the ungrateful return which has been made for them, by some of the people, in certain counties of Pennsylvania, where, seduced by the arts and misrepresentations of designing men, they have openly resisted the law directing the valuation of houses and lands. Such defiance was given to the civil authority as rendered hopeless all further attempts, by judicial process, to enforce the execution of the law; and it became necessary to direct a military force to be employed, consisting of some companies of regular troops, volunteers, and militia, by whose zeal and activity, in co-operation with the judicial power, order and submission were restored, and many of the offenders arrested. Of these, some have been convicted of misdemeanors, and others, charged with various crimes,

remain to be tried.

To give due effect to the civil administration of Government, and to insure a just execution of the laws, a revision and amendment of the judiciary system is indispensably necessary. In this extensive country it the interpretation of the laws, and the rights and duties cannot but happen that numerous questions respecting

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.

DECEMBER, 1799

STANDING COMMITTEES.

On motion of Mr. LIVINGSTON, the House ordered the appointment of the following Standing Committees, viz:

Committee of Elections-Mr. DANA, Mr. SUNTER, Mr. KITTERA, Mr. NEW. Mr. HENDERSON, Mr. GORDON, and Mr BAILEY.

Committee of Claims-Mr. D. FOSTER, Mr. MACON, Mr. BRACE, Mr. MORRIS, Mr. IMLAY, Mr. HANNA, and Mr. JOHN CHEW THOMAS. SEWALL, Mr. WALN, Mr. RUTLEDGE, Mr. JOHN Committee of Commerce-Mr. SMITH, Mr. BROWN, Mr. FRANKLIN DAVENPORT, and Mr. TALCommittee of Revisal and Unfinished Business

IAFERRO.

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 draught the Address.

CHAPLAIN TO THE HOUSE.

A message from the Senate announced that they had passed a resolution for the appointment of two Chaplains to Congress, to which they requested the concurrence of the House.

The resolution having been concurred in, Dr. GREEN was chosen on the part of this House.

THURSDAY, December 5.

The SPEAKER laid before the House a letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, enclosing a report from the Commissioners appointed to superintend the public buildings in the City of Washington.

On motion of Mr. BAYARD, the following resolution was agreed to by the House:

"Resolved, That a committee be appointed to prepare and bring in a bill for the establishment of an uniform system of bankruptcy throughout the United States." Messrs. BAYARD, MARSHALL, C. GOODRICH, SEWALL, and HARPER, were appointed.

The following Message was received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:

Gentlemen of the Senate, and

Gentlemen of the House of Representatives :

I herewith transmit to Congress certain documents which relate to the late insurrection in Pennsylvania, the opening of trade and intercourse with the island of St. Domingo, and the mission to the French Republic; promised in my address to both Houses of Congress, on Tuesday last. JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES Dec. 5, 1799.

The Message and documents were read, and ordered to lie on the table.

[The following are the documents which accompanied the above Message: (See Appendix.) I.—Insurrection in Northampton, &c.

A letter from the Hon. Richard Peters to the Secre tary of State, enclosing a declaration of William Nichols, Esq., Marshal of the district of Pennsylvania; a deposition of Valentine ; and the deposition of Jacob Eyerly, Esq.

A proclamation of the President relative to the Northampton insurrection.

A letter from the Secretary of War to the Governor of Pennsylvania, designating the different companies of troops required from that State to march upon the expedition.

Instructions from the Secretary at War, to Brigadier General Macpherson, commanding the expedition. II.-St. Domingo.

A proclamation of the President of the United States, for opening trade and intercourse with the island of St. Domingo.

III.-Mission to the French Republic.

A letter from Patrick Henry, Esq. to the Secretary of State, declining the appointment of Envoy, owing to his indisposition, and the distance of the scene at which the negotiations are contemplated to take place.

Mr. OTIS moved the following resolution, which was agreed to by the House:

"Resolved, That a committee be appointed to consider whether it be expedient to make any and, if any, what provision for persons confined for debt, and that they report by bill or otherwise."

Messrs. OTIS, BIRD, and STONE, were appointed.

United States.

Another letter from Talleyrand to Pichon, dated Paris, 28th September, 1798, authorizing him to communicate the pacific sentiments contained in the preceding to Mr. Murray; and of the sincere disposition of the Directory to accelerate an amicable adjustment of all existing differences; and the respect with which an American Envoy would be received.

A letter from the Secretary of State to Mr. Murray, enclosing his appointment as Envoy to the French Republic, in conjunction with Mr. Ellsworth, Chief Justice of the United States, and P. Henry, Esq. of Virginia; and the condition (to be expressed to the Directory) on which the Envoys would repair to Paris: or, if more agreeable to the Directory, a Minister from the French Republic would be received at Philadelphia.

H. OF R.

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

public.

A letter from Mr. Murray to the Minister of Foreign Relations, dated at the Hague, acquainting him with the nomination of the Envoys, and the stipulations expressed in the letter from the Secretary of State to Mr. Murray.

A letter from the Minister of Foreign Relations, in answer to the above, dated 12th May, 1799, containing assurances that they shall enjoy all the prerogatives at tached to the mission by the laws of nations, and a Minister of equal quality be appointed to treat with them; and that passports would be granted for their safe conveyance to Paris.]

FRIDAY, December 6.

EDWIN GRAY, from Virginia, and WILLIAM BARRY GROVE, from North Carolina, appeared this day, were qualified, and took their seats.

Mr. HARRISON moved the following resolution, which was ordered to lie on the table, to wit:

Resolved, That a committee be appointed to inquire and report, by bill or otherwise, whether any, and what, alterations are necessary to be made in the judicial establishment of the Territory of the United States Northwest of the river Ohio."

Mr. MARSHALL, from the committee appointed to draught 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. TrumbuH, 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."

On motion of Mr. BAYARD, the President's Speech was referred to a Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union.

MONDAY, December 9.

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 excasioned by the belligerent state of a great part of the tended commerce, notwithstanding the interruptions ocworld, the return of health, industry and trade, to those various and inestimable advantages, civil and religious, cities which have lately been afflicted with disease, and the 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. mit themselves, amid such numerous blessings, to be That any portion of the people of America should perseduced 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 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 our fellow-citizens to their own free Government, and of the truly patriotic alacrity with which they will support it.

a

To give due effect to the civil administration of Government, and to insure a just execution of the laws, are objects of such real magnitude as to secure a 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 Re

ADDRESS TO THE PRESIDENT. The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole, on the Address to be presented to the 6th CON.-7

ferences 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 tenure 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 that 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 connexion, 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

DECEMBER, 1799.

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 insure 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 instructer 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.

House, do present the said Address.
Resolved, That the SPEAKER, attended by the

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.

PRESIDENT'S SPEECH.

The House went into Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, to take into consideration the several objects recommended in the President's Speech.

Mr. D. FOSTER moved the following resolutions, which were agreed to by the Committee, viz:

1. Resolved, That so much of the Speech of the President of the United States, to both Houses of Congress, at the commencement of the present session, as relates to a revision and amendment of the judiciary system, be referred to a committee, with leave to report by bill, bills, or otherwise.

2. Resolved, That so much of the Speech of the President of the United States, to both Houses of Congress, at the commencement of the present session, as relates to the expenditure of public moneys, be referred to a committee of Ways and Means.

3. Resolved, That so much of the Speech of the Presi dent of the United States, to both Houses of Congress, at the commencement of the present session, as relates to a system of national defence, commensurate with our resources and the situation of our country, be referred to a committee.