The PRESIDENT, having returned to his seat, after a short pause arose, and addressed the Senate and House of Representatives as follows: [SENATE. presentatives, and the other public characters acknowledge and adore the invisible hand which present, the oath was administered. After conducts the affairs of men, more than the people which, the Chancellor proclaimed," Long live of the United States. Every step by which they George Washington, President of the United have advanced to the character of an independent States." nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency; and in the important revolution just accomplished in the system of their united Government, the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities from which the event has resulted, cannot be compared with the means by which most Governments have been established, without some return of pious gratitude, along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seems, to presage. These reflections, arising out of the present crisis, have forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be suppressed. You will join with me, I trust, in thinking, that there are none under the influence of which the proceedings of a new and free Government can more auspiciously commence. Fellow Citizens of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives: Among the vicissitudes incident to life, no event could have filled me with greater anxieties than that of which the notification was transmitted by your order, and received on the 14th day of the present month. On the one hand, I was summoned by my country, whose voice I can never hear but with veneration and love, from a retreat which I had chosen with the fondest predilection, and, in my flattering hopes, with an immutable decision, as the asylum of my declining years: a retreat which was rendered every day more necessary, as well as more dear to me, by the addition of habit to inclination, and of frequent interruptions in my health, to the gradual waste committed on it by time. On the other hand, the magnitude and difficulty of the trust to which the voice of my country called me, being sufficient to awaken in the wisest and most experienced of her citizens a distrustful scrutiny into his qualifications, could not but overwhelm with despondence one, who, inheriting inferior endow-stitute, in place of a recommendation of particular ments from nature, and unpractised in the duties of civil administration, ought to be peculiarly conscious of his own deficiencies. In this conflict of emotions, all I dare aver is, that it has been my faithful study to collect my duty from a just appreciation of every circumstance by which it might be effected. All I dare hope is, that if, in executing this task, I have been too much swayed by a grateful remembrance of former instances, or by an affectionate sensibility to this transcendant proof of the confidence of my fellow-citizens, and have thence too little consulted my incapacity as well as disinclination for the weighty and untried cares before me, my error will be palliated by the motives which misled me, and its consequences be judged by my country, with some share of the partiality in which they originated. Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedience to the public summons, repaired to the present station, it would be peculiarly improper to omit, in this first official act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being, who rules over the universe-who presides in the councils of nationsand whose providential aids can supply every human defect-that his benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States, a Government instituted by themselves, for these essential purposes: and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good, I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own, nor those of my fellow-citizens at large less than either. No people can be bound to By the article establishing the executive department, it is made the duty of the President "to recommend to your consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” The circumstances under which I now meet you will acquit me from entering into that subject, further than to refer to the great, constitutional charter under which you are assembled, and which, in de fining your powers, designates the objects to which your attention is to be given. It will be more consistent with those circumstances, and far more congenial with the feelings which actuate me, to submeasures, the tribute that is due to the talents, the rectitude, and the patriotism, which adorn the characters selected to devise and adopt them. In these honorable qualifications, I behold the surest pledges, that, as on one side no local prejudices or attachments, no separate views, nor party animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and equal eye which ought to watch over this great assemblage of communities and interests; so, on another, that the foundations of our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality, and the pre-eminence of free Government be exemplified by all the attributes which can win the affections of its citizens, and command the respect of the world. I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction which an ardent love for my country can inspire: since there is no truth more thoroughly established, than that there exists, in the economy and course of nature, an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness; between duty and advantage; between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity: since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained; and since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally, staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people. Besides the ordinary objects submitted to your care, it will remain with your judgment to decide how far an exercise of the occasional power dele SENATE.] Proceedings. MAY, 1789. JOHNSON, Mr. PATERSON, and Mr. CARROLL, were elected. FRIDAY, May 1. The report of the joint committee, to whom was recommitted the mode of communication between the Senate and House of Representatives, as made by the committee on the part of the Senate, was taken up, and not accepted. The same report of the committee on the part of the House, and the acceptance thereof by the House, was considered in the Senate, and it was determined that it should lie until further order. gated by the fifth article of the Constitution, is rendered expedient at the present juncture, by the nature of objections which have been urged against the system, or by the degree of inquietude which has given birth to them. Instead of undertaking particular recommendations on this subject, in which I could be guided by no lights derived from official opportunities, I shall again give way to my entire confidence in your discerninent and pursuit of the public good: for, I assure myself, that whilst you carefully avoid every alteration which might endanger the benefits of a united and effective Govern ment, or which ought to await the future lessons of experience; a reverence for the characteristic rights of freemen, and a regard for the public harmony, will sufficiently influence your deliberations on the A motion, "That, when a messenger shall question, how far the former can be more impregna- come from the House of Representatives to bly fortified, or the latter be safely and advantage-the Senate, and shall be announced by the doorously promoted. keeper, the messenger shall be received at the bar of this House by the Secretary, and the bill or paper that he may bring shall there be received from him by the Secretary, who shall deliver it to the President of the Senate," was committed to Mr. ELLSWORTH, Mr. LEE, and Mr. READ. To the preceding observations I have one to add, which will be most properly addressed to the House of Representatives. It concerns myself, and will, therefore, be as brief as possible. When I was first honored with a call into the service of my country, then on the eve of an arduous struggle for its liberties, the light in which I contemplated my duty required that I should renounce every pecuniary compensation. From this resolution I have in no instance departed. And being still under the impressions which produced it, I must decline, as inapplicable to myself, any share in the personal emoluments which may be indispensably included in a permanent provision for the executive department; and must accordingly pray that the pecuniary estimates for the station in which I am placed may, during my continuance in it, be limited to such actual expenditures as the public good may be thought to require. Having thus imparted to you my sentiments, as they have been awakened by the occasion which brings us together, I shall take my present leave; but not without resorting once more to the benign Parent of the human race, in humble supplication, that, since He has been pleased to favor the American people with opportunities for deliberating in perfect tranquillity, and dispositions for deciding with unparalleled unanimity on a form of Government for the security of their union, and the advancement of their happiness, so his divine blessing may be equally conspicuous in the enlarged views, the temperate consultations, and the wise measures, on which the success of this Government must depend. April 30, 1789. G. WASHINGTON. And the committee were instructed to report a mode of sending papers, bills, and messages, from the Senate to the House of Representatives. SATURDAY, May 2. Agreed, That, until a permanent mode of communication shall be adopted between the Senate and House of Representatives, the Senate will receive messages by the Clerk of the House, if the House shall think proper to send him; and papers sent from the House shall be delivered to the Secretary at the bar of the Senate, and by him be conveyed to the President. A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. Beckley, their Clerk, brought to the Senate the proceedings of the House on a resolution of the Senate of the 27th ult.; also, communicated the appointment of the Rev. William Lynn, D. D. one of the Chaplains of Congress. Mr. STRONG, from the committee to whom the bill from the House of Representatives was referred, to regulate the time and manner of administering certain oaths, reported sundry amendments thereto, which were assigned for consideration on Monday next. MONDAY, May 4. The President, the Vice President, the Senate, and House of Representatives, &c. then The Senate proceeded to the consideration proceeded to St. Paul's Chapel, where divine of the report of the committee on the bill to service was performed by the chaplain of Con-regulate the time and manner of administering ducted to his house by the committee appointgress, after which the President was recon ed for that purpose. The Vice President and Senate returned to the Senate Chamber; and, certain oaths. United States," and insert, "Senate and RepreIn line 1, strike out the words "Congress of the sentatives of the United States of America, in Con gress assembled." At the end of the second paragraph, add the Upon motion, unanimously agreed, That a words "of the Senate," and insert the following committee of three should be appointed to pre- clause: "And be it further enacted, That the mempare an answer to the President's speech. Mr.bers of the several State Legislatures, and all execu tive and judicial officers of the several States, who have been heretofore chosen or appointed, or who shall be chosen or appointed before the first day of August next, and who shall then be in office, shall, within one month thereafter, take the same oath or affirmation, except where they shall have taken it before; which may be administered by any person authorized by the law of the State in which such office shall be holden to administer oaths. And the members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers of the several States, who shall be chosen or appointed after the said first day of August, shall, before they proceed to execute the duties of their respective offices, take the foregoing oath or affirmation, which shall be administered by the person or persons, who, by the law of the State, shall be authorized to administer the oath of office; and the person or persons so administering the oath hereby required to be taken, shall cause a record or certificate thereof to be made, in the same manner as, by the law of the State, he or they shall be directed to record or certify the oath of office." The bill to regulate the time and manner of administering certain oaths was read the third time and passed, with amendments. Ordered, That the Secretary carry the aforementioned bill to the House of Representatives, together with the amendments, and address the Speaker in the words following: SIR: The Senate have passed the bill, entitled "An act to regulate the time and manner of administering certain oaths," with amendments, to which they desire the concurrence of your House, Ordered, That when a bill has passed the Senate, the Secretary shall endorse the final determination thereon, and the day when such final question was taken, previous to its being transmitted to the House of Representatives. Adjourned to Thursday morning. THURSDAY, May 7. The committee appointed to confer with such committee as might be appointed on the part of the House of Representatives, to report what style or titles it will be proper to annex to the offices of President and of Vice President of the United States, if any other than those given in the Constitution, reported. Which report was ordered to lie for consideration. The report of the committee upon the motion committed May 1st, was considered, and the first paragraph thereof accepted; whereupon, Ordered, That, when a messenger shall come from the House of Representatives to the Senate, and [SENATE. shall be announced by the door-keeper, the messenger or messengers being a member or members of the House, shall be received within the bar, the President rising when the message is by one member, and the Senate also when it is by two or more: if the messenger be not a member of the House, he shall be received at the bar by the Secretary, and the bill or papers that he may bring shall there be received from him by the Secretary, and be by him delivered to the President. The committee appointed to prepare an answer to the President's speech, delivered to the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States, reported as follows: SIR: We, the Senate of the United States, return you our sincere thanks for your excellent speech delivered to both houses of Congress; congratulate you on the complete organization of the Federal Government; and felicitate ourselves and our fellowcitizens on your elevation to the office of President; an office highly important by the powers constitutionally annexed to it, and extremely honorable from the manner in which the appointment is made. The unanimous suffrage of the elective body in your favor, is peculiarly expressive of the gratitude, confidence, and affection of the citizens of America, and is the highest testimonial at once of your merit and their esteem. We are sensible, sir, that nothing but the voice of your fellow-citizens could have called you from a retreat, chosen with the fondest predilection, endeared by habit, and consecrated to the repose of declining years. We rejoice, and with us all America, that, in obedience to the call of our common country, you have returned once more to public life. In you all parties confide; in you all interests unite; and we have no doubt that your past services, great as they have been, will be equalled by your future exertions; and that your prudence and sagacity as a statesman will tend to avert the dangers to which we are exposed, to give stability to the present Government, and dignity and splendor to that country, which your skill and valor, as a soldier, so eminently contributed to raise to independence and empire. When we contemplate the coincidence of circumstances, and wonderful combination of causes, which gradually prepared the people of this country for independence; when we contemplate the rise, progress, and termination of the late war, which gave them a name among the nations of the earth; we are, with you, unavoidably led to acknowledge and adore the great Arbiter of the universe, by whom empires rise and fall. A review of the many signal instances of divine interposition in favor of this country claims our most pious gratitude; and permit us, sir, to observe, that, among the great events which have led to the formation and establishment of a Federal Government, we esteem your acceptance of the office of President as one of the most propitious and important. In the execution of the trust reposed in us, we shall endeavor to pursue that enlarged and liberal policy to which your speech so happily directs. We are conscious that the prosperity of each State is inseparably connected with the welfare of all, and that, in promoting the latter, we shall effectually advance the former. In full persuasion of this truth, it shall be our invariable aim to divest ourselves of local prejudices and attachments, and to view the great assemblage of communities and interests committed to our charge with an equal eye. We feel, sir, the force, and acknowledge the justness of the observation, that the foundation of our national policy should be laid in private morality. If individuals be not influenced by moral principles, it is in vain to look for public virtue; it is, therefore, the duty of legislators to enforce, both by precept and example, the utility, as well as the necessity, of a strict adherence to the rules of distributive justice. We beg you to be assured that the Senate will, at all times, cheerfully co-operate in every measure which may strengthen the Union, conduce to the happiness, or secure and perpetuate the liberties of this great confederated republic. We commend you, sir, to the protection of Almighty God, earnestly beseeching him long to preserve a life so valuable and dear to the people of the United States; and that your administration may be prosperous to the nation, and glorious to your self. Read and accepted; and Ordered, That the Vice President should affix his signature to the address, in behalf of the Senate. Mr. Beckley, the Clerk of the House of Representatives, delivered a message, purporting "that the House had concurred with the Senate in the amendments proposed in a bill to regulate the time and manner of administering certain oaths;" and, "that the House proposed an amendment to the third amendment, by inserting after the words 'legislatures in the first place, the words at the next session of the said legislatures respectively."" He also brought the Senate a resolve of the House of Representatives, appointing Mr. BLAND, Mr. TRUMBULL, and Mr. VINING, a committee on the part of the House, to confer with any committee to be appointed on the part of the Senate, and report joint rules to be established between the two Houses, for the enrolment, &c. of the acts of Congress, and to confer on the mode of presenting addresses, bills, &c. to the President." 66 [MAY, 1789. Representatives appointed for the same purpose, was considered, and disagreed to. The question was taken, Whether the President of the United States shall be addressed by the title of His Excellency?" and it passed in the negative. On motion that a committee of three be appointed to consider and report under what title it will be proper for the Senate to address the President of the United States, Mr. LEE, Mr. ELLSWORTH, and Mr. JOHNSON, were elected. SATURDAY, May 9. A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that they had accepted the report of the committee appointed to consider what style or title it will be proper to annex to the offices of President and Vice President of the United States, if any other than those given in the Constitution. Ordered, That Mr. FEw, Mr. MACLAY, and Mr. STRONG, be a committee to view the apartments in the City Hall, and to confer with any committee that may be appointed by the House of Representatives for that purpose, and report how the same shall be appropriated. what title it will be proper for the Senate to The committee appointed to consider under address the President of the United States, reported; the consideration of which was postponed until Monday next. The Secretary was charged with a message to the House of Representatives, with the order of Senate passed the 7th instant, on the mode adopted by the Senate in receiving communi cations from that House. Ordered, That Mr. LEE, Mr. ELLSWORTH, and Mr. JOHNSON, be a committee to confer with any committee to be appointed by the House of Representatives, on the difference of opinion now subsisting between the two Houses, respecting the title of the President of the United States; and, on motion for reconsideration, the instruction to the committee was agreed to, as follows: it will be proper for the President of the United "That they consider and report under what title States in future to be addressed, and confer thereon with such committee as the House of Representatives may appoint for that purpose." The Secretary carried to the House of Representatives the appointment of a committee, on the part of the Senate, to view the rooms in the City Hall, and to confer upon their appropriation; The rejection of the report of the committee appointed to consider what style, &c. it will be proper to annex to the offices of President and of Vice President; And the appointment of a committee on the part of the Senate to confer on a title under which it will be proper to address the President of the United States. MONDAY, May 11. Ordered, That the consideration of the report of the committee upon the title by which it will be proper for the Senate to address the President," be postponed until Tuesday next. Ordered, That a committee, to consist of Mr. ELLSWORTH, Mr. CARROLL, and Mr. Fɛw, be appointed, to consider and report a mode of carrying into execution the second paragraph of the third section of the first article of the Constitution. The committee appointed the 13th of April to confer with a coinmittee of the House of Representatives, upon the future disposition of the papers in the office of the late Secretary of Congress, made a report, which was ordered to lie until a committee, appointed May 7, to confer with a committee of the House 66 on joint rules to be established for the enrolment, &c. of the acts of Congress," should report. TUESDAY, May 12. The Clerk of the House of Representatives delivered a message, purporting that the House had concurred in the appointment of a committee on their part, consisting of Mr. WHITE, Mr. SCOTT, and Mr. STURGES, to confer with the committee appointed on the part of the Senate, May the 9th, on the appropriation of the rooms in the City Hall; Also, that the House had appointed a com mittee, consisting of Mr. MADISON, Mr. TRUMBULL, Mr. PAGE, Mr. BENSON, and Mr. SHERMAN, to confer with any committee that the Senate shall appoint on the disagreeing votes of the Senate and House of Representatives upon the report of their joint committee, appointed to consider what titles shall be given to the President and to the Vice President of the United States, if any other than those given in the Constitution. Ordered, That the committee appointed the 9th of May, to consider "by what title it will be proper for the Senate to address the President of the United States, be instructed to confer with the committee of the House of Representatives, agreeably to the proposition in their message of this day. [SENATE. DALTON, Mr. ELMER, Mr. HENRY, and Mr. GUNN, was appointed to report a bill, defining the crimes and offences that shall be cognizable under the authority of the United States, and their punishment. THURSDAY, May 14. The petition of Archibald M'Lean, to be employed as a printer to the Senate and House of Representatives, was read, and ordered to lie on the table. 66 The Secretary carried to the House of Representatives the order of Senate, passed yesterday, appointing a committee to report what newspapers the members of Congress shall be furnished with at the public expense." The committee, appointed the 9th instant, to determine "under what title it will be proper for the Senate to address the President," and to confer with a committee of the House of Representatives "upon the disagreeing votes of the Senate and House," informed the Senate that they had conferred with a committee of the House of Representatives, but could not agree upon a report. The committee, appointed the 9th instant, will be proper for the Senate to address the "to consider and report under what title it President of the United States of America," reported: That, in the opinion of the committee, it will be proper thus to address the President: His Highness, the President of the United States of America, and Protector of their Liberties." Which report was postponed; and the following resolve was agreed to, to wit: From a decent respect for the opinion and practice of civilized nations, whether under monarchical or republican forms of Government, whose custom is to annex titles of respectability to the office of their Chief Magistrate; and that, on intercourse with foreign nations, a due respect for the majesty of the people of the United States may not be hazarded by an appearance of singularity, the Senate have been induced to be of opinion, that it would be proper to annex a respectable title to the office of President of the United States; but, the A motion for the committee, appointed to address the President, to proceed, was postponed to Thurs-Senate, desirous of preserving harmony with the day next. WEDNESDAY, May 13. The committee appointed the 11th inst. on the mode of carrying into execution the second paragraph of the third section of the first article of the Constitution, reported: and the report was ordered to lie for consideration. House of Representatives, where the practice lately observed in presenting an address to the President was without the addition of titles, think it proper, tice of that House: therefore, for the present, to act in conformity with the prac Resolved, That the present address be "To the title. President of the United States," without addition of A motion was made to strike out the preamble as far as the words "but the Senate;" which passed in the negative: And, on motion for the main question, it passed in the affirmative. Ordered, That Mr. LANGDON, Mr. STRONG, and Mr. CARROLL, be a committee, to confer with any committee that may be appointed on the part of the House of Representatives, and report what news papers the members of the Senate and House of The committee appointed to consider and reRepresentatives shall be furnished with at the pub-port a mode of carrying into effect the provilic expense. sion in the second clause of the third section A committee, consisting of Mr. JOHNSON, of the first article of the Constitution, reported; Mr. READ, Mr. LANGDON, Mr. MORRIS, Mr. Whereupon, |