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FEBRUARY, 1797.]

Proceedings.

[SENATE

tempore, as the constitution provides, and the | House, and took your leave of the members of the honorable WILLIAM BINGHAM was duly elected. Senate, we felt all those emotions of gratitude and Ordered, That the Secretary wait on the affection, which our knowledge and experience of PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and notify your abilities and undeviating impartiality ought to him of the election of the Honorable WILLIAM inspire; and we should, with painful reluctance, enBINGHAM, to be PRESIDENT of the Senate pro that the same qualities which have rendered you usedure the separation, but for the consoling reflection, tempore. ful, as the President of this branch of the Legislature, will enable you to be still more so, in the exalted station to which you have been called.

Ordered, That the Secretary notify the House of Representatives of this election.

On motion,

Ordered, That Messrs. SEDGWICK, BURR, and TRACY, be a committee to prepare and report the draft of an answer to the Address delivered yesterday to the Senate, by the VICE PRESIDENT of the United States.

TUESDAY, February 21.

The bill to accommodate the PRESIDENT was read the third time; and, being further amended, On motion that it be Resolved, That this bill pass, it was decided in the affirmative-yeas 28, nays 3, as follows:

YEAS.-Messrs. Bingham, Bloodworth, Blount, Bradford, Brown, Foster, Goodhue, Gunn, Henry, Hillhouse, Howard, Langdon, Latimer, Laurance, Livermore, Marshall, Martin, Pain, Read, Ross, Rutherford, Sedgwick, Stockton, Tattnall, Tazewell, Tichenor, Tracy, and Vining.

NAYS.-Messrs. Cocke, Hunter, and Mason. So it was Resolved, That this bill pass; that it be engrossed; and that the title thereof be, "An

act to accommodate the PRESIDENT."

Mr. SEDGWICK reported from the committee appointed for the purpose, the draft of an answer to the Address of the VICE PRESIDENT of the United States, on his retiring from the Senate; which was read.

On motion, that it be printed for the use of the Senate, it was disagreed to.

Ordered, That the report lie for consideration.

WEDNESDAY, February 22.

The Senate took into consideration the report of the committee, in answer to the Address of the VICE PRESIDENT of the United States, on his retiring from the Senate.

On motion to recommit the report, it passed in the negative: and the report being amended, was adopted, as follows:

SIR: The Senate of the United States would be unjust to their own feelings, and deficient in the performance of a duty their relation to the Government of their country imposes, should they fail to express their regard for your person, and their respect for your character, in answer to the Address you presented to them, on your leaving a station which you have so long and so honorably filled as their President.

The motives you have been pleased to disclose which induced you not to withdraw from the public service, at a time when your experience, talents, and virtues, were peculiarly desirable, are as honorable for yourself, as, from our confidence in you, sir, we trust the result will be beneficial to our beloved country.

When you retired from your dignified seat in this

From you, sir, in whom your country have for a long period placed a steady confidence, which has never been betrayed or forfeited, and to whom they have on so many occasions intrusted the care of their dearest interests, which have never been abused; from you, who, holding the second situation under the Constitution of the United States, have lived in uninterrupted harmony with him who has held the the declaration which you are pleased to make of the first; from you we receive, with much satisfaction, opinion you entertain of the character of the present Senators, and of that of those citizens who have been heretofore Senators. This declaration, were other motives wanting, would afford them an incentive to a virtuous perseverance in the line of conduct which has been honored with your approbation.

In your future course, we entertain no doubt that your official conduct will be measured by the constitution, and directed to the public good; you have, therefore, a right to entertain a confident reliance, that you will be supported, as well by the people at large as by their constituted authorities.

press for our honor, health, and happiness; we join We cordially reciprocate the wishes which you exthe virtues and liberties of our fellow-citizens, for the with yours our fervent prayers for the continuation of public prosperity and peace; and for you we implore the best reward of virtuous deeds-the grateful approbation of your constituents, and the smiles of

Heaven.

WILLIAM BINGHAM,

President of the Senate pro tempore.

Ordered, That the committee who drafted the Address wait on the VICE PRESIDENT, with the Answer of the Senate.

THURSDAY, February 23.

Mr. SEDGWICK reported, from the committee, that, agreeably to order, they had waited on the VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, with the answer to his Address, on retiring from the Senate-to which the VICE PRESIDENT WAS pleased to make the following Reply:

An Address so respectful and affectionate as this, from gentlemen of such experience and established character in public affairs, high stations in the Government of their country, and great consideration, in their several States, as Senators of the United States, will do me great honor, and afford me a firm support, wherever it shall be known, both at home and abroad. Their generous approbation of my conduct, in general, and liberal testimony to the undeviating impartiality of it, in my peculiar relation to their body, a character which, in every scene and employment of life, I should wish above all others to cultivate and merit, has a tendency to soften asperities, and conciliate animosities, wherever such may unhappily exist; an effect at all times to be desired, and in the present

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situation of our country, ardently to be promoted by
all good citizens.

I pray the Senate to accept my sincere thanks.
JOHN ADAMS.

WEDNESDAY, March 1.

Executive Veto on the Army Bill. The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES having stated his objections to the bill, entitled "An act to alter and amend an act, entitled' an act to ascertain and fix the Military Establishment of the United States,"" the House of Representatives proceeded to consider the objections to the said bill, and have resolved that it do not pass.

SPECIAL SESSION.

SATURDAY, March 4.

Installation of Thomas Jefferson as Vice Presi-
dent of the United States and President of
the Senate, and inauguration of John Adams
as President of the United States.
To the Vice President and Senators of

the United States respectively:
SIR: It appearing to be proper that the Senate of
the United States should be convened on Saturday,
the fourth of March instant, you are desired to attend
in the Chamber of the Senate, on that day at ten
o'clock in the forenoon, to receive any communica-
tions which the President of the United States may
then lay before you touching their interests.

March 1, 1797.

G. WASHINGTON.

[MARCH, 1797

JACOB READ, from South Carolina.
JAMES GUNN and JOSIAH TATTNAll, from
Georgia.

Mr. BINGHAM administered the oath of office to the VICE PRESIDENT, who took the chair, and the credentials of the following members were read.

Of Mr. FOSTER, Mr. GOODHUE, Mr. HILLHOUSE, Mr. HOWARD, Mr. LATIMER, Mr. MASON, Mr. Ross, and Mr. TICHENOR.

And the oath of office being severally administered to them by the VICE PRESIDENT, they took their seats in the Senate.

The VICE PRESIDENT then addressed the Senate as follows:

Gentlemen of the Senate:

Entering on the duties of the office to which I am called, I feel it incumbent on me to apologize to this honorable House for the insufficient manner in which of my life, and through some considerable portion of I fear they may be discharged. At an earlier period it, I have been a member of Legislative bodies, and not altogether inattentive to the forms of their proceedings; but much time has elapsed since that; other duties have occupied my mind, and, in a great degree, it has lost its familiarity with this subject. I fear that the House will have but too frequent occasion to perceive the truth of this acknowledgment. If a diligent attention, however, will enable me to fulfil the functions now assigned me, I may promise that diligence and attention shall be sedulously employed. For one portion of my duty, I shall engage with more confidence, because it will depend on my will and not my capacity. The rules which are to govern the proceedings of this House, so far as they shall dewith the most rigorous and inflexible impartiality, pend on me for their application, shall be applied re-regarding neither persons, their views, nor principles, and seeing only the abstract proposition subject to my decision. If, in forming that decision, I concur with some and differ from others, as must of necessity happen, I shall rely on the liberality and candor of those from whom I differ, to believe, that I do it on pure motives.

In conformity with the summons from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, above cited, the Senate accordingly assembled in their Chamber.

PRESENT:

THOMAS JEFFERSON, Vice President of the
United States and President of the Senate.
JOHN LANGDON and SAMUEL LIVERMORE, from
New Hampshire.

THEODORE SEDGWICK and BENJAMIN GOOD-
HUE, from Massachusetts.

THEODORE FOSTER, from Rhode Island.
JAMES HILLHOUSE and URIAH TRACY, from
Connecticut.

ELIJAH PAYNE and ISAAC TICHENOR, from
Vermont.

JOHN LAURANCE, from New York.
RICHARD STOCKTON, from New Jersey.
JAMES ROSS and WILLIAM BINGHAM, from
Pennsylvania.

JOHN VINING and HENRY LATIMER, from

ware.

Dela

JOHN HENRY and JOHN E. HOWARD, from Maryland.

HENRY TAZEWELL and STEVENS T. MASON, from Virginia.

JOHN BROWN and HUMPHREY MARSHALL, from Kentucky.

ALEXANDER MARTIN and TIMOTHY WORTH, from North Carolina.

WILLIAM BLOUNT, from Tennessee.

I might here proceed, and with the greatest truth, of the United States, that I consider the union of to declare my zealous attachment to the Constitution these States as the first of blessings and as the first of cures it; but I suppose these declarations not pertiduties the preservation of that constitution which se nent to the occasion of entering into an office whose primary business is merely to preside over the forms of this House, and no one more sincerely prays that no accident may call me to the higher and more important functions which the constitution eventually devolves on this office. These have been justly confided to the eminent character which has preceded me here, whose talents and integrity have been known and revered by me through a long course of years, ed friendship between us, and I devoutly pray he have been the foundation of a cordial and uninterruptpiness, and prosperity, of our common country.* may be long preserved for the government, the hap

* A graceful compliment from Mr. Jefferson to Mr. Adams BLOOD-dent and Vice President were not then voted for separately whose competitor he had been in the election, for the Presi but the person having the highest number of votes became President, and the next highest the Vice President; and in

MARCH, 1797.]

Proceedings.

[SENATE

to the frontier in a single day, it was then certainly foreseen by some who assisted in Congress at the formation of it, that it could not be durable.

"Negligence of its regulations, inattention to ita recommendations, if not disobedience to its authority, not only in individuals but in States, soon appeared, with their melancholy consequences: universal lannavigation and commerce; discouragement of necesguor; jealousies and rivalries of States; decline of sary manufactures; universal fall in the value of lands and their produce; contempt of public and private faith; loss of consideration and credit with foreign nations; and, at length, in discontents, animosities, combinations, partial conventions, and in

"In this dangerous crisis, the people of America were not abandoned by their usual good sense, presence of mind, resolution, or integrity. Measures were pursued to concert a plan, to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty. The public disquisitions, discussions, and deliberations, issued in the present happy constitution of Government.

On motion, it was agreed to repair to the Chamber of the House of Representatives to attend the administration of the oath of office to JOHN ADAMS, President of the United States; which the Senate accordingly did; and, being seated, the PEESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (attended by the Heads of Departments, the Marshal of the District and his officers) came into the Chamber of the House of Representatives and took his seat in the chair usually occupied by the SPEAKER. The VICE PRESIDENT and Secretary of the Senate were seated in advance, inclining to the right of the PRESIDENT, the late SPEAKER of the House of Representa-surrection, threatening some great national calamity. tives and Clerk on the left, and the Justices of the Supreme Court were seated round a table in front of the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. The late PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, the great and good WASHINGTON,* took a seat, as a private citizen, a little in front of the seats assigned for the Senate, which were on the south side of the House, the foreign Ministers and members of the House of Representatives took their usual seats-a great concourse "Employed in the service of my country abroad, of both sexes being present. After a short during the whole course of these transactions, I first pause, the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES saw the Constitution of the United States in a forarose, and communicated the following Address: eign country. Irritated by no literary altercation, "When it was first perceived, in early times, that animated by no public debate, heated by no party no middle course for America remained, between un- animosity, I read it with great satisfaction, as a relimited submission to a foreign Legislature, and a sult of good heads, prompted by good hearts; as an total independence of its claims, men of reflection experiment, better adapted to the genius, character, were less apprehensive of danger, from the formi- situation, and relations, of this nation and country, dable power of fleets and armies they must determine than any which had ever been proposed or suggested. to resist, than from those contests and dissensions, In its general principles and great outlines, it was which would certainly arise concerning the forms of conformable to such a system of government as I government to be instituted over the whole and over had ever most esteemed, and in some States, my own the parts of this extensive country. Relying, how-native State in particular, had contributed to estabever, on the purity of their intentions, the justice of their cause, and the integrity and intelligence of the people, under an overruling Providence, which had so signally protected this country from the first, the Representatives of this nation, then consisting of little more than half its present number, not only broke to pieces the chains which were forging, and the rod of iron that was lifted up, but frankly cut asunder the ties which had bound them, and launched into an ocean of uncertainty.

lish. Claiming a right of suffrage, in common with my fellow-citizens, in the adoption or rejection of a constitution which was to rule me and my posterity, as well as them and theirs, I did not hesitate to express my approbation of it, on all occasions, in public and in private. It was not then, nor has been since, any objection to it, in my mind, that the Executive and Senate were not more permanent. Nor have I ever entertained a thought of promoting any alteration in it, but such as the people themselves, in the course of their experience, should see and feel to be necessary or expedient, and by their Representatives in Congress and the State Legislatures, according to the constitution itself, adopt and ordain.

"The zeal and ardor of the people, during the Revolutionary war, supplying the place of government, commanded a degree of order, sufficient at least for the preservation of society. The Confederation, which was early felt to be necessary, was prepared "Returning to the bosom of my country, after a from the models of the Batavian and Helvetic Con- painful separation from it, for ten years, I had the federacies, the only examples which remain, with honor to be elected to a station under the new order any detail and precision, in history, and certainly of things, and I have repeatedly laid myself under the only ones which the people at large had ever considered. But, reflecting on the striking difference, in many particulars, between this country and those where a courier may go from the seat of Government

the most serious obligations to support the constitution. The operation of it has equalled the most sanguine expectations of its friends, and from an habitual attention to it, satisfaction in its administration and delight in its effects upon the peace, order, prosperity, and happiness of the nation, I have acquired

this election there was only a difference of three votes be- an habitual attachment to it, and veneration for it. tween the two highest on the list.

The sensibility which was manifested when General Washington entered, did not surpass the cheerfulness which overspread his own countenance, nor the heartfelt pleasure with which he saw another invested with the power and authorities that had so long been exercised by himself.

Marshall.

"What other form of government, indeed, can so well deserve our esteem and love?

"There may be little solidity in an ancient idea, that congregations of men into cities and nations are the most pleasing objects in the sight of superior intelligences: but this is very certain, that, to a benevolent human mind, there can be no spectacle pre

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sented by any nation more pleasing, more noble, majestic, or august, than an assembly like that which has so often been seen in this and the other chamber of Congress, of a Government, in which the Executive authority, as well as that of all the branches of the Legislature, are exercised by citizens selected, at regular periods, by their neighbors, to make and exfecute laws for the general good. Can any thing sential, any thing more than mere ornament and decoration, be added to this by robes and diamonds? Can authority be more amiable and respectable, when it descends from accidents, or institutions established in remote antiquity, than when it springs fresh from the hearts and judgments of an honest and enlightened people? For, it is the people only that are represented: it is their power and majesty that are reflected, and only for their good, in every legitimate Government, under whatever form it may appear. The existence of such a Government as ours, for any length of time, is a full proof of a general dissemination of knowledge and virtue throughout the whole body of the people. And what object or consideration more pleasing than this can be presented to the human mind? If national pride is ever justifiable or excusable, it is when it springs, not from power or riches, grandeur or glory, but from conviction of national innocence, information, and benevolence.

"In the midst of these pleasing ideas, we should be unfaithful to ourselves, if we should ever lose sight of the danger to our liberties, if any thing partial or extraneous should infect the purity of our free, fair, virtuous, and independent elections. If an election is to be determined by a majority of a single vote, and that can be procured by a party, through artifice or corruption, the Government may be the choice of a party, for its own ends, not of the nation for the national good. If that solitary suffrage can be obtained by foreign nations, by flattery or menaces, by fraud or violence, by terror, intrigue, or venality, the Government may not be the choice of the American people, but of foreign nations. It may be foreign nations who govern us, and not we the people who govern ourselves.

[MARCH, 1797. and by the voice of the Legislatures and the people throughout the nation.

"On this subject it might become me better to be silent, or to speak with diffidence; but as something may be expected, the occasion, I hope, will be admitted as an apology, if I venture to say, that if a preference upon principle, of a free Republican Goves-ernment, formed upon long and serious reflection, after a diligent and impartial inquiry after truth; if an attachment to the Constitution of the United States, and a conscientious determination to support it, until it shall be altered by the judgments and wishes of the people, expressed in the mode prescribed in it; if a respectful attention to the constitutions of the individual States, and a constant caution and delicacy towards the State Government; if an equal and impartial regard to the rights, interest, honor, and happiness, of all the States in the Union, without preference or regard to a Northern or Southern, an Eastern or Western position, their various political opinions on unessential points, or their personal attachments; if a love of virtuous men of all parties and denominations; if a love of science and letters, and a wish to patronize every rational effort to encourage schools, colleges, universities, academies, and every institution for propagating knowledge, virtue, and religion, among all classes of the people, not only for their benign influence on the happiness of life in all its stages and classes, and of society in all its forms, but as the only means of preserving our constitution from its natural enemies, the spirit of sophistry, the spirit of party, the spirit of intrigue, the profligacy of corruption, and the pestilence of foreign influence, which is the angel of destruction to elective governments; if a love of equal laws, of justice, and humanity, in the interior administration; if an inclination to improve agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, for necessity, convenience, and defence; if a spirit of equity and humanity towards the aboriginal nations of America, and a disposition to meliorate their condition, by inclining them to be more friendly to us, and our citizens to be more And candid men will acknow-friendly to them; if an inflexible determination to ledge, that, in such cases, choice would have little maintain peace and inviolable faith with all nations, advantage to boast of, over lot or chance. and that system of neutrality and impartiality among the belligerent powers of Europe, which has been adopted by this Government, and so solemnly sanctioned by both Houses of Congress, and applauded by the Legislatures of the States and the public opinion, until it shall be otherwise ordained by Congress; if a personal esteem for the French nation, formed in a residence of seven years, chiefly among them, and a sincere desire to preserve the friendship which has been so much for the honor and interest of both nations; if, while the conscious honor and integrity of the people of America, and the internal sentiment of their own power and energies must be preserved, an earnest endeavor to investigate every just cause, and remove every colorable pretence of complaint; if an intention to pursue, by amicable negotiation, a reparation for the injuries that have been committed on the commerce of our fellow-citizens by whatever nation, and, if success cannot be obtained, to lay the facts before the Legislature, that they may consider what further measures the honor and interest of the Government and its constituents demand; if a resolution to do justice, as far as may depend upon me, at all times and to all nations, and maintain peace, friendship, and benevolence, with all the world; if an unshaken confidence in the honor, spirit, and resources of the American people, on which I have so

"Such is the amiable and interesting system of Government (and such are some of the abuses to which it may be exposed) which the people of America have exhibited to the admiration and anxiety of the wise and virtuous of all nations, for eight years, under the administration of a citizen, who, by a long course of great actions, regulated by prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude, conducting a people, inspired with the same virtues, and animated with the same ardent patriotism and love of liberty, to independence and peace, to increasing wealth and unexampled prosperity, has merited the gratitude of his fellow-citizens, commanded the highest praises of foreign nations, and secured immortal glory with posterity.

"In that retirement which is his voluntary choice, may he long live to enjoy the delicious recollection of his services, the gratitude of mankind, the happy fruits of them to himself and the world, which are daily increasing, and that splendid prospect of the future fortunes of this country, which is opening from year to year. His name may be still a rampart, and the knowledge that he still lives a bulwark, against all open or secret enemies of his country's peace. His example has been recommended to the imitation of his successors, by both Houses of Congress,

MARCH, 1797.]

Adjournment.

[SENATE.

often hazarded my all, and never been deceived; if | continue his blessing upon this nation and its Govelevated ideas of the high destinies of this country, ernment, and give it all possible success and duraand of my own duties towards it, founded on a know- tion, consistent with the ends of His Providence." ledge of the moral principles and intellectual improvements of the people, deeply engraven on my mind in early life, and not obscured, but exalted by experience and age; and with humble reverence, I feel it to be my duty to add, if a veneration for the religion of a people who profess and call themselves Christians, and a fixed resolution to consider a decent respect for Christianity among the best recommendations for the public service, can enable me, in any degree, to comply with your wishes, it shall be my strenuous endeavor, that this sagacious injunction of the two Houses shall not be without effect.

The oath of office was then administered to him by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, the Associate Justices attending. After which, the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES retired, and the Senate repaired

With this great example before me, with the sense and spirit, the faith and honor, the duty and interest, of the same American people, pledged to support the Constitution of the United States, I entertain no doubt of its continuance in all its energy, and my mind is prepared, without hesitation, to lay myself under the most solemn obligations to support it to the utmost of my power.

"And may that Being who is supreme over all, the Patron of Order, the Fountain of Justice, and the Protector, in all ages of the world, of virtuous liberty,

to their own Chamber.
On motion,

Ordered, That Messrs. LANGDON and SEDGWICK be a committee to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and notify him that the Senate is assembled, and ready to adjourn unless he may have any communications to make to them.

Mr. LANGDON reported, from the committee, that they had waited on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, who replied, that he had no communication to make to the Senate, except his good wishes for their health and prosperity, and a happy meeting with their families and

friends.

The Senate then adjourned without day.

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