CHAPTER XIII.

Meeting of the sixth Congress....President's Speech ....Death of General Washington....Proceedings of Congress....John Randolph insulted at the Theatre of Philadelphia....Acts passed by Congress.

ON N Monday the 2d of December, both houses of the sixth Congress met in their first session.

Mr. Sedgwick was chosen Speaker, and on the 3d of December the President delivered the following speech :

"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 been lately 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, who were 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 cannot but happen that numerous questions respecting the interpretation of the laws, and the rights and duties of officers and citizens must arise....on the one hand the laws should be executed, on the other individuals should be guarded from oppression. Neither of these objects is sufficiently assured under the present organization of the judicial department: I therefore ear

netsly recommend the subject to your serious consideration.

Persevering in the pacific and humane policy which had been invariably professed, and sincerely. pursued by the executive authority of the United States, when indications were made on the part of the French Republic, of a disposition to accommodate the existing differences between the two countries, I felt it to be my duty, to prepare for meeting their advances by a nomination of ministers upon certain conditions which the honor of our country dictated, and which its moderation had given it a right to prescribe. The assurances which were required of the French government previous to the departure of our envoys, have been given through their minister of foreign relations; and I have directed them to proceed on their mission to Paris....they have full power to conclude a treaty, subject to the constitutional advice and consent of the Senate. The characters of these gentlemen are sure 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.

"It appearing probable, from the information I received, that our commercial intercourse with some ports in the island of St. Domingo, might safely be renewed, I took such steps as seemed to me expedient to ascertain that point: the result being satisfactory, I then, in conformity to the act of Congress on the subject, directed the restraints and

prohibitions of that intercourse to be discontinued, on terms which were made known by proclamation. Since the renewal of this intercourse, our citizens, trading in those ports with their property, have been duly respected, and privateering from those ports has ceased.

"In examining the claims of British subjects by the commissioners at Philadelphia, under the sixth article of the Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation with Great Britain, a difference of opinion on points deemed essential in the interpretation of that article, has arisen between the commissioners appointed by the United States and the other members of that board, from which the former have thought it their duty to withdraw. It is sincerely to be regretted that the execution of an article produced by a mutual spirit of amity and justice, should have been thus unavoidably interrupted.... it is, however, confidently expected, that the same spirit of amity, and the same sense of justice in which it originated, will lead to satisfactory explanations. In consequence of the obstacles to the progress of the commission in Philadelphia, his Britannic Majesty has directed the commissioners appointed by him, under the 7th article of the treaty relating to British captures of American vessels, to withdraw from the board sitting in London, but with the express declaration of his determination to fulfil with punctuality and good faith, the engagements which his Majesty has contracted by his treaty with the United States, and that they will

be instructed to resume their transactions, whenever the obstacles which impede the progress of the commission at Philadelphia shall be removed.

"It being in like manner, my sincere determination, so far as the same depends on me, with that equal punctuality and good faith, the engagement contracted by the United States in their treaties with his Britannic Majesty, shall be fulfilled, I shall immediately instruct our Minister at London, to endeavor to obtain the explanations necessary, to a just performance of those engagements on the part of the United States....with such dispositions on both sides I cannot entertain a doubt, that all difficulties will soon be removed, and that the two boards will then proceed and bring the business committed to them respectively, to a satisfactory

conclusion.

"The act of congress relative to the seat of the government of the United States, requiring that on the first Monday of December next, it should be transferred from Philadelphia to the district cho sen for its permanent seat; it is proper for me to inform you, that the commissioners appointed to provide suitable buildings for the accommodation of Congress and the President, and for the public officers of the government, have made a report of the state of the buildings designed for these purposes in the city of Washington, from which they conclude, that the removal of the seat of government to that place at the time required will be practicable, and the accommodation satisfactory.... Their report will be laid before you.