Saturday, November 10.
Two other members, to wit: Peter Sylvester, from New York, and Thomas Hartley, from Pennsylvania, appeared, and took their seats in the House.
Address to the President.
The House resolved itself into a Committee of the whole House on the Address to the President of the United States, in answer to his Speech to both Houses of Congress; and, after some time spent therein, the Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Laurance reported that the committee had had the said Address under consideration, and made several amendments thereto; which were severally twice read, and agreed to by the House.
And then the said Address, as amended, being again read, was, on the question put thereon, agreed to by the House, as follows:
"Sir: The House of Representatives, who always feel a satisfaction in meeting you, are much concerned that the occasion for mutual felicitation afforded by the circumstances favorable to the national prosperity should be abated by a continuance of the hostile spirit of many of the Indian tribes, and, particularly, that the reiterated efforts for effecting a general pacification with them should have issued in new proofs of their persevering enmity, and the barbarous sacrifice of citizens, who, as the messengers of peace, were distinguishing themselves by their zeal for the public service. In our deliberations on this important department of our affairs, we shall be disposed to pursue every measure that may be dictated by the sincerest desire, on one hand, of cultivating peace, and manifesting, by every practicable regulation, our benevolent regard for the welfare of those misguided people; and by the duty we feel, on the other, to provide effectually for the safety and protection of our fellow-citizens.
"While with regret we learn that symptoms of opposition to the law imposing duties on spirits distilled within the United States, have manifested themselves, we reflect with consolation, that they are confined to a small portion of our fellow-citizens. It is not more essential to the preservation of true liberty, that a Government should be always ready to listen to the representations of its constituents, and to accommodate its measures to the sentiments and wishes of every part of them, as far as will consist with the good of the whole, than it is, that the just authority of the laws should be steadfastly maintained. Under this impression, every department of the Government, and all good citizens must approve the measures you have taken, and the purpose you have formed, to execute this part of your trust with firmness and energy; and be assured, sir, of every constitutional aid and co-operation, which may become requisite on our part. And we hope that, while the progress of contentment under the law in question, is as obvious as it is rational, no particular part of the community may be permitted to withdraw from the general burdens of the country, by a conduct as irreconcilable to national justice, as it is inconsistent with public decency.
"The productive state of the public revenue, and the confirmation of the credit of the United States abroad, evinced by the loans at Antwerp and Amsterdam, are communications the more gratifying, as they enforce the obligation to enter on systematic and effectual arrangements for discharging the public debt, as fast as the conditions of it will permit; and we take pleasure in the opportunity to assure you of our entire concurrence in the opinion, that no measure can be more desirable, whether viewed with an eye to the urgent wish of the community, or the intrinsic importance of promoting so happy a change in our situation.
"The adoption of a constitution for the State of Kentucky, is an event on which we join in all the satisfaction you have expressed. It may be considered as particularly interesting, since, besides the immediate benefits resulting from it, it is another auspicious demonstration of the facility and success with which an enlightened people is capable of providing, by free and deliberate plans of government, for their own safety and happiness.
"The operation of the law establishing the Post Office, as it relates to the transmission of newspapers, will merit our particular inquiry and attention, the circulation of political intelligence through these vehicles being justly reckoned among the surest means of preventing the degeneracy of a free government, as well as of recommending every salutary public measure to the confidence and co-operation of all virtuous citizens.
"The several other matters which you have communicated and recommended, will, in their order, receive the attention due to them, and our discussions will, in all cases, we trust, be guided by a proper respect for harmony and stability in the public Councils, and a desire to conciliate, more and more, the attachment of our constituents to the constitution, by measures accommodated to the true ends for which it was established."
Resolved, That the Speaker, attended by the House, do present the said Address, and that Mr. Madison, Mr. Benson, and Mr. Murray, be a committee to wait on the President, to know when and where it will be convenient for him to receive the same.
Mr. Madison, from the committee appointed to wait on the President of the United States, to know when and where it will be convenient for him to receive the Address of this House, in answer to his Speech to both Houses of Congress, reported that the committee had waited on the President, who signified to them that it would be convenient to him to receive the said Address at 12 o'clock on Monday next, at his own house.