Resolved, That Mr. Speaker, attended by the House, do present the said Address, and that Mr. Madison, Mr. Sedgwick, and Mr. Hartley, 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, to-morrow, at his own house.
Saturday, December 7.
Peleg Wadsworth, from Massachusetts, and Joseph Neville, from Virginia, appeared, produced their credentials, and took their seats.
The Speaker, attended by the House, then withdrew to the house of the President of the United States, and there presented to him the Address of this House, in answer to his Speech to both Houses of Congress; to which the President made the following reply:
Gentlemen: I shall not affect to conceal the cordial satisfaction which I derive from the Address of the House of Representatives. Whatsoever those services may be which you have sanctioned by your favor, it is a sufficient reward that they have been accepted as they were meant. For the fulfilment of your anticipations of the future, I can give no other assurance than that the motives which you approve shall continue unchanged.
It is truly gratifying to me to learn that the Proclamation has been considered as a seasonable guard against the interruption of the public peace. Nor can I doubt that the subjects which I have recommended to your attention as depending on Legislative provisions, will receive a discussion suited to their importance. With every reason, then, it may be expected that your deliberations, under the Divine blessing, will be matured to the honor and happiness of the United States.
G. WASHINGTON.
Monday, December 9.
Gabriel Christie, from Maryland, Thomas Claiborne and George Hancock, from Virginia, Joseph Winston, from North Carolina, John Hunter and Andrew Pickens, from South Carolina, appeared, produced their credentials, and took their seats in the House.