Amendments to the Constitution, [8 June] 1789 — reading text

proceeded to confider the following refolu- tion of the Senate, to wit '* In Senate, April 27. '* Refolved, That after the oath fhall have been admi- '* niftered to the Prelident, he, attended by the Vice-Pre- ** fident, and the members of the Senate and houfe of Re- '* prefentaties, proceed to St. Paul's Chapel to hear di- ** vine fervice, to be performed by the Chaplains to Con- " grefs already appointed :'* Whereupon, Relolved, That this houfe doth concur with the Senate sn the laid refolution, amended to read as folio we th, to wit ** That after the oath ihall have been adminiftered to ** the Prefident, the Vice-Prefident and members of the " Senate, the Speaker and members of the houle of Re-  — 174 ** DEBATES prefentatives, will accompany him to St. Paul's A. 1789. Chapel " to hear divine fervice, performed by the Chaplains of *' Congrefs." Ordered, That the clerk of this houfe do carry the faid refolution to the Senate, and defire their concurrence. Adjourned. April 30, Another member, viz. Jonathan Grout, from Mafla- chufetrs appeared and took his feat. And then the houfe adjonrned. May I. The fpeaker laid before the houfe a copy of the Speech of the Prefident of the United States, to both houfes of Congrefs, delivered yelterday in the fenate- chamber, im- mediately after his inauguration, as follovveth : Fellow citizens of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives. AMONG the vicifTitudes incident to life, no event could have filled me with g-reater anxieties, than that of which the notification wastranfmitted by your order, and receiv- ed on the 14th day of the prefent month. On the one hand, I was fummoned by my country, whofe voice I can never hear but with veneration and love, from a retreat which I had chofen with the fondeft prcdiledion, and in my flattering hopes, with an immutable decifion, as the afy- kim of my declining years ; a retreat which was rendered every day more neceflary as well as more dear to me, by the addition of habit to inclination, and of frequent inter- ruptions in my health to the gradual wafte committed on it by time. On the other hand, the magnitude and diffi- culty of the truft to which the voice of my country called me, being fufficient to awaken in the vvifeil and moll expe- rienced of her citizens, a diltruftful fcrutiny into his quali- fications, could DOt but overwhelm with del'pondence, one^ who, inheriting inferior endowments from nature, and un- prac^ifed in the duties of civil adminiftration, ought to be peculiarly confcions of his own deficiencies. In this con- fii^T; of emotions, all I dare aver, is, that it has been my faithful ftudy to colI«fft my duty fi'om a jull appreciation of every circumflance by which it might be affected. All I dare hope, is, that -fin executing this tail:, I have been too much fwayedby grateful remeinbrance of former inftan- .-i ces, or by an affc^ilionare fei.ribility to this tranfcendant proof of the coritivlT.ce of m]' fcllovr citizens, and have A. 1789. Of C O N G a E S S. 17^ thence too little confulted, my incapacity as well as dilincli- nation, for the weighty and untried cares before me ; my error will be palliated by the motives which mifled me, and its confequences be judged by my country, with fomc iliare of the partiality in which they originated. Such being the inipreflion under which I have, in obedi- ence to the public fummons, repaired to the prefent Ra- tion ; it would be peculiarly improper to omit, in this firlt official a(5t, my fervent fupplications to that Almighty Be- — ing who rules over the univerfe who prefides in the coun- cils of nations — and whofe providential aids can fupply ev- — ery human defedl that his benedidion may confecrate to the liberties and happinefsof the people of the United States, a government in/lituted by themfelves for thefe elTential purpofes •, and may enable every inftrument employed in itsadminiftration, to execute with fuccefs the functions al- lotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good, I alTure myielf that it exprelTes your fentiments not lefs than my own ; nor thofe of my fellow citizens at large, lefs than either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and a- dore the invifible hand, which condufts the affairs of men, more than the people of the United States. Every ftep by which they have advanced to the charadler of an independ- ent nation, feems to have been diftinguiihed by fome token of providential agency. And in the impf)rtant revolution juft accomplifhed in the fyllem of their united government, the tranquil deliberations, and voluntary confent of fo ma- ny diitindt communities, from which the event has refuked, cannot be compared with the means by which moft govern- ments have been eltabliibed, without fome return of pious gratitude, along with a humble anticipation of the future blellings which the paft feem to preiage. Thefe reflec- tions ariling out of the prefent crilis, have forced them- felves too ftrongly on my mind to be fuppreffed. You will join with me, I truft, in thinking that there are none under the influence of which the proceedings of a new and free government can more aulpicioufly commence. By the article eflahliihing the executive department, it ismade the duty of the Preiident, " to recommend to your confideration fuch mealures as he fliall judge neceffary and expedienc." The circumftances under which I now meet you, will acquit me from entering inro that fubjec^ further than to refer to the great conlHtuiional charter undet which you areaffembled^ and v/hich, in defining your pow- ,76 DEBATES A. 1789. ers, defignates the objeds to which your attention is to be given. It will be more confident wiih thofe circuinftan- ces, and far more congenial with the feelings which adnata tne, to fubftitute, in place of a recommendation of particular meafnres, the triljute that is due to the talents, the reclitude and the patriotifm which adorn the charadlers feleded to de» vife and adopt them. In thefe honorable qualifications, I behold the furefl pledges, that as on one fide, no local prejudices, or attach- ments ; no feparate views, nor party animofities, will mif- direft the comprehenfive and equal eye which ought to watch over this great afTemblage of communities and in- terefts ; fo, on another, that the foundation of our national policy will be laid in the pure and inmiutable principles of private morality ; and the pre-eminence of free govern- ment, be exemplified by all the attributes which can win the Jiffedions of its citizens, and command the refpeft of the world. I dwell on this profpeft with every fatisfac- tion which an ardent love for my country can infpire : Since there is no truth more thoroughly eftablifhed, than that there exifts in the oeconomy and courfe of nature, an indiffoluble union between virtue and happinefs, between duty and advantage, between the genuine maxims of an honed and magnanimous policy, and the folid rewards of public profperity and felicity : Since we ought to be no lefs perfuaded, that the propitious fmiles of Heaven can never be expeded on a nation chat difregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itfelf has ordained : And fince the prefervation of the facred fire of liberty, and the deftiny of the Republican model of government, are juftly confidered as deeply, perhaps as finally ftaked, on the experiment entrulled to the hands of the American people. Befides the ordinary objefts fubmitted to your care, it will remain with your judgement to decide, how far an exercife of theoccafional power delegated by the fifth arti- cle of the Conftitution is rendered expedient at the prefent jundure, by the nature of objpclions which have been urged againft the fyltem, or by the degree of inquietude which has given birth to them —Inftead of undertaking particu- lar recommendations on this fubjedt, in which I could be guided by no lights derived from official opportunities, I fliall again give way to my entire confidence in your dif- cernment and purfuit of the public good For I alTure : niyfelf that whiift you carefully avoid every alteration which might endanger the benefits of an united and effec- A. 1789. Of.CONGR.ESS. j;7 tive governnjenr, or which ought to await the future jef- fons of experience ; a reverence for the charafteriftic rights of freemen, and a regard for the public harmony, wiji fufficiently influence your dehberations on the queftion how f^r the former can be more impregnably fortihed, or the latter be fafely and advantageoufly promoted. To the preceding oblcrvations I have one to add, which will be moft properly addrefTed to the Houfe of Repreien- tatives. It concerns myfelf, and will therefore be as brief as poflible. When 1 was firft honored with a call into the fervice of my country, then on the eve of an arduous ftrug- gle for its liberties, the light in which I contemplated my duty, required that I Ihould renounce every pecuniary compenfation. From this refolution I have in no inltance departed : And being itill under the imprefiions which produced it,muft decline as inapplicable to myfelf, any I Ihare in the perfonal emoluments, which may be indifpen- fibly included in a permanent provifion for the executive department ; and muft accordingly pray, that the pecuniary eftimates for the ftation in which 1 am placed, may, during my continuance in it, be limited to fucli actual expenditures as the public good may be thought to require. Having thus imparted to you my fentiments, as they have been awakened by the occaiion which brings us together, I fliall take my prefent leave but not without reforting ; once more to benign Parent of the human race, in humble fupplication, that lince he has been pleafed to favor the America people with opportunities for deliberating in per- fect tranquility, and difpofitions for deciding with unparaU leled unanimity on a form of government, for the fecurity of their union, and the advancement of their happinefs; fo his divine blelTuig may be equally confpicuous in the en- larged views, the temperate confultations, and the wife meafures on which the fuccefs of this government muft •jepend. GEORGE WASHINGTON, On motion, Refolved, That the faid fpeech be commit- ted to the confideration of a committee of the whole houfig immediately. The houfe accordingly refolved itfelf into the faid com- mittee. Mr. Speaker left the chair. Mr. Page took the chair of the committee. Mr. Speaker refumed the chair, and Mr. Page reported that the committee had, according to order, bad the fpeech under confKleraticn, and had corns Z J 78 ro a refolntioii DEBATES A.i;^^;, thereupon, which he delivered in at the clerk's table, where the lame was twice read ; and, on a queftion put thereupon, agreed