Econlib

The Library

Other Sites

 Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow REPLY TO THE ANSWER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. - The Works of John Adams, vol. 9 (Letters and State Papers 1799-1811)

Return to Title Page for The Works of John Adams, vol. 9 (Letters and State Papers 1799-1811)

Search this Title:

Also in the Library:

Subject Area: Political Theory
Topic: The American Revolution and Constitution

REPLY TO THE ANSWER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. - John Adams, The Works of John Adams, vol. 9 (Letters and State Papers 1799-1811) [1854]

Edition used:

The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: with a Life of the Author, Notes and Illustrations, by his Grandson Charles Francis Adams (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1856). 10 volumes. Vol. 9.

Part of: The Works of John Adams, 10 vols.

About Liberty Fund:

Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


REPLY TO THE ANSWER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Mr. Speaker,
and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives,

I receive with great satisfaction your candid approbation of the convention of Congress, and thank you for your assurances that the interesting subjects recommended to your consideration shall receive the attention, which their importance demands, and your coöperation may be expected in those measures which may appear necessary for our security or peace.

The declarations of the representatives of this nation, of their satisfaction at my promotion to the first office in the government, and of their confidence in my sincere endeavors to discharge the various duties of it with advantage to our common country, have excited my most grateful sensibility.

I pray you, gentlemen, to believe, and to communicate such assurance to our constituents, that no event, which I can foresee to be attainable by any exertions in the discharge of my duties, can afford me so much cordial satisfaction as to conduct a negotiation with the French republic, to a removal of prejudices, a correction of errors, a dissipation of umbrages, an accommodation of all differences, and a restoration of harmony and affection, to the mutual satisfaction of both nations. And whenever the legitimate organs of intercourse shall be restored, and the real sentiments of the two governments can be candidly communicated to each other, although strongly impressed with the necessity of collecting ourselves into a manly posture of defence, I nevertheless entertain an encouraging confidence, that a mutual spirit of conciliation, a disposition to compensate injuries, and accommodate each other in all our relations and connections, will produce an agreement to a treaty, consistent with the engagements, rights, duties, and honor of both nations.

John Adams.