I presume that before this time he has received fresh instructions (a copy of which accompanies this message) to consent to no loans, and therefore the negotiation may be considered at an end.

I will never send another minister to France without assurances that he will be received, respected, and honored as the representative of a great, free, powerful, and independent nation.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, June 27, 1798.

Gentlemen of the Senate and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives: 

I have received a letter from His Excellency Thomas Mifflin, governor of Pennsylvania, inclosing some documents which I judge it my duty to lay before Congress without loss of time.

As my opinion coincides entirely with that of his excellency the governor, I recommend the subject to the consideration of both Houses of Congress, whose authority alone appears to me adequate to the occasion.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, July 2, 1798.

Gentlemen of the Senate: 

I nominate George Washington, of Mount Vernon, to be Lieutenant-General and Commander in Chief of all the armies raised or to be raised in the United States.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, July 13, 1798.

Gentlemen of the Senate: 

A resolution of both Houses of Congress authorizing an adjournment on Monday, the 16th of this month, has been laid before me.  Sensible of the severity of the service in so long a session, it is with great reluctance that I find myself obliged to offer any consideration which may operate against the inclinations of the members; but certain measures of Executive authority which will require the consideration of the Senate, and which can not be matured, in all probability, before Monday or Tuesday, oblige me to request of the Senate that they would continue their session until Wednesday or Thursday.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, July 17, 1798.

Gentlemen of the Senate: 

Believing that the letter received this morning from General Washington will give high satisfaction to the Senate, I transmit them a copy of it, and congratulate them and the public on this great event—­the General’s acceptance of his appointment as Lieutenant-General and Commander in Chief of the Army.

JOHN ADAMS.

MOUNT VERNON, July 13, 1798.

JOHN ADAMS,

President of the United States.

DEAR SIR:  I had the honor, on the evening of the 11th instant, to receive from the hands of the Secretary of War your favor of the 7th, announcing that you had, with the advice and consent of the Senate, appointed me “Lieutenant-General and Commander in Chief of all the armies raised or to be raised for the service of the United States.”

I can not express how greatly affected I am at this new proof of public confidence and the highly flattering manner in which you have been pleased to make the communication.  At the same time I must not conceal from you my earnest wish that the choice had fallen upon a man less declined in years and better qualified to encounter the usual vicissitudes of war.