Whereas an extraordinary occasion exists for convening Congress, and divers weighty matters claim their consideration: 

I have therefore thought it necessary to convene, and I do by these presents convene, the Congress of the United States of America at the city of Philadelphia, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, on Monday, the 15th day of May next, hereby requiring the Senators and Representatives in the Congress of the United States of America, and every of them, that, laying aside all other matters and cares, they then and there meet and assemble in Congress in order to consult and determine on such measures as in their wisdom shall be deemed meet for the safety and welfare of the said United States.

In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States of America to be affixed to these presents, and signed the same with my hand.

[Seal.]

Done at the city of Philadelphia, the 25th day of March, A.D. 1797, and of the Independence of the United States of America the twenty-first.

John Adams.

By the President: 
  Timothy Pickering,
    Secretary of State.

SPECIAL SESSION MESSAGE.

United states, May 16, 1797.

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

The personal inconveniences to the members of the Senate and of the House of Representatives in leaving their families and private affairs at this season of the year are so obvious that I the more regret the extraordinary occasion which has rendered the convention of Congress indispensable.

It would have afforded me the highest satisfaction to have been able to congratulate you on a restoration of peace to the nations of Europe whose animosities have endangered our tranquillity; but we have still abundant cause of gratitude to the Supreme Dispenser of National Blessings for general health and promising seasons, for domestic and social happiness, for the rapid progress and ample acquisitions of industry through extensive territories, for civil, political, and religious liberty.  While other states are desolated with foreign war or convulsed with intestine divisions, the United States present the pleasing prospect of a nation governed by mild and equal laws, generally satisfied with the possession of their rights, neither envying the advantages nor fearing the power of other nations, solicitous only for the maintenance of order and justice and the preservation of liberty, increasing daily in their attachment to a system of government in proportion to their experience of its utility, yielding a ready and general obedience to laws flowing from the reason and resting on the only solid foundation—­the affections of the people.

It is with extreme regret that I shall be obliged to turn your thoughts to other circumstances, which admonish us that some of these felicities may not be lasting.  But if the tide of our prosperity is full and a reflux commencing, a vigilant circumspection becomes us, that we may meet our reverses with fortitude and extricate ourselves from their consequences with all the skill we possess and all the efforts in our power.