ADDRESS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO JOHN ADAMS, PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED STATES.

SIR: While our sympathy is excited by the recent sufferings of the
citizens of Philadelphia, we participate in the satisfaction which you
are pleased to express that the duration of the late calamity was so
limited as to render unnecessary the expense and inconvenience that
would have been incident to the convention of Congress in another place;
and we shall readily attend to every useful amendment of the law which
contemplates the event of contagious sickness at the seat of Government.

In lamenting the increase of the injuries offered to the persons
and property of our citizens at sea we gratefully acknowledge the
continuance of interior tranquillity and the attendant blessings of
which you remind us as alleviations of these fatal effects of injustice
and violence.

Whatever may be the result of the mission to the French Republic, your
early and uniform attachment to the interest of our country, your
important services in the struggle for its independence, and your
unceasing exertions for its welfare afford no room to doubt of the
sincerity of your efforts to conduct the negotiation to a successful
conclusion on such terms as may be compatible with the safety, honor,
and interest of the United States. We have also a firm reliance upon the
energy and unanimity of the people of these States in the assertion of
their rights, and on their determination to exert upon all proper
occasions their ample resources in providing for the national defense.