On your assembling to perform the high trusts which the people of the
United States have confided to you, of legislating for their common
welfare, it gives me pleasure to congratulate you upon the happy
condition of our beloved country. By the favor of Divine Providence
health is again restored to us, peace reigns within our borders,
abundance crowns the labors of our fields, commerce and domestic
industry flourish and increase, and individual happiness rewards the
private virtue and enterprise of our citizens.

Our condition abroad is no less honorable than it is prosperous at home.
Seeking nothing that is not right and determined to submit to nothing
that is wrong, but desiring honest friendships and liberal intercourse
with all nations, the United States have gained throughout the world
the confidence and respect which are due to a policy so just and so
congenial to the character of the American people and to the spirit of
their institutions.

In bringing to your notice the particular state of our foreign affairs,
it affords me high gratification to inform you that they are in a
condition which promises the continuance of friendship with all nations.

With Great Britain the interesting question of our northeastern boundary
remains still undecided. A negotiation, however, upon that subject has
been renewed since the close of the last Congress, and a proposition has
been submitted to the British Government with the view of establishing,
in conformity with the resolution of the Senate, the line designated by
the treaty of 1783. Though no definitive answer has been received, it
may be daily looked for, and I entertain a hope that the overture may
ultimately lead to a satisfactory adjustment of this important matter.