William Paterson of New Jersey, to Thomas Johnson of Maryland, to Charles
Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina, but all these men declined.
Washington got word that Patrick Henry, the old antagonist of the
Constitution, was showing Federalist leanings in opposition to Jefferson
and Madison, and Henry was then tendered the appointment, but he
too declined. Others were approached but all refused, and meanwhile
Pickering, though Secretary of War, also attended to the work of the State
Department. The matter was finally settled by permanently attaching
Pickering to the State Department, while the vacancy thus created at the
head of the War Department was filled by James McHenry, an appointment
which Washington himself described as "Hobson's choice."

Hamilton, although out of the Cabinet, still remained a trusted adviser,
and he rendered splendid service at a dangerous crisis. In spite of the
fact that the Jay treaty had been ratified by the Senate in June, 1795, it
was an issue in the Fall elections that year. Jefferson held that the
treaty was an "execrable thing," an "infamous act, which is really nothing
more than a treaty of alliance between England and the Anglo-men of this
country against the Legislature and the people of the United States."
Giles, who had been in close consultation with Jefferson, moved with
characteristic energy to translate Jefferson's views into congressional
action.

The Fourth Congress met on December 7, 1795, and although a Federalist,
Jonathan Dayton of New Jersey was elected Speaker, the Republicans
were strong enough to tone down the reply to the President's address
by substituting for an expression of "undiminished confidence" an
acknowledgment of "zealous and faithful services," which expressed
"approval of his course." On March 24, 1796, the House by a vote of 62 to
37 adopted a resolution calling upon the President to lay before it his