.

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.

You know, sir, what calculation I had made relative to the probable
course of events on my retiring from office, and the determination I had
consoled myself with of closing the remnant of my days in my present
peaceful abode. You will therefore be at no loss to conceive and
appreciate the sensations I must have experienced to bring my mind to
any conclusion that would pledge me, at so late a period of life, to
leave scenes I sincerely love to enter upon the boundless field of
public action, incessant trouble, and high responsibility.

It was not possible for me t