"JOHN DANIEL KOHLER,
"CHRISTIAN LEWIS BENZIEN.

"_Salem, the 1st of June_, 1791."

To which the president of the United States was pleased to return the
following answer:--

"_To the United Brethren of Wachovia:_

"GENTLEMEN: I am greatly indebted to your respectful and
affectionate expression of personal regard, and I am not less
obliged by the patriotic sentiment contained in your address.

"From a society whose governing principles are industry and the
love of order, much may be expected towards the improvement and
prosperity of the country in which their settlements are formed,
and experience authorizes the belief that much will be obtained.

"Thanking you with grateful sincerity for your prayers in my
behalf, I desire to assure you of my best wishes for your social
and individual happiness.

"G. WASHINGTON."

CHAPTER XVII.

THE NEW CONGRESS--AARON BURR SENATOR--SCOPE OF WASHINGTON'S ANNUAL
ADDRESS--ST. CLAIR'S EXPEDITION AGAINST THE INDIANS--CHARACTER OF
HIS ARMY--SURPRISE AND DEFEAT--EFFECT OF THE EVENT ON
WASHINGTON--WAYNE APPOINTED TO SUCCEED ST. CLAIR--APPEARANCE OF
PARTIES IN CONGRESS--OPPOSING NEWSPAPERS--APPORTIONMENT BILL--VETO
FIRST APPLIED--WASHINGTON YEARNS FOR PRIVATE LIFE--EXPRESSES HIS
DESIRES TO JEFFERSON AND MADISON--VALEDICTORY ADDRESS
CONTEMPLATED--MADISON REQUESTED TO PREPARE ONE--A REMARKABLE LETTER
FROM JEFFERSON--WASHINGTON CONSENTS TO A RE-ELECTION.

Washington read his third annual address to the assembled Congress on
the twenty-fifth of October. Before him were most of the members of the
previous Congress. Nearly all of the retiring senators had been
re-elected. Among the new ones was Roger Sherman of Connecticut, George
Cabot of Massachusetts, and Aaron Burr of New York. The latter was
elected as the successor to General Schuyler, and now, for the first
time, appeared prominent among statesmen. He had been appointed
attorney-general of New York by Governor Clinton, and, in respect to
talent and influence, was a rising man. Artful and fascinating, he had
secured the votes of a sufficient number of federalists in the state
legislature to gain his election, and he went into Congress a decided
opponent of the administration; not on principle, for that never
influenced him, but on account of personal hostility to the president,
whom he hated because of his virtues.