s on the thirtieth of March, 1796, assigning his reasons
for not complying with their resolution of the twenty-fourth:--

"With the utmost attention I have considered your resolution of the
twenty-fourth instant, requiring me to lay before your house a copy
of the instructions to the minister of the United States who
negotiated the treaty with the king of Great Britain, together with
a correspondence and other documents relative to that treaty,
excepting such of the said papers as any existing negotiation may
render improper to be disclosed.

"In deliberating upon this subject, it was impossible to lose sight
of the principle, which some have avowed in its discussion, or to
avoid extending my views to the consequences which must flow from
the admission of that principle.

"I trust that no part of my conduct has ever indicated a
disposition to withhold any information which the constitution has
enjoined upon the president as a duty to give, or which could be
required of him by either house of Congress as a right; and with
truth I affirm that it has been, as it will continue to be while I
have the honor to preside in the government, my constant endeavor
to harmonize with the other branches thereof, so far as the trust
delegated to me by the people of the United States, and my sense of
the obligation it imposes to 'preserve, protect, and defend the
constitution,' will permit.

"The nature of foreign negotiations requires caution, and their
success must often depend on secrecy; and, even when brought to a
conclusion, a full disclosure of all the measures, demands, or
eventual concessions, which may have been proposed or contemplated,
would be extremely impolitic; for this might have a pernicious
influence on future negotiations, or produce immediate
inconveniences, perhaps danger and mischief, in relation to other
powers. The necessity of such caution and secrecy was one cogent
reason for vesting the power of making treaties in the president,
with the advice and consent of the senate; the principle on which
that body was formed confining it to a small number of members. To
admit, then, a right in the house of representatives to demand, and
to have, as a matter of course, all the papers respecting a
negotiation with a foreign power, would be to estab