executed. And if the
militia of a State where such combinations may happen shall refuse or be
insufficient to suppress the same, it shall be lawful for the President,
if the Legislature of the United States shall not be in session, to
call forth and employ such numbers of the militia of any other State or
States most convenient thereto as may be necessary; and the use of the
militia so to be called forth may be continued, if necessary, until the
expiration of thirty days after the commencement of the ensuing session:
_Provided always_, That whenever it may be necessary in the judgment
of the President to use the military force hereby directed to be
called forth, the President shall forthwith, and previous thereto, by
proclamation, command such insurgents to disperse and retire peaceably
to their respective abodes within a limited time;" and

Whereas James Wilson, an associate justice, on the 4th instant, by
writing under his hand, did from evidence which had been laid before
him notify to me that "in the counties of Washington and Allegany, in
Pennsylvania, laws of the United States are opposed and the execution
thereof obstructed by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the
ordinary course of judicial proceedings or by the powers vested in the
marshal of that district;" and

Whereas it is in my judgment necessary under the circumstances of the
case to take measures for calling forth the militia in order to suppress
the combinations aforesaid, and to cause the laws to be duly executed;
and I have accordingly determined so to do, feeling the deepest regret
for the occasion, but withal the most solemn conviction that the
essential interests of the Union demand it, that the very existence of
Government and the fundamental principles of social order are materially
involved in the issue, and that the patriotism and firmness of all good
citizens are seriously called upon, as occasions may require, to aid in
the effectual suppression of so fatal a spirit:

Wherefore, and in pursuance of the proviso above recited, I, George
Washington, President of the United States, do hereby command all
persons being insurgents as aforesaid, and all others whom it may
concern, on or before the 1st day of September next to disperse and
retire peaceably to their respective abodes. And I do moreover warn
all persons whomsoever against aiding, abetting, or comforting the
perpetrators of the aforesaid treasonable acts, and do require al