shock, and I might not again be able to go thro'
the weight of business which neceflarily follows
the command of an army.
Although, Sir, I am myfelf perfuacled that e
very thing was done, in the course of the lalt
campaign, ihat could be done on my part, fully
to answer the public expectation. yet it is denied
by fonie, doubted by many, and known to but
few out of the army. A wish to retftify the pub
lic opinion, and a duty that I conceive I owe to
myfelf; induce me to request that an inquiry in
to my conduct may be instituted : when that is
over, I may hope to be permitted to resign the
commission of Major-General, which 1 now hold.
Should the result of the enquiry be that, in any
instance, the duties of my station were negleit
ed, or that 1 did not improve every hour and e
very opportunity to the belt advantage, or that
the operations of the army, after it was in a con
dition to operate ; were delated one moment in
consequence of my illnels, I fliall patiently sub
mit to the merited censure.
To whoever may be appointed my successor, 1
lhall be happy, Sir, to give every light and in
formation my situation, as General of the army,
or as governor of the Western Territory, put in
my power to obtain, and to evince to you, Sir,
and to the world, that the confidence you were
plea fed to repose in me, was not mifplatfed.'
With every sentiment of gratiude, of respect,
and, allow me to add, of affection, I have the
honor to be, Sir,
Your mod obedient fcrvant,
ARTHUR StCLAIR-
The President of the United States^
United States, March 28th, 1792.
Sir,
YOUR knowledge of'the country north-weft
of the Ohio, and of the resources for an army in
its vicinity, added to a full confidence in your m : -
Jitary charatfter, founded on mature experience,
induced my nomination of you to the command
ips the troops on the frontiers.
Your desire of redHfying any errors of the pub
lic opinion, relatively to your conduct, by an in
vestigation of a court of enquiry, is highly lau
dable, and would be readily complied with,were
the meafur'e praJiloable.—But a total deficiency
of l'grvice, of competent rank
to forjn aflkal fuu't, for that purpose, precludes
the pow4(Pgratilying your wishes on tlieocca
fion.
The intinv. in jfyonr readiness to afford your
successor all the tv foi mation of which you are
capable, although linjieceffary for my personal
convicftion, must be regarded as an additional e
vidence of the goodness of your heart, and of
your attachment to yoi'.r country.
I am, Sir, •
With eiieem and regard,
You' iT!--ft obedient servant,
G. WASHINGTON.
Major-Genrra) Arthur Sr. Clair.
Philadelphia, March 31ft, 1792.
Sir,
1 HAVE intl the honor to receive your letter
of the 28th inft. While I lament that circum
stances preve." ai into my condudt,
by a court of 1 uiry, I cannot but acquiesce in
the reasons you have aliigned why it cannot take
place ; and 1 beg leave to present my thanks for
the desire to have gratified me, had it been prac
ticable, which you have been pleased to manifeft.
In my letter of the 26th, I exprefled an inten
tion of retiring from the army, when the enqui
ry ihould be over.—The only reason T had for
wishing to retain my commilfion until that time
was, that if any inifcondudt should appear in the
eourfe of the enquiry, I might be amenable to a
court-martial, which a resignation would have
precluded. The House of Representatives: Sir,
have diredied an enquiry into the caufcs of the
failure of the last campaign to be made by a com
mittee of their own body :—the fame reason that
influenced me when a court of enquiry was con
templated, operates now with equal force, and
■therefore it may be proper that 1 Ihould still re
tain iny cnniniillion bur, as it will soon be re
quisite that some person should be at the head of
the army who is to continue to command ir, it is
necessary, Sir, that I fliould inform you explicit
ly, which I now do, of my fixed resolution to re
sign the moment the enquiry is finifhed, should
no fault be found, that any embarraflrnent which
may exist, with refpedi to providing a fucceflbr
for me, may be removed.
Be pleased, Sir. to observe that my sole objert
is to give effect to public iuftice, in the usual
way by a court-martial, should it appear that, in
any manner whatsoever, the misfortunes ofthelalt
campaign can be attributed to me ; and it is the
proper, and I believe the only tribunal, where
military crimes and mifcondutft can be enquired
into and puniflied ; or where an officer's reputa
tion, infinitely dearer than life, can be vindicat
ed.— Should the public service, however, require
that another officer of the fame rank with me be
appointed immediately, I am ready to make the
vefignation forthwith, notwithflanding that it
may feern to proceed, and at a distance will be
supposed to have arisen, from a sense that the
volume of calumny and defamation, which is
daily pouring from the press into the public ear,
has too much foundation for me to meet it,—that
1 (brink from the consequences and chufetofhel
ter myfelf in a private Nation :—I am ready, Sir,
upon this occasion, as 1 have been upon all others,
to facrifice every private and personal feeling
and consideration to the public good.
1 have the honor to be, Sir,
Your molt obedient servant,
ARTHUR ST. CLAIR
ThePRESiDENT of the United States.
United States, April i,th, I 792
Sir,
I HAVE read and duly considered your letter
of the 31ft ultimo.
The reasons you offer for retaining your com
mission, until an opportunity Ihould be presented,
if nerell'ary, of investigating your conduct in
every mode prefcribjed by law, would be conclu
sive with me, under any other circumllances than
the present.
Bui the eftablilhment of the troops allows on
ly of one Major-General. You have nianifefted
your intention of retiring, and the efl'enrial in
terests of thepublic require that yoor fucceflor
iliould be immediately appointed in order to re
pair to the frontiers.
As the Honfe of Representatives have been
pleased to institute an enquiry into the causes of
the failure of the late expedition, 1 should hope
an opportunity would thereby be afforded you
of explaining your conduift, in a manner fatisfac
tory to the public and yourfelf.
I am, Sir,
With esteem and regard,
Your moil obedient servant,
G. WASHINGTON.
Major-General Arthur St. Clair.
• Sir,
I HAVE had the honor to receive your letter
of the 4th instant.
Although 1 was very desirous, Sir, to hold the
commiHion of Major General until the enquiry
by the committee of the Honfe of Representa
tives should be over, for the reasons I assigned,
and which you are pleased to think have some
weight—yet the necessity of the officer being ap
pointed who is to command the troops, in order
to his repairing to the frontiers, is certainly
prefling, and ought to silence with me every wifti
of a mere personal nature. Ido therefore, Sir,
now formally resign the appointment of Major-
General.
I have never, Sir, entertained a doubt that an
enquiry into the causes of the failure of the late
expedition, whether directed particularly to my
conduct, or to that connected with other causes
that may have operated in whatever way it might
be conducted, would not prove honorable tome,
and fatisfatfory to the public, as far as I was con
cerned with it ; but setting, as I do, a due value
upon the public opinion, and desirous not to lose
that place in the elteeni of the virtuous and in
telligent of my fellow citizens which I have long
held, you will not wonder that, under existing
circumstances, a degree of anxiety, not only that
there ftiould be an enquiry, but that every thing
capable of being misconstrued, fliould be avoid
ed or. my part. I will own to you, Sir, that the
desire of honest fame has ever been the ftrongelt
paflion in my breast : I have thought that I had
merited it, and it is all that I have to compensate
for the facrifice of a very independent situation,
and the best years of my life devoted to the pub
lic service, and the faithful application of my ta
lents, such as they were, in every situation in
which I have been placed, with a zeal bordering
upon enthusiasm. I trust, Sir, J fliall still enjoy
it, while those who have attempted to disturb it,
will be forgotten, or remembered with indigna
tion, and in their bosoms, if they have feeling,
sensations may arise something similar to what
Milton has described to have seized upon Satan
when he discovered our firft parents in Paradise.
With every sentiment of refped: and duty,
I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
ARTHUR St. CLAIR
The President of the United States.
Last Tuefdav the following gentlemen were ele&ed AMermert
in the room of the late F. Hopkinfon, Esq. and Samuel Powel
and W. Collady, Efqu ires, who had jefigned, viz.
Jonathan Bayard Smith,)
Michael Hillegas, and > Esquires.
Francis Gurney, )
The following gentlemen were ele&ed Common Council-
Men, viz.
Mordecai Lewi, John Wood, Bc.tjamin Chew, jun. James
Millegan, Isaac Snowden, John Stille, William Wells, Law
rence Scckel, Joseph Norris, Richard Fullerton, Jacob Schrciner,
John Montgomery, Philip Wager, Edward Bartho'omew, Samuel
M. Fox, John Craig, James Abercrombie, Robert Wain, Robert
Ralfton, Robert Smith, John C. Stocker, ]ohn Perot, George
Bckham, David Jackson, Frederick Kuhl, James C. Fifacr,
Godfrey Hags,' William Van Phul, Tacobß. Howell, and Robert
Wharton, Esquires.
402
Philadelphia, April 7, 1792
CONGRESS.
IN S E N A T £.—April, 1792.
The Committee an the fubjed of Weights <ani
Measures, Repwt, thut it is thtir
*• standard for the meafuresand weights
A of the United States, be a uniform cy
lindrical rod of iron, of such length as in lati
tude 45 0 in the level of the ocean, and in a cel.
lar of uniform natural temperature, fliall per .
form its vibrations in final! and equal arcs in*
one second of mean time. '
2. That the President of the United States be
requested to have such a standard rod provided :
that it be prepared with all the accuracy whicl*
the importance of the objetfl merits and rircum«
stances admit ; —that this be done by adlugl ex
periments, under the parallel of 45 0 of latitude
complete, or by acftual experiments, rectified by
due allowances, under any other parallel, where
a superiority of means for accurate experiment
may promise on the whole greater truth in the
result.
3. 1 hat the expences of the measures he (hall
adopt for this purpose, not exceeding dol
lars, be defrayed by the public.
4. That the standard rod so to be provided,
fliall be divided into five equal parts, one of
which to be called a foot, fliall be the unit of
measures of length for the United States.
That the foot /hall be divided into 10 inches.
The inch into 10 lines,
The line into ro points, and
That 10 feet make a decad,
10 decads a rod,
10 rods a furlong,
And 10 furlongs a mile.
5- That measures of furface in the United
States, be made by fqnares of the measures of
length ; and that in the cafe of lands, the unit
fliall be a square, whereof every fide fliall be an
hundred feet, to be called a rood.
That each rood be divided into tenths and
hundredths.
That io roods make a double acre,
And ten double acres a square furlong.
6. That the unit of measures of capacity, in
the United States, be a cubic foot to-be called a
bu/hel ;
That each bufliel be divided into ten pottlei,
Each pottle into 10 demi pints,
Each demi pint into 10 metres ;
That io bufliels be a quarter,
And io quarters a last or double ton.
7. Thatthe unit of weightsofthe United States,
be a cubic inch of rain water, to be called ail
ounce, and to be measured and weighed in a cel
lar of uniform natural temperature ;
That the ounce be divided into io double fcrn-
pies,
The double scruple into 10 carats,
The carat into 10 minims ordemi grains,
The minim into 10 mites ;
That 10 ounces make a pound,
10 pounds a stone,
10 stones a kental,
io kentals a hogshead.
The consideration of this report is poftpened
until the next Session of Congress.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
WEDNESDAY, APRIL ir. '
The memorial of T. Fielder, inventor of an
apparatus to facilitate navigation, praying t ,c
aid of Congress to carry his projetft into eX " u
tion, was read and ordered to lie on the ta e,
as was also a memorial from thecommiflionerso
the city and county of Philadelphia, refpe ' n S
compensation for the use of the cityjail - an
memorial from the merchants of New->oik, ' e
monftrating againrt the proposed augnientatio
of the import duties.
A memorial from the inhabitants of the tow
of Cincinnati and Columbia, on the littlei > I,]] •
was referred to a feletfl committee.
A memorial was read, from Signor Giu f PP
Ceracchi (the Roman artist, who execute
bust of liberty over The Speaker's chair) e »
forth that he is ready to enter upon t " BeX ,. jj
tion of a design for the national nlo " unl r ent '™ c (' er .
he foine time ago laid before Congress. _
red, together with his former memorial, to
Gerry, Benfon, Lee, Murray and Tucker.
Presented by the committee of e,ir """ ,en R '.|i
signed bv The Speaker, the Representation
and the bill foraltering the times of ho' ett
Circuit Courts in certain diftritfts of t ie
States