Date: 1794-09-25
President: George Washington

 Whereas, from a hope that the combinations against the Constitution   and laws of the United States, in certain of the Western counties of Pennsylvania,   would yield to time and reflection, I thought it sufficient, in the first instance,   rather to take measures for calling forth the militia than immediately to embody   them; but the moment is now come, when the overtures of forgiveness, with no   other condition than a submission to law, have been only partially accepted;   when every form of conciliation not inconsistent with the being of Government   has been adopted, without effect; when the well-disposed in those counties are   unable by their influence and example to reclaim the wicked from their fury,   and are compelled to associate in their own defence; when the proffered lenity   has been perversely misinterpreted into an apprehension that the citizens will   march with reluctance; when the opportunity of examining the serious consequences   of a treasonable opposition has been employed in propagating principles of anarchy,   endeavoring through emissaries to alienate the friends of order from its support,   and inviting enemies to perpetrate similar acts of insurrection; when it is   manifest, that violence would continue to be exercised upon every attempt to   enforce the laws; when, therefore, Government is set at defiance, the contest   being whether a small proportion of the United States shall dictate to the whole   Union, and, at the expense of those who desire peace, indulge a desperate ambition;  Now, therefore, I, George Washington, President of the United States, in obedience   to that high and irresistible duty, consigned to me by the Constitution, &quot;to   take care that the laws be faithfully executed;&quot; deploring that the American   name should be sullied by the outrages of citizens on their: own Government;   commiserating such as remain obstinate from delusion; but resolved, in perfect   reliance on that gracious Providence which so signally displays its goodness   towards this country, to reduce the refractory to a due subordination to the   laws; do hereby declare and make known, that, with a satisfaction which can   be equalled only by the merits of the militia summoned into service from the   States of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, I have received   intelligence of their patriotic alacrity, in obeying the call of the present,   though painful, yet commanding necessity; that a force, which, according to   every reasonable expectation, is adequate to the exigency, is already in motion   to the scene of disaffection; that those who have confided or shall confide   in the protection of Government, shall meet full succor under the standard and   from the arms of the United States; that those who having offended against the   laws have since entitled themselves to indemnity, will be treated with the most   liberal good faith, if they shall not have forfeited their claim by any subsequent   conduct, and that instructions are given accordingly.  And I do, moreover, exhort all individuals, officers, and bodies of men, to   contemplate with abhorrence the measures leading directly or indirectly to those   crimes, which produce this resort to military coercion; to check, in their respective   spheres, the efforts of misguided or designing men to substitute their misrepresentation   in the place of truth, and their discontents in the place of stable government;   and to call to mind, that as the people of the United States have been permitted,   under the Divine favor, in perfect freedom, after solemn deliberation, in an   enlightened age, to elect their own Government, so will their gratitude for   this inestimable blessing be best distinguished by firm exertions to maintain   the Constitution and the laws.  And, lastly, I again warn all persons, whomsoever and whersoever, not to abet,   aid, or comfort the insurgents aforesaid, as they will answer the contrary at   their peril; and I do also require all officers and other citizens, according   to their several duties, as far as may be in their power, to bring under the   cognizance of the law all offenders in the premises.