Whereas by an act entitled "An act providing for the sale of the tract of land at the British fort at the Miami of the Lake, at the foot of the rapids, and for other purposes," passed the 27th day of April, 1816, it was enacted that all the land contained in the said tract, except the reservations and exceptions made in the said act, should be offered for sale to the highest bidder at Wooster, in the State of Ohio, under the direction of the register of the land office and the receiver of public moneys at Wooster, and on such day or days as shall, by a public proclamation of the President of the United States, be designated for that purpose: Wherefore I, James Monroe, President of the United States, in conformity with the provisions of the acts before recited, do hereby declare and make known that the lands authorized to be sold by the first mentioned act shall be offered for sale to the highest bidder at Wooster, in the State of Ohio, on the first Monday in July next, and continue open for seven days and no longer, and that the lands authorized to be sold by the last-mentioned act shall be offered for sale to the highest bidder at the same place on the third Tuesday in July next, and continue open for seven days and no longer. Given under my hand this 15th day of April, 1817. JAMES MONROE. By the President: J. MEIGS, _Commissioner of the General Land Office_ FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. _Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_: At no period of our political existence had we so much cause to felicitate ourselves at the prosperous and happy condition of our country. The abundant fruits of the earth have filled it with plenty. An extensive and profitable commerce has greatly augmented our revenue. The public credit has attained an extraordinary elevation. Our preparations for defense in case of future wars, from which, by the experience of all nations, we ought not to expect to be exempted, are advancing under a well-digested system with all the dispatch which so important a work will admit. Our free Government, founded on the interest and affections of the people, has gained and is daily gaining strength. Local jealousies are rapidly yielding to more generous, enlarged, and enlightened views of national policy. For advantages so numerous and highly important it is our duty to unite in grateful acknowledgments to that Omnipotent Being from whom they are derived, and in unceasing prayer that He will endow us with virtue and strength to maintain and hand them down in their utmost purity to our latest posterity.