<P> Fellow - Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: Among the vicissitudes incident to life no event could have filled me with greater anxieties than that of which the notification was transmitted by your order, and received on the 14th day of the present month . </P> <P> He also addressed the subject of amending the Constitution to include a bill of rights, urging Congress </P> <P>... to decide how far an exercise of the occasional power delegated by the fifth article of the Constitution is rendered expedient at the present juncture by the nature of objections which have been urged against the system, or by the degree of inquietude which has given birth to them . Instead of undertaking particular recommendations on this subject, in which I could be guided by no lights derived from official opportunities, I shall again give way to my entire confidence in your discernment and pursuit of the public good; for I assure myself that whilst you carefully avoid every alteration which might endanger the benefits of an united and effective government, or which ought to await the future lessons of experience, a reverence for the characteristic rights of freemen and a regard for the public harmony will sufficiently influence your deliberations on the question how far the former can be impregnably fortified or the latter be safely and advantageously promoted . </P> <P> As the presidential election of 1792 approached, Washington, pleased with the progress his administration had made in establishing a strong, stable federal government, hoped to retire rather than seek a second term . He complained of old age, sickness, the in - fighting plaguing his cabinet, and the increasing hostility of the partisan press . The members of his cabinet--especially Jefferson and Hamilton--worked diligently through the summer and autumn to persuade Washington not to retire . They apprised him of the potential impact the French Revolutionary Wars might have on the country, and insisted that only someone with his popularity and moderation could lead the nation effectively during the volatile times ahead . In the end, "Washington never announced his candidacy in the election of 1792," wrote John Ferling in his book on Washington, "he simply never said that he would not consider a second term ." </P>

Washington’s state government is organized into how many branches