Washington, who was at Mount Vernon, was unwilling to go to extremes, but consented to issue a proclamation, which, drafted by Hamilton, and countersigned by Jefferson, was published September 15, 1792.

It earnestly admonished all persons to desist from unlawful combinations to obstruct the operations of the laws, and charged all courts, magistrates, and officers with their enforcement.

There was no mistaking Hamilton's intention to enforce the law.

Prosecutions in the Circuit Court, held at Yorktown in October, were ordered against the Pittsburgh offenders, but no proof could be had to sustain an indictment.
The President's proclamation startled the western people, and some uneasiness was felt as to how such of their representatives as had taken part in the Pittsburgh meeting would be received when they should go up to the legislature in the winter.

Bradford and Smilie accompanied Gallatin; Smilie to take his seat in the state Senate, and Bradford to represent Washington County in the House, where he "cut a poor figure." Gallatin despised him, and characterized him as a "tenth-rate lawyer and an empty drum." Gallatin found, however, that although the Pittsburgh meeting had hurt the general interest of his party throughout the State, and "rather defeated" the repeal of the excise law, his eastern friends did not turn the cold shoulder to him.