diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11702-0.txt | 4610 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/11702-8.txt | 5036 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/11702-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 113788 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/11702.txt | 5036 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/11702.zip | bin | 0 -> 113744 bytes |
8 files changed, 14698 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/11702-0.txt b/11702-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fc8088d --- /dev/null +++ b/11702-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4610 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11702 *** + +WASHINGTON AND HIS COLLEAGUES + +A CHRONICLE OF THE RISE AND FALL OF FEDERALISM + +BY HENRY JONES FORD + +NEW HAVEN: YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS + +1918 + + + +Textbook Edition + +The Chronicles of America Series + +Allen Johnson, Editor + +Gerhard R. Lomer and Charles W. Jefferys, Assistant Editors + + + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I. AN IMITATION COURT + + II. GREAT DECISIONS + + III. THE MASTER BUILDER + + IV. ALARUMS AND EXCURSIONS + + V. TRIBUTE TO THE ALGERINES + + VI. FRENCH DESIGNS ON AMERICA + + VII. A SETTLEMENT WITH ENGLAND + +VIII. PARTY VIOLENCE + + IX. THE PERSONAL RULE OF JOHN ADAMS + + BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + INDEX + + + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +AN IMITATION COURT + +Washington was glad to remain at Mount Vernon as long as possible after he +had consented to serve as President, enjoying the life of a country +gentleman, which was now much more suited to his taste than official +employment. He was weary of public duties and the heavy demands upon his +time which had left him with little leisure for his private life at home. +His correspondence during this period gives ample evidence of his extreme +reluctance to reassume public responsibilities. To bring the matter to its +true proportions, it must be remembered that to the view of the times the +new constitution was but the latest attempt to tinker the federal scheme, +and it was yet to be seen whether this endeavor would be any more +successful than previous efforts had been. As for the title of President, +it had already been borne by a number of congressional politicians and had +been rather tarnished by the behavior of some of them. Washington was not +at all eager to move in the matter before he had to, and he therefore +remained on his farm until Congress met, formally declared the result of +the election, and sent a committee to Mount Vernon to give him official +notice. It was not until April 30, 1789, that he was formally installed as +President. + +Madison and Hamilton were meanwhile going ahead with their plans. This +time was perhaps the happiest in their lives. They had stood together in +years of struggle to start the movement for a new constitution, to steer +it through the convention, and to force it on the States. Although the +fight had been a long and a hard one, and although they had not won all +that they had wanted, it was nevertheless a great satisfaction that they +had accomplished so much, and they were now applying themselves with great +zest to the organization of the new government. Madison was a member of +Congress; Hamilton lived near the place where Congress held its sittings +in New York and his house was a rendezvous for the federal leaders. +Thither Madison would often go to talk over plans and prospects. A lady +who lived near by has related how she often saw them walking and talking +together, stopping sometimes to have fun with a monkey skipping about in a +neighbor's yard. + +At that time Madison was thirty-eight; Hamilton was thirty-two. They were +little men, of the quick, dapper type. Madison was five feet six and a +quarter inches tall, slim and delicate in physique, with a pale student's +face lit up by bright hazel eyes. He was as plain as a Quaker in his style +of dress, and his hair, which was light in color, was brushed straight +back and gathered into a small queue, tied with a plain ribbon. Hamilton +was of about the same stature, but his figure had wiry strength. His +Scottish ancestry was manifest in his ruddy complexion and in the modeling +of his features. He was more elegant than Madison in his habitual attire. +He had a very erect, dignified bearing; his expression was rather severe +when his features were in repose, but he had a smile of flashing radiance +when he was pleased and interested, Washington, who stood over six feet +two inches in his buckled shoes, had to look down over his nose when he +met the young statesmen who had been the wheel horses of the federal +movement. + +Soon after Washington arrived in New York he sought Hamilton's aid in the +management of the national finances. There was the rock on which the +government of the Confederation had foundered. There the most skillful +pilotage was required if the new government was to make a safe voyage. +Washington's first thought had been to get Robert Morris to take charge +again of the department that he had formerly managed with conspicuous +ability, and while stopping in Philadelphia on his way to New York, he had +approached Morris on the subject. Morris, who was now engaged in grand +projects which were eventually to bring him to a debtor's prison, declined +the position but strongly recommended Hamilton. This suggestion proved +very acceptable to Washington, who was well aware of Hamilton's capacity. + +The thorny question of etiquette was the next matter to receive +Washington's attention. Personally he favored the easy hospitality to +which he was accustomed in Virginia, but he knew quite well that his own +taste ought not to be decisive. The forms that he might adopt would become +precedents, and hence action should be taken cautiously. Washington was a +methodical man. He had a well-balanced nature which was never disturbed by +timidity of any kind and rarely by anxiety. His anger was strong when it +was excited, but his ordinary disposition was one of massive equanimity. +He was not imaginative, but he took things as they came, and did what the +occasion demanded. In crises that did not admit of deliberation, his +instinctive courage guided his behavior, but such crises belong to +military experience, and in civil life careful deliberation was his rule. +It was his practice to read important documents pen in hand to note the +points. From one of his familiar letters to General Knox we learn that on +rising in the morning he would turn over in his mind the day's work and +would consider how to deal with it. His new circumstances soon apprised +him that the first thing to be settled was his deportment as President. +Under any form of government the man who is head of the state is forced, +as part of his public service, to submit to public exhibition and to be +exact in social observance; but, unless precautions are taken, engagements +will consume his time and strength. Writing to a friend about the +situation in which he found himself, Washington declared: "By the time I +had done breakfast, and thence till dinner, and afterwards till bed-time, +I could not get relieved from the ceremony of one visit, before I had to +attend to another. In a word, I had no leisure to read or answer the +dispatches that were pouring in upon me from all quarters." + +The radical treatment which the situation called for was aided by a +general feeling in Congress that arrangements should be made for the +President different from those under the Articles of Confederation. It had +been the practice for the President to keep open house. Of this custom +Washington remarked that it brought the office "in perfect contempt; for +the table was considered a public one, and every person, who could get +introduced, conceived that he had a right to be invited to it. This, +although the table was always crowded (and with mixed company, and the +President considered in no better light than as a _maître d'hôtel_), was +in its nature impracticable, and as many offenses given as if no table had +been kept." It was important to settle the matter before Mrs. Washington +joined him in New York. Inside of ten days from the time he took the oath +of office, he therefore drafted a set of nine queries, copies of which he +sent to Jay, Madison, Hamilton, and John Adams, with these sensible +remarks: + +"Many things, which appear of little importance in themselves and at the +beginning, may have great and durable consequences from their having been +established at the commencement of a new general government. It will be +much easier to commence the Administration upon a well-adjusted system, +built on tenable grounds, than to correct errors, or alter inconveniences, +after they shall have been confirmed by habit. The President, in all +matters of business and etiquette, can have no object but to demean +himself in his public character in such a manner as to maintain the +dignity of his office, without subjecting himself to the imputation of +superciliousness or unnecessary reserve. Under these impressions he asks +for your candid and undisguised opinion." + +Only the replies of Hamilton and Adams have been preserved. Hamilton +advised Washington that while "the dignity of the office should be +supported ... care will be necessary to avoid extensive disgust or +discontent.... The notions of equality are yet, in my opinion, too general +and strong to admit of such a distance being placed between the President +and other branches of the Government as might even be consistent with a +due proportion." Hamilton then sketched a plan for a weekly levee: "The +President to accept no invitations, and to give formal entertainments only +twice or four times a year, the anniversaries of important events of the +Revolution." In addition, "the President on levee days, either by himself +or some gentleman of his household, to give informal invitations to family +dinners ... not more than six or eight to be invited at a time, and the +matter to be confined essentially to members of the legislature and other +official characters. The President never to remain long at table." +Hamilton observed that his views did not correspond with those of other +advisers, but he urged the necessity of behaving so as "to remove the idea +of too immense inequality, which I fear would excite dissatisfaction and +cabal." + +This was sagacious advice, and Washington would have benefited by +conforming to it more closely than he did. The prevailing tenor of the +advice which he received is probably reflected in the communication from +Adams, who was in favor of making the government impressive through grand +ceremonial. "Chamberlains, aides-de-camp, secretaries, masters of +ceremonies, etc., will become necessary.... Neither dignity nor authority +can be supported in human minds, collected into nations or any great +numbers, without a splendor and majesty in some degree proportioned to +them." Adams held that in no case would it be "proper for the President to +make any formal public entertainment," but that this should be the +function of some minister of state, although "upon such occasions the +President, in his private character, might honor with his presence." The +President might invite to his house in small parties what official +characters or citizens of distinction he pleased, but this invitation +should always be given without formality. The President should hold levees +to receive "visits of compliment," and two days a week might not be too +many for this purpose. The idea running through Adams's advice was that in +his private character the President might live like any other private +gentleman of means, but that in his public functions he should adopt a +grand style. This advice, which Washington undoubtedly received from +others as well as Adams, influenced Washington's behavior, and the +consequences were exactly what Hamilton had predicted. According to +Jefferson's recollection, many years afterward, Washington told him that +General Knox and Colonel Humphreys drew up the regulations and that some +were proposed "so highly strained that he absolutely rejected them." +Jefferson further related that, when Washington was re-elected, Hamilton +took the position that the parade of the previous inauguration ought not +to be repeated, remarking that "there was too much ceremony for the +character of our government." + +It is a well-known characteristic of human nature to be touchy about such +matters as these. Popular feeling about Washington's procedure was +inflamed by reports of the grand titles which Congress was arranging to +bestow upon the President. That matter was, in fact, considered by the +Senate on the very day of Washington's arrival in New York and before any +steps could have been taken to ascertain his views. A joint committee of +the two houses reported against annexing "any style or title to the +respective styles or titles of office expressed in the Constitution." But +a group of Senators headed by John Adams was unwilling to let the matter +drop, and another Senate committee was appointed which recommended as a +proper style of address "His Highness, the President of the United States +of America, and Protector of their Liberties." While the Senate debated, +the House acted, addressing the President in reply to his inaugural +address simply as "The President of the United States." The Senate now had +practically no choice but to drop the matter, but in so doing adopted a +resolution that because of its desire that "a due respect for the majesty +of the people of the United States may not be hazarded by singularity," +the Senate was still of the opinion "that it would be proper to annex a +respectable title to the office." Thus it came about that the President of +the United States is distinguished by having no title. A governor may be +addressed as "Your Excellency," a judge as "Your Honor," but the chief +magistrate of the nation is simply "Mr. President." It was a relief to +Washington when the Senate discontinued its attempt to decorate him. He +wrote to a friend, "Happily this matter is now done with, I hope never to +be revived." + +Details of the social entanglements in which Washington was caught at the +outset of his administration are generally omitted by serious historians, +but whatever illustrates life and manners is not insignificant, and events +of this character had, moreover, a distinct bearing on the politics of the +times. The facts indicate that Washington's arrangements were somewhat +encumbered by the civic ambition of New York. That bustling town of 30,000 +population desired to be the capital of the nation, and, in the splendid +exertions which it made, it went rather too far. Federal Hall, designed as +a City Hall, was built in part for the accommodation of Congress, on +the site in Wall Street now in part occupied by the United States +Sub-Treasury. The plans were made by Major Pierre Charles l'Enfant, a +French engineer who had served with distinction in the Continental Army +but whose clearest title to fame is the work which he did in laying out +the city of Washington when it was made the national capital. Federal Hall +exceeded in dignified proportions and in artistic design any public +building then existing in America. The painted ceilings, the crimson +damask canopies and hangings, and the handsome furniture were considered +by many political agitators to be a great violation of republican +simplicity. The architect was first censured in the public press and then, +because of disputes, received no pay for his time and trouble, although, +had he accepted a grant of city lots offered by the town council he would +have received a compensation that would have turned out to be very +valuable. + +Federal Hall had been completed and presented to Congress before +Washington started for New York. The local arrangements for his reception +were upon a corresponding scale of magnificence, but with these Washington +had had nothing to do. The barge in which he was conveyed from the Jersey +shore to New York was fifty feet long, hung with red curtains and having +an awning of satin. It was rowed by thirteen oarsmen, in white with blue +ribbons. In the inauguration ceremonies Washington's coach was drawn by +four horses with gay trappings and hoofs blackened and polished. This +became his usual style. He seldom walked in the street, for he was so much +a public show that that might have been attended by annoying practical +inconvenience; but when he rode out with Mrs. Washington his carriage was +drawn by four--sometimes six--horses, with two outriders, in livery, with +powdered hair and cockades in their hats. When he rode on horseback, which +he often did for exercise, he was attended by outriders and accompanied by +one or more of the gentlemen of his household. Toward the end of the year +there arrived from England the state coach which he used in formal visits +to Congress and for other ceremonious events. It was a canary-colored +chariot, decorated with gilded nymphs and cupids, and emblazoned with the +Washington arms. His state was simplified when he went to church, which he +did regularly every Sunday; then his coach was drawn by two horses, with +two footmen behind, and was followed by a post-chaise carrying two +gentlemen of his household. Washington was fond of horses and was in the +habit of keeping a fine stable. The term "muslin horses" was commonly used +to denote the care taken in grooming. The head groom would test the work +of the stable-boys by applying a clean muslin handkerchief to the coats of +the animals, and, if any stain of dirt showed, there was trouble. The +night before the white horses which Washington used as President were to +be taken out, their coats were covered by a paste of whiting, and the +animals were swathed in wrappings. In the morning the paste was dry and +with rubbing gave a marble gloss to the horses' coats. The hoofs were then +blackened and polished, and even the animals' teeth were scoured. Such +arrangements, however, were not peculiar to Washington's stable. This was +the usual way in which grooming for "the quality" was done in that period. + +The first house occupied by Washington was at the corner of Pearl and +Cherry streets, then a fashionable locality. What the New York end of the +Brooklyn Bridge has left of it is now known as Franklin Square. The house +was so small that three of his secretaries had to lodge in one room; and +Custis in his Recollections tells how one of them, who fancied he could +write poetry, would sometimes disturb the others by walking the floor in +his nightgown trying the rhythm of his lines by rehearsing them with loud +emphasis. About a year later Washington removed to a larger house on the +west side of Broadway near Bowling Green. Both buildings went down at an +early date before the continual march of improvement in New York. In +Washington's time Wall Street was superseding Pearl Street as the +principal haunt of fashion. Here lived Alexander Hamilton and other New +Yorkers prominent in their day; here were fashionable boarding-houses at +which lived the leading members of Congress. When some fashionable +reception was taking place, the street was gay with coaches and +sedan-chairs, and the attire of the people who then gathered was as +brilliant as a flight of cockatoos. It was a period of spectacular dress +and behavior for both men and women, the men rivaling the women in their +use of lace, silk, and satin. Dr. John Bard, the fashionable doctor of his +day, who attended Washington through the severe illness which laid him up +for six weeks early in his administration, habitually wore a cocked hat +and a scarlet coat, his hands resting upon a massive cane as he drove +about in a pony-phaeton. The scarlet waistcoat with large bright buttons +which Jefferson wore on fine occasions, when he arrived on the scene, +showed that he was not then averse to gay raiment. Plain styles of dress +were among the many social changes ushered in by the French Revolution and +the war cycle that ensued from it. + +Titles figured considerably in colonial society, and the Revolutionary War +did not destroy the continuity of usage. It was quite in accord with the +fashion of the times that the courtesy title of Lady Washington was +commonly employed in talk about the President's household. Mrs. Washington +arrived in New York from Mount Vernon on May 27, 1789. She was met by the +President with his barge on the Jersey shore, and as the barge passed the +Battery a salute of thirteen cannon was fired. At the landing-place a +large company was gathered, and the coach that took her to her home was +escorted with military parade. The questions of etiquette had been settled +by that time, and she performed her social duties with the ease of a +Virginia gentlewoman always used to good society. She found them irksome, +however, as such things had long since lost their novelty. Writing to a +friend she said, "I think I am more like a state prisoner than anything +else." She was then a grandmother through her children by her first +husband. Although she preferred plain attire, she is described on one +occasion as wearing a velvet gown over a white satin petticoat, her hair +smoothed back over a moderately high cushion. It was the fashion of the +times for the ladies to tent their hair up to a great height. At one of +Mrs. Washington's receptions, Miss McIvers, a New York belle, had such a +towering coiffure that the feathers which surmounted it brushed a lighted +chandelier and caught fire. The consequences might have been serious had +the fire spread to the pomatumed structure below, but one of the +President's aides sprang to the rescue and smothered the burning plumes +between the palms of his hands before any harm came to the young lady. + +Every Tuesday while Congress was in session Washington received visitors +from three to four o'clock. These receptions were known as his levees. He +is described as clad in black velvet; his hair was powdered and gathered +behind in a silk bag; he wore knee and shoe buckles and yellow gloves; he +held a cocked hat with a cockade and a black feather edging; and he +carried a long sword in a scabbard of white polished leather. As visitors +were presented to him by an aide, Washington made a bow. To a candid +friend who reported to him that his bows were considered to be too stiff, +he replied: "Would it not have been better to throw the veil of charity +over them, ascribing their stiffness to the effects of age, or to the +unskillfulness of my teacher, rather than to pride and dignity of office, +which God knows has no charm for me?" Washington bore with remarkable +humility the criticisms of his manners that occasionally reached him. + +On Friday evenings Mrs. Washington received, and these affairs were known +as her "drawing-rooms." They were over by nine o'clock which was bed-time +in the Washington household; for Washington was an early riser, often +getting up at four in the morning to start the day's work betimes. The +"drawing-rooms" were more cheery affairs than the levees, as Mrs. +Washington had simple unaffected manners, and the General had made it +known that on these occasions he desired to be regarded not as the +President but simply as a private gentleman. This gave him an opportunity +such as he did not have at the levees to unbend and to enjoy himself. +Besides these receptions a series of formal dinners was given to +diplomatic representatives, high officers of government, and members of +Congress. Senator Maclay of Pennsylvania recorded in the diary he kept +during the First Congress that Washington would drink wine with every one +in the company, addressing each in turn by name. Maclay thought it of +sufficient interest to record that on one occasion a trifle was served +which had been made with rancid cream. All the ladies watched to see what +Mrs. Washington would do with her portion; and next day there were +tittering remarks all through the fashionable part of the town over the +fact that she had martyred herself and swallowed the dose. Incidentally +Maclay, who was in nearly everything a vehement opponent of the policy of +the Administration, bore witness to Washington's perfect courtesy, Maclay +noted that in spite of his antagonistic attitude Washington invited him to +dinner and paid him "marked attention," although "he knows enough to +satisfy him that I will not be Senator after the 3d of March, and to the +score of his good nature must I place these attentions." + +In his relations with Congress, Washington followed precedents derived +from the English constitutional system under which he had been educated. +No question was raised by anybody at first as to the propriety of a course +with which the public men of the day were familiar. He opened the session +with an address to Congress couched somewhat in the style of the speech +from the throne. At the first session there was talk of providing some +sort of throne for him; but the proposal came to nothing. He spoke from +the Vice-President's chair, and the Representatives went into the Senate +chamber to hear him, as the Commons proceed to the House of Lords on such +occasions. Congress, too, conformed to English precedents by voting +addresses in reply, and then the members repaired to the President's +"audience chamber," where the presiding officers of the two houses +delivered their addresses and received the President's acknowledgments. +These were disagreeable duties for Washington, although he discharged them +conscientiously. Maclay has recorded in his diary the fact that when +Washington made his first address to Congress he was "agitated and +embarrassed more than ever he was by the leveled cannon or pointed +musket." + +It was not until June 8 that Washington settled these delicate affairs of +official etiquette sufficiently to enable him to attend to details of +administration. The government, although bankrupt, was in active +operation, and the several executive departments were under secretaries +appointed by the old Congress. The distinguished New York jurist, John +Jay, now forty-four years old, had been Secretary of Foreign Affairs since +1784. He had long possessed Washington's confidence, and now retained his +Secretaryship until the government was organized, whereupon he left that +post to become the first chief-justice of the United States. Henry Knox of +Massachusetts, aged thirty-nine, had been Secretary of War since 1785, a +position to which Washington helped him. They were old friends, for Knox +had served through the war with Washington in special charge of artillery. +The Postmaster-General, Ebenezer Hazard, was not in Washington's favor. +While the struggle over the adoption of the Constitution was going on +Hazard put a stop to the customary practice by which newspaper publishers +were allowed to exchange copies by mail. Washington wrote an indignant +letter to John Jay about this action which was doing mischief by "inducing +a belief that the suppression of intelligence at that critical juncture +was a wicked trick of policy contrived by an aristocratic junto." As soon +as Washington could move in the matter, Hazard was superseded by Samuel +Osgood, who as a member of the old Congress had served on a committee to +examine the post-office accounts. There was no Secretary of the Treasury +at that time, but the affairs of that department were in the hands of a +board of commissioners,--this same Samuel Osgood, together with Walter +Livingston and Arthur Lee. To all these officials Washington now applied +for a written account of "the real situation" of their departments. + +Several months elapsed before he was in a position to make new +arrangements. The salary bill was approved September 2, 1789, and on the +same day Washington commissioned Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury,-- +the first of the new appointments, although in the creative enactments the +Treasury Department came last. Next came Henry Knox, Secretary of War and +of the Navy, on September 12; Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State; and +Edmund Randolph, Attorney-General, on September 26, on which date Osgood +was also appointed. What may be said to be Washington's Cabinet was thus +established, but the term itself did not come into use until 1793. At the +outset no more was decided than that the new government should have +executive departments, and in superficial appearance these were much like +those of the old government. The Constitution made no distinct provision +for a cabinet, and the only clause referring to the subject is the +provision authorizing the President to "require the opinion, in writing, +of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any +subject relating to the duties of their respective offices." This +provision does not contemplate a body that should be consultative by its +normal character. The prevailing opinion at the time the Constitution was +framed was that the consultative function would be exercised by the +Senate, which together with the President would form the Administration. +Upon this ground, Mason of Virginia refused to sign the report of the +constitutional convention. It was owing to practical experience and not to +the language of the Constitution that the President was soon repelled from +using the Senate as his privy council and was thrown back upon the aid of +the heads of the executive departments, who were thus drawn close to him +as his Cabinet.[Footnote: In this formative process the Postmaster-General +was left outside in Washington's time, since his functions were purely of +a business nature, not directly affected by the issues on which Washington +desired advice. The Postmaster-General did not become a member of the +Cabinet until 1829.] + +The inchoate character of the Cabinet for a considerable period explains +what might otherwise seem to be an anomaly,--the delay of Jefferson in +occupying his post. He did not arrive until March 21, 1790, when +Washington had been in office nearly a year. But this situation occasioned +no remark. The notion that the heads of the departments formed a cabinet, +taking office with the President and reflecting his personal choice as his +advisers, was not developed until long after Washington's administration, +although the Cabinet itself, as a distinct feature of the system of +government, dates from his first term. The importance which the Cabinet +soon acquired is evidence that, even under a written constitution, +institutions owe more to circumstances than to intentions. The +Constitution of the United States is no exception to the rule that the +true constitution of a country is the actual distribution of power, +written provisions being efficacious only in the way and to the extent +that they affect such distribution in practice. Hence results may differ +widely from the expectations with which those provisions are introduced. A +constitution is essentially a growth and never merely a contrivance. + + + +CHAPTER II + + +GREAT DECISIONS + +While Washington was bearing with military fortitude the rigors and +annoyances of the imitation court in which he was confined, Congress +reached decisions that had a vast effect in determining the actual +character of the government. The first business in order of course was the +raising of revenue, for the treasury was empty, and payments of interest +due on the French and Spanish loans were years behind. Madison attacked +this problem before Washington arrived in New York to take the oath of +office. On April 8 he introduced in the House a resolution which aimed +only at giving immediate effect to a scheme of duties and imposts that had +been approved generally by the States in 1783. On the very next day debate +upon this resolution began in the committee of the whole, for there was +then no system of standing committees to intervene between the House and +its business. The debate soon broadened out far beyond the lines of the +original scheme, and in it the student finds lucidly presented the issues +of public policy that have accompanied tariff debates ever since. + +Madison laid down the general principle that "commerce ought to be free, +and labor and industry left at large to find its proper object," but +suggested that it would be unwise to apply this principle without regard +to particular circumstances. "Although interest will, in general, operate +effectually to produce political good, yet there are causes in which +certain factitious circumstances may divert it from its natural channel, +or throw or retain it in an artificial one." In language which now +reads like prophecy he referred to cases "where cities, companies, or +opulent individuals engross the business from others, by having had an +uninterrupted possession of it, or by the extent of their capitals being +able to destroy a competition." The same situation could occur between +nations, and had to be considered. There was some truth, he also thought, +in the opinion "that each nation should have within itself the means of +defense, independent of foreign supplies," but he considered that this +argument had been urged beyond reason, as "there is good reason to believe +that, when it becomes necessary, we may obtain supplies abroad as readily +as any other nation whatsoever." He instanced as a cogent reason in favor +of protective duties that, as the States had formerly the power of making +regulations of trade to cherish their domestic interests, it must be +presumed that, when they put the exercise of this power into other hands +by adopting the Constitution, "they must have done this with the +expectation that those interests would not be neglected" by Congress. + +Actuated by such views, and doubtless also influenced by the great need +for revenue, Madison was on the whole favorable to amendments extending +the list of dutiable articles. Though there were conflicts between members +from manufacturing districts and those from agricultural constituencies, +and though the salt protectionists of New York had some difficulty in +carrying their point, the contention did not follow sectional lines. Coal +was added to the list on the motion of a member from Virginia. The duties +levied were, however, very moderate, ranging from five to twelve and +one-half per cent, with an exception in the case of one article that might +be considered a luxury. + +The bill as it passed the House discriminated in favor of nations with +which the United States had commercial treaties. That is to say, it +favored France and Holland as against Great Britain, which had the bulk of +America's foreign trade. Though Madison insisted on this provision and was +supported by a large majority of the House, the Senate would not agree to +it. During the early sessions of Congress the Senate met behind closed +doors, a practice which it did not abandon until five years later. From +the accounts of the discussion preserved in Maclay's diary it appears that +there was much wrangling. Maclay relates that on one occasion when +Pennsylvania's demands were sharply attacked, his colleague, Robert +Morris, was so incensed that Maclay "could see his nostrils widen and his +nose flatten like the head of a viper." Pierce Butler of South Carolina +"flamed away and threatened a dissolution of the Union, with regard to his +State, as sure as God was in the firmament." Thus began a line of argument +that was frequently pursued thereafter until it was ended by wager of +battle. On several occasions the division was so close that Vice-President +Adams gave the casting vote. Although there was much railing in the Senate +against imposts as a burden to the agricultural sections, yet some who +opposed duties in the abstract thought of particulars that ought not to be +neglected if the principle of protection were admitted. Duties on hemp and +cotton therefore found their way into the bill through amendments voted by +the Senate. Adjustment of the differences between the two houses was +hindered by the resentment of the House at the removal of the treaty +discrimination feature, but the Senate with characteristic address evaded +the issue by promising to deal with it as a separate measure and ended by +thwarting the House on that point. + +On the whole, in view of the sharp differences of opinion, the action +taken on the tariff was remarkably expeditious. The bill, which passed the +House on May 16, was passed by the Senate on June 2, and although delay +now ensued because of the conflict over the discrimination issue, the bill +became law by the President's approval on July 4. This prompt conclusion +in spite of closely-balanced factions becomes more intelligible when it is +observed that the rules of the Senate then provided that, "in case of a +debate becoming tedious, four Senators may call for the question." +Brief as was the period of consideration as compared with the practice +since that day, Maclay noted indignantly that the merchants had "already +added the amount of the duties to the price of their goods" so that a +burden fell upon the consumers without advantage to the Treasury. Such +consequence is evidence of defect in procedure which the experience of +other nations has led them to correct, but which has continued to increase +in the United States until it has attained monstrous proportions. Under +the English budget system new imposts now take effect as soon as they are +proposed by the government, the contingency of alteration in the course of +enactment being provided for by return of payments made in error. The +general tendency of civilized government is now strongly in favor of +attaching the process of deliberation upon financial measures to the +period of their administrative incubation, and of shortening the period of +formal legislative consideration. + +One of the tasks of Congress in its first session was to draught +amendments to the Constitution. The reasons for such action were stated by +Madison to be a desire to propitiate those who desired a bill of rights, +and an effort to secure acceptance of the Constitution in Rhode Island and +North Carolina. Promises had been made, in the course of the struggle for +adoption, that this matter would be taken up, and there was a general +willingness to proceed with it. Under the leadership of Madison, the House +adopted seventeen amendments, which were reduced by the Senate to twelve. +Of these, ten were eventually ratified and formed what is commonly known +as the Bill of Rights. + +Apart from this matter, the session, which lasted until September 29, was +almost wholly occupied with measures to organize the new government. To +understand the significance of the action taken, it should be remembered +that the passions excited by the struggle over the new Constitution were +still turbulent. Fisher Ames of Massachusetts, a member without previous +national experience, who watched the proceedings with keen observation, +early noticed the presence of a group of objectors whose motives he +regarded as partly factious and partly temperamental. Writing to a friend +about the character of the House, he remarked: "Three sorts of people are +often troublesome: the anti-federals, who alone are weak and some of them +well disposed; the dupes of local prejudices, who fear eastern influence, +monopolies, and navigation acts; and lastly the violent republicans, as +they think fit to style themselves, who are new lights in politics, who +are more solicitous to establish, or rather to expatiate upon, some +sounding principle of republicanism, than to protect property, cement the +union, and perpetuate liberty." The spirit of opposition had from the +first an experienced leader in Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts. He had +seen many years of service in the Continental Congress which he first +entered in 1776. He was a delegate to the Philadelphia convention, in +whose sessions he showed a contentious temper, and in the end refused to +subscribe to the new Constitution. In the convention debates he had +strongly declared himself "against letting the heads of the departments, +particularly of finance, have anything to do with business connected with +legislation." Defeated in the convention, Gerry was now bent upon making +his ideas prevail in the organization of the government. + +On May 19, the matter of the executive departments was brought up in +committee of the whole by Boudinot of New Jersey. At this time it was the +practice of Congress to take up matters first in committee of the whole, +and, after general conclusions had been reached, to appoint a committee to +prepare and bring in a bill. A warm discussion ensued on the question +whether the heads of the departments should be removable by the President. +Gerry, who did not take a prominent part in the debate, spoke with a +mildness that was in marked contrast with the excitement shown by some of +the speakers. He was in favor of supporting the President to the utmost +and of making him as responsible as possible, but since Congress had +obviously no right to confer a power not authorized by the Constitution, +and since the Constitution had conditioned appointments on the consent of +the Senate, it followed that removals must be subject to the same +condition. He spoke briefly and only once, although the debate became long +and impassioned. But he was merely reserving his fire, as subsequent +developments soon showed. Without a call for the ayes and nays, the +question was decided in favor of declaring the power of removal to be in +the President. The committee then proceeded to the consideration of the +Treasury Department. Gerry at once made a plea for delay. "He thought they +were hurrying on business too rapidly. Gentlemen had already committed +themselves on one very important point." He "knew nothing of the system +which gentlemen proposed to adopt in arranging the Treasury Department," +but the fact was worth considering that "the late Congress had, on long +experience, thought proper to organize the Treasury Department, in a mode +different from that now proposed." He "would be glad to know what the +reasons were that would induce the committee to adopt a different system +from that which had been found most beneficial to the United States." + +What Gerry had in view was the retention of the then existing system of +Treasury management by a Board of Commissioners. In 1781 the Continental +Congress had been forced to let the Treasury pass out of its own hands +into those of a Superintendent of Finance, through sheer inability to get +any funds unless the change was made. Robert Morris, who held the +position, had resigned in January, 1783, because of the behavior of +Congress, but the attitude of the army had become so menacing that he was +implored to remain in office and attend to the arrears of military pay. He +had managed to effect a settlement, and at length retired from office on +November 1, 1784. Congress then put the Treasury in the hands of three +commissioners appointed and supervised by it. Gerry was now striving to +continue this arrangement with as little change as possible. + +When debate was resumed the next day, Gerry made a long, smooth speech on +the many superior advantages of the Board system. The extent and variety +of the functions of the office would be a trial to any one man's +integrity. "Admit these innumerable opportunities for defrauding the +revenue, without check or control, and it is next to impossible he should +remain unsullied in reputation, or innoxious with respect to misapplying +his trust." The situation would be "Very disagreeable to the person +appointed, provided he is an honest, upright man; it will be disagreeable +also to the people of the Union, who will always have reason to suspect" +misconduct. "We have had a Board of Treasury and we have had a Financier. +Have not express charges, as well as vague rumors, been brought against +him at the bar of the public? They may be unfounded, it is true; but it +shows that a man cannot serve in such a station without exciting popular +clamor. It is very well known, I dare say, to many gentlemen in this +House, that the noise and commotion were such as obliged Congress once +more to alter their Treasury Department, and place it under the management +of a Board of Commissioners." He descanted upon the perils to liberty +involved in the course they were pursuing. Surround the President with +Ministers of State and "the President will be induced to place more +confidence in them than in the Senate.... An oligarchy will be confirmed +upon the ruin of the democracy; a government most hateful will descend to +our posterity and all our exertions in the glorious cause of freedom will +be frustrated." + +Gerry's speech as a whole was tactful and persuasive, but he made a +blunder when he appealed to the recollections of the old members, men who +had been in the Continental Congress, or else in some position where they +could view its springs of action. Their recollections now came forward to +his discomfiture. "My official duty," said Wadsworth of Connecticut, "has +led me often to attend at the Treasury of the United States, and, from my +experience, I venture to pronounce that a Board of Treasury is the worst +of all institutions. They have doubled our national debt." He contrasted +the order and clearness of accounts while the Superintendent of Finance +was in charge with the situation since then. If the committee had before +them the transactions of the Treasury Board, "instead of system and +responsibility they would find nothing but confusion and disorder, without +a possibility of checking their accounts." Boudinot of New Jersey said he +"would state a circumstance which might give the committee some small idea +of what the savings under the Superintendent were. The expenditure of hay +at a certain post was one hundred and forty tons; such was the estimate +laid before him; yet twelve tons carried the post through the year, and +the supply was abundant, and the post was as fully and usefully occupied +as it had ever been before." Of course there was an outcry against the +Superintendent of Finance; "he rather wondered that the clamor was not +more loud and tremendous." He remembered that "one hundred and forty-six +supernumerary officers were brushed off in one day, who had long been +sucking the vital blood and spirit of the nation. Was it to be wondered +at, if this swarm should raise a buzz about him?" Gerry fought on almost +singlehanded, but he could not refute the evidence that he had invited. He +lost his temper and resorted to sarcasm. If a single head of the Treasury +was so desirable, why not "have a single legislator; one man to make all +the laws, the revenue laws particularly, because among many there is less +responsibility, system, and energy; consequently a numerous representation +in this House is an odious institution." + +The case for the Treasury Board was so hopeless that nothing more was +heard of it; but the battle over the removal question was renewed with +added violence, when the bill for establishing the Department of Foreign +Affairs came up for consideration. White of Virginia now led the attack. +He had been a member of the Continental Congress from 1786 to 1788, and a +member of the ratifying convention of his State. Although he voted for +a provisional acceptance of the Constitution, he had supported an +amendment requiring Congress to collect direct taxes or excises through +State agency, which would have been in effect a return to the plan of +requisitions--the bane of the Confederation. In an elaborate speech he +attacked the clause giving the President power to remove from office, as +an attempt to impart an authority not conferred by the Constitution, and +inconsistent with the requirement that appointments should be made with +the advice and consent of the Senate. The debate soon became heated. "Let +us look around at this moment," said Jackson of Georgia, "and see the +progress we are making toward venality and corruption. We already hear the +sounding title of _Highness_ and _Most Honorable_ trumpeted in our ears, +which, ten years since, would have exalted a man to a station as high as +Haman's gibbet." Page of Virginia was ablaze with indignation. "Good God!" +he exclaimed. "What, authorize in a free republic, by law, too, by your +first act, the exertion of a dangerous royal prerogative in your Chief +Magistrate!" Gerry, in remarks whose oblique criticism upon arrangements +at the President's house was perfectly well understood, dwelt upon the +possibility that the President might be guided by some other criterion +than discharge of duty as the law directs. "Perhaps the officer is not +good natured enough; he makes an ungraceful bow, or does it left leg +foremost; this is unbecoming in a great officer at the President's levee. +Now, because he is so unfortunate as not to be so good a dancer as he is a +worthy officer, he must be removed." These rhetorical flourishes, which +are significant of the undercurrent of sentiment, hardly do justice to the +general quality of the debate which was marked by legal acuteness on both +sides. Madison pressed home the sensible argument that the President could +not be held to responsibility unless he could control his subordinates. +"And if it should happen that the officers connect themselves with the +Senate, they may mutually support each other, and for want of efficacy +reduce the power of the President to a mere vapor; in which case, his +responsibility would be annihilated and the expectation of it unjust." + +The debate lasted for several days, but Madison won by a vote of 34 to 20 +in committee, in favor of retaining the clause. On second thought, +however, and probably after consultation with the little group of +constructive statesmen who stood behind the scenes, he decided that it +might be dangerous to allow the President's power of removal to rest upon +a legislative grant that might be revoked. When the report from the +committee of the whole was taken up in the House, a few days later, Benson +of New York proposed that the disputed clause should be omitted and the +language of the bill should be worded so as to imply that the power of +removal was in the President. Madison accepted the suggestion, and the +matter was thus settled. The point was covered by providing that the chief +clerk of the Department should take charge "whenever the principal officer +shall be removed from office by the President." The clause got through the +Senate by the casting vote of the Vice-President, and a similar provision +was inserted, without further contest, in all the acts creating the +executive departments. It is rather striking evidence of the Utopian +expectations which could then be indulged that Daniel Carroll of Maryland +was persistent in urging that the existence of the office should be +limited to a few years, "under a hope that a time would come when the +United States would be disengaged from the necessity of supporting a +Secretary of Foreign Affairs." Although Gerry and others expressed +sympathy with the motion it was voted down without a division. + +When the bill establishing the Treasury Department was taken up, Page of +Virginia made a violent attack upon the clause authorizing the Secretary +to "digest and report plans." He denounced it as "an attempt to create an +undue influence" in the House. "Nor would the mischief stop here; it would +establish a precedent which might be extended until we admitted all the +Ministers of the government on the floor, to explain and support the plans +they have digested and reported; thus laying the foundation for an +aristocracy or a detestable monarchy." As a matter of fact, a precedent in +favor of access to Congress already existed. The old Superintendent of +Finance and the Board which succeeded him had the power now proposed for +the Secretary of the Treasury. Livermore of New Hampshire, who had been a +member of the Continental Congress, admitted this fact, but held that such +power was not dangerous at that time since Congress then possessed both +legislative and executive authority. They could abolish his plans and his +office together, if they thought proper; "but we are restrained by a +Senate and by the negative of the President," Gerry declared his assent to +the views expressed by Page. "If the doctrine of having prime and great +ministers of state was once well established, he did not doubt but that we +should soon see them distinguished by a green or red ribbon, or other +insignia of court favor and patronage." + +The strongest argument in favor of retaining the clause referred to was +made by Fisher Ames, who had begun to display the powers of clear +statement and of convincing argument that soon established his supremacy +in debate. He brought the debate at once to its proper bearings by +pointing out that there were really only two matters to be considered: +whether the proposed arrangement was useful, and whether it could be +safely guarded from abuse. "The Secretary is presumed to acquire the best +knowledge of the subject of finance of any member of the community. Now, +if this House is to act on the best knowledge of circumstances, it seems +to follow logically that the House must obtain the evidence from that +officer: the best way of doing this will be publicly from the officer +himself, by making it his duty to furnish us with it." In one of those +eloquent passages which brighten the records of debate whenever Ames spoke +at any length, he pictured the difficulties that had to be surmounted. "If +we consider the present situation of our finances, owing to a variety of +causes, we shall no doubt perceive a great, although unavoidable confusion +throughout the whole scene; it presents to the imagination a deep, dark, +and dreary chaos; impossible to be reduced to order without the mind of +the architect is clear and capacious, and his power commensurate to the +occasion." He asked, "What improper influence could a plan reported openly +and officially have on the mind of any member, more than if the scheme and +information were given privately at the Secretary's office?" Merely to +call for information would not be advantageous to the House. "It will be +no mark of inattention or neglect, if he take time to consider the +questions you propound; but if you make it his duty to furnish you plans +... and he neglect to perform it, his conduct or capacity is virtually +impeached. This will be furnishing an additional check." + +Sedgwick of Massachusetts made a strong speech to the same effect. "Make +your officer responsible," he said with prophetic vision, "and the +presumption is, that plans and information are properly digested; but if +he can secrete himself behind the curtain, he might create a noxious +influence, and not be answerable for the information he gives." + +The weight of the argument was heavily on the side of the supporters of +the clause, and it looked as though the group of objectors would again be +beaten. But now a curious thing happened. Fitzsimmons remarked that, if he +understood the objection made to the clause, "it was a jealousy arising +from the power given the Secretary to report plans of revenue to the +House." He suggested that "harmony might be restored by changing the word +'report' into 'prepare'." Fitzsimmons was esteemed by the House because of +his zealous support of the War of Independence and also because he stood +high as a successful Philadelphia merchant, but he did not, however, rank +as a leader. Early in the session Ames described him as a man who "is +supposed to understand trade, and he assumes some weight in such matters. +He is plausible, though not over civil; is artful, has a glaring eye, a +down look, speaks low, and with apparent candor and coolness." He was +hardly the man to guide the House on a matter pertaining to the +organization of public authority. + +While the removal issue was before the House, Madison had been prominent +in debate, and had spoken with great power and earnestness; but up to this +time he had said nothing on the issue now pending. He now remarked that he +did not believe that the danger apprehended by some really existed, but +twice in his speech he admitted that "there is a small possibility, +though it is but small, that an officer may derive a weight from this +circumstance, and have some degree of influence upon the deliberations of +the legislature." In its practical effect the speech favored the +compromise which Fitzsimmons had just proposed; in fact, the only +opposition to the change of phrasing now came from a few extremists who +still clamored for the omission of the entire clause. The decisive effect +of Madison's intervention was a natural consequence of the leadership he +had held in the movement for the new Constitution and of his standing +as the representative of the new Administration, of his possessing +Washington's confidence and acting as his adviser. Washington, then being +without a cabinet, had turned to Madison for help in discharging the +duties of his office, and at Washington's written request Madison had +drafted for him his replies to the addresses of the House and the Senate +at the opening of the session. It was a matter of course in such +circumstances that the House accepted Fitzsimmons' amendment,--"by a great +majority," according to the record,--and thus the Secretary of the +Treasury was shut out of the House and was condemned to work in the lobby. + +The consequences of this decision have been so vast that it is worth while +making an inquiry into motive, although the materials upon which judgment +must rest are scant. No one can read the record of this discussion without +noting that Madison's approval of the original clause was lukewarm as +compared with the ardor he had shown when the question was whether +Washington should be allowed to remove his subordinates. This contrast +suggests that Madison's behavior was affected by fear of Hamilton's +influence. Would it be prudent for him to give Hamilton the advantage of +being able to appear in person before the House, and probably to supplant +Madison himself as the spokesman of the Administration? Divergence between +the two men had already begun in details. At the time the vote on the +powers of the Secretary of the Treasury was taken, the tariff bill and the +tonnage bill were still pending, and Hamilton's influence operated against +Madison's views on some points. Moreover, the question of the permanent +residence of the federal government was coming forward and was apparently +overshadowing everything else in the minds of members. Ames several +times in his correspondence at this period remarks upon Madison's +timidity, which was due to his concern about Virginia State politics. Any +arrangement that might enable Hamilton to cross swords with an opponent on +the floor of the House could not be attractive to Madison, who was a lucid +reasoner but not an impressive speaker. Hamilton was both of these, and he +possessed an intellectual brilliancy which Madison lacked. Ames, who +respected Madison's abilities and who regarded him as the leading member +of the House, wrote that "he speaks low, his person is little and +ordinary; he speaks decently as to manner, and no more; his language is +very pure, perspicuous, and to the point." Why Fitzsimmons should be +opposed to the appearance of the Secretary in person in the House, as had +been Robert Morris's practice when he was Superintendent of Finance, is +plain enough. Maclay's diary has many references to Fitzsimmons's +negotiations with members on tariff rates. It was not to the advantage of +private diplomacy to allow the Secretary to shape and define issues on the +floor of the House. But Fitzsimmons could not have had his way about the +matter without Madison's help. + +Gibbon remarks that the greatest of theological controversies which racked +the Roman Empire and affected the peace of millions turned on the question +whether a certain word should be spelled with one diphthong or another. A +like disproportion between the vastness of results and the minuteness of +verbal distinction is exhibited in this decision by the House. The change +of "report" into "prepare" threw up a ridge in the field of constitutional +development that has affected the trend of American politics ever since. +This is the explanation of a problem of comparative politics that has +often excited much wondering notice: why it is that alone among modern +representative assemblies the American House of Representatives tends to +decline in prestige and authority. The original expectation was that the +House of Representatives would take a dominant position like that of the +House of Commons, but its degradation began so soon that Fisher Ames noted +it as early as 1797. Writing to Hamilton he observed: + +"The heads of departments are chief clerks. Instead of being the ministry, +the organs of the executive power, and imparting a kind of momentum to the +operation of the laws, they are precluded even from communicating with the +House by reports.... Committees already are the Ministers and while the +House indulges a jealousy of encroachment in its functions, which are +properly deliberative, it does not perceive that these are impaired and +nullified by the monopoly as well as the perversion of information by +these committees." + +Justice Story, who entered Congress in 1808 as a Jeffersonian Republican, +noted the process of degradation, and in his _Commentaries_ he pointed out +the cause: "The Executive is compelled to resort to secret and unseen +influences, to private interviews and private arrangements to accomplish +its own appropriate purposes, instead of proposing and sustaining its own +duties and measures by a bold and manly appeal to the nation in the face +of its representatives." + +The last of the organic acts of the session was the one establishing the +judiciary. The student will be disappointed if he examines the record to +note whether there was any vision of the ascendancy which the judiciary +was to obtain in the development of the American constitutional system. +The debates were almost wholly about the possibilities of conflict between +the state and the federal courts. Although Maclay's diary gives a +one-sided and distorted account of the proceedings in the Senate, the +course of the debate is clear. Ellsworth of Connecticut had principal +charge of the bill. At the outset Lee and Grayson of Virginia made an +ineffectual effort to confine the original jurisdiction of the federal +courts to cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, and argued that +jurisdiction over other cases involving federal law might be conferred +upon state courts. This was a point on which there had been some +difference of opinion between Hamilton and Madison. The former held that +it was within the competency of Congress, when instituting tribunals +inferior to the Supreme Court, to adopt the state courts for that purpose. +Madison held that nothing less than a system of federal courts quite +distinct from the state courts would satisfy the requirements of the +Constitution. When the bill was taken up in the House, there was a long +debate over this matter. The costly duplication of judicial establishments +that has ever since existed in the United States is certainly not +necessary to a federal system, but is an American peculiarity. The +advocates of a unified system were hampered by the fact that this view was +pressed by some in a spirit of hostility to the Constitution. The decisive +argument was the untrustworthiness of the state courts. Madison urged this +fact with great force and pointed out that in some of the States the +courts "are so dependent on the state legislatures, that to make the +federal laws dependent on them, would throw us back into all the +embarrassments which characterized our former situation." Such was the low +repute of the state legislatures that the only way in which this argument +could be met was to argue that "Congress shall have power, in its fullest +extent, to correct, reverse, or affirm, any decree of a state court." This +high assertion of federal authority was made by Jackson of Georgia in the +course of a long legal argument. The debate did not follow sectional +lines, and in general it was not unfairly described by Maclay as a +lawyer's wrangle. The bill was put into shape by the Senate, and reached +the House toward the close of the session when the struggle over the site +of the national capital was overshadowing everything else. It was so +generally believed that nothing important could be gained by attempts at +amendment that, after an airing of opinions, the House accepted the +measure just as it had come from the Senate. + + + +CHAPTER III + + +THE MASTER BUILDER + +The subject of national finance had long interested Hamilton. His ideas +had been matured by a diligent and minute study of English precedents, and +now that his opportunity had come he was ready to grasp it. Soon after he +took office, the House resolved that "an adequate provision for the +support of the public credit" should be made, and it directed the +Secretary of the Treasury "to prepare a plan for that purpose and to +report the same to the House at its next meeting." This was, in effect, a +postponement until the second session of the First Congress, which began +in January, 1790. In his opening address to Congress, Washington pointedly +referred to the public credit resolution which he had noted "with peculiar +pleasure." On the next day a letter from Hamilton was read in the House +stating that he had prepared his plan and was ready to report the same to +the House when they should be pleased to receive it. + +This announcement brought up anew the question in what manner the +Secretary should make his report. Gerry was on his feet at once with a +motion that it should be made in writing. Boudinot "hoped that the +Secretary of the Treasury might be permitted to make his report in person +in order to answer such inquiries as the members might be disposed to +make, for it was a justifiable surmise that gentlemen would not be able +clearly to comprehend so intricate a subject without oral illustration." +The allusion to the intricacy of the subject had the effect of turning +against the plan of oral communication some who had favored giving the +Secretary the same direct access to Congress that the Superintendent of +Finance had formerly enjoyed. Ames, for instance, now desired that the +Secretary's communications should be in writing since "in this shape they +would obtain a degree of permanency favorable to the responsibility of the +officer, while, at the same time, they would be less liable to be +misunderstood." Benson suggested that since the resolution of Congress had +directed the Secretary to make a report, it was left to his discretion to +"make it in the manner for which he is prepared." Gerry adroitly countered +by saying that the resolution provided for a report. That done, it would +be time enough "to give him the right to lay before them his explanations, +if he thinks explanations necessary." The debate was brief and one-sided; +the motion for receiving the report in writing was adopted without a +division. Five days later the written report was laid before the House, +but the Secretary was never accorded an opportunity to offer any personal +explanations. + +This masterly report, which is justly regarded as the corner-stone of +American public credit, excites the admiration of the reader by the +clearness of its analysis, the cogency of its argument, and the broad +range of its vision. The principles of action that it embodied, however, +were few and simple, chief among them being exact and punctual fulfillment +of contract. "States, like individuals, who observe their engagements, are +respected and trusted; while the reverse is the fate of those who pursue +an opposite conduct." To discharge the principal of the public debt was of +course impracticable; nor was it desirable, as the creditors would be well +pleased to leave it at interest. Incidentally the funding of the debt +would provide securities that would serve trade as a species of currency, +and would set in motion a long train of benefits that would extend +throughout the community. In the funding operation the debts contracted by +the States should be included. As to this Hamilton remarked: "The general +principle of it seems to be equitable, for it seems difficult to conceive +a good reason why the expenses for the particular defense of a part in a +common war should not be a common charge, as well as those incurred +professedly for the general defense. The defense of each part is that of +the whole; and unless the expenditures are brought into a common mass, the +tendency must be to add to the calamities suffered by being the most +exposed to the ravages of war and increase of burthens." + +Hamilton computed the amount of the foreign debt, principal and arrears, +at $11,710,378.62; the domestic debt, including that of the States, at +$42,414,085.94,--a total of over fifty-four millions with an annual +interest charge at existing rates amounting to $4,587,444.81,--a +staggering total for a nation whose revenue was then insufficient to meet +its current expenses. Nevertheless Hamilton refused to admit that "such a +provision would exceed the abilities of the country," but he was "clearly +of the opinion that to make it would require the extension of taxation to +a degree and to objects which the true interest of the public creditor +forbids." He therefore favored a composition, in arranging which there +would be strict adherence to the principle "that no change in the rights +of creditors ought to be attempted without their voluntary consent; and +that this consent ought to be voluntary in fact as well as in name." It +followed that "every proposal of a change ought to be in the shape of an +appeal to their interests; but not to their necessities." Hamilton then +went into details of a funding loan, in which various options were offered +to the creditors, including land grants in part payment, and conversion in +whole or in part into annuities, several sorts of which were offered. He +submitted estimates of how the various plans would work out in practice, +and he concluded that the annual revenue which would be required to enable +the government to meet its obligations under the scheme and also to +maintain its current service would amount to $2,239,163.09, a sum that +could be readily provided. + +There could not have been a more striking contrast than there was between +the humiliating conditions which actually existed and the grand results +which Hamilton designed and confidently expected. The ardent and hopeful +tone of his plan, conceived in apparently desperate circumstances, is very +marked. He declared: "It cannot but merit particular attention that among +ourselves the most enlightened friends of good government are those whose +expectations are the highest. To justify and preserve their confidence; to +promote the increasing respectability of the American name; to answer the +calls of justice; to restore landed property to its due value; to furnish +new resources both to agriculture and commerce; to cement more closely the +union of the States; to add to their security against foreign attack; to +establish public order on the basis of a liberal and upright policy--these +are the great and invaluable ends to be secured by a proper and adequate +provision at the present period for the support of public credit." + +All these great objects were indeed attained, but Hamilton's anticipation +of them was at the time regarded as either a pretext made to cajole +Congress or else merely an ebullition from his own sanguine nature not to +be taken too seriously by sensible people. Senator Maclay of Pennsylvania +regarded Hamilton's plans as wildly extravagant in their conception and +iniquitous in their practical effect. In his opinion, Hamilton had "a very +boyish, giddy manner, and Scotch-Irish people could well call him a +'skite.'" Jackson of Georgia exposed to the House the folly of Hamilton's +proposals by pointing out that a funded debt meant national decay. He +mentioned England as "a melancholy instance of the ruin attending such +engagements." To such a pitch had the "spirit of funding and borrowing +been carried in that country" that its national debt was now "a burthen +which the most sanguine mind can never contemplate they will ever be +relieved from." France also was "considerably enfeebled and languishes +under a heavy load of debt." He argued that by funding the debt in America +"the same effect must be produced that has taken place in other nations; +it must either bring on national bankruptcy, or annihilate her existence +as an independent empire." + +Such dismal prognostications on the very eve of the Napoleonic era, with +its tremendous revelations of national power, were quite common at that +time. The long rambling debate that took place in the House when +Hamilton's report was taken up for consideration abounds with similar +instances of shortsightedness. Many members did not scruple to advise +repudiation, in whole or in part. Livermore of New Hampshire admitted that +the foreign debt should be provided for, since it was "lent to the United +States in real coin, by disinterested persons, not concerned or benefited +by the revolution," but that the domestic debt was "for depreciated paper, +or services done at exorbitant rates, or for goods or provisions supplied +at more than their real worth, by those who received all the benefits +arising from our change of condition." True, Congress had pledged its +faith to the redemption of issues at their face value, "but this was done +on a principle of policy, in order to prevent the rapid depreciation which +was taking place." He argued that "money lent in this depreciated and +depreciating state can hardly be said to be lent from a spirit of +patriotism; it was a mere speculation in public securities." + +The distinction between the foreign debt and the domestic was seized by +many members as providing a just basis for discrimination. Page of +Virginia observed that "our citizens were deeply interested, and, I +believe, if they were never to get a farthing for what is owing to them +for their services, they would be well paid; they have gained what they +aimed at; they have secured their liberties and their laws; they will be +satisfied that this House has pledged itself to pay foreigners the +generous loans they advanced to us in the day of distress." In the course +of the debate the power to do was so often mentioned as implying the right +to do that Ames was moved to remark: "I have heard that in the East Indies +the stock of the labor and the property of the empire is the property of +the Prince; that it is held at his will and pleasure; but this is a +slavish doctrine, which I hope we are not prepared to adopt here." As a +matter of fact, there had already been extensive scaling of the debt, and +the note emissions had been pretty nearly wiped out. To save the public +credit from complete collapse, the Continental Congress had entered into +definite contracts under the most solemn pledges, and it was upon this +select class of securities that it was now proposed to start anew the +process of repudiation. But public opinion displayed itself so hostile to +such perfidy that the party of repudiation in Congress soon dwindled to +insignificance and the struggle finally settled upon two issues, +discrimination and assumption. + +Weeks of debate ensued, and the deepest impression made by a careful +perusal of the record is the inability of members to appreciate the +importance of the issues. Much of the tedious and pointless character of +their speeches may be ascribed to the lack of the personal presence of the +Secretary. There being nothing to focus the debate and exclude the +fictitious and irrelevant, it rambled in any direction a speaker's +fancy might suggest. Moreover, its quality was impaired because any +consideration of motive was of the nature of talking about a man behind +his back and this, everyone knows, is very different from saying things to +his face. Assertions and innuendos which would hardly have been hazarded +had Hamilton been present, or which, had they been made, would have been +forthwith met and refuted, were indulged in without restraint. Although +one of the reasons given for requiring a written report was that the House +would be the better informed, the debate does not indicate that the +arguments by which Hamilton had vindicated his proposals had really been +apprehended. + +The question whether or not any discrimination could be made between +original holders of the public securities and those who had acquired them +by purchase was considered at length by Hamilton in his report. The public +securities had been at such a heavy discount that now, if they were to be +met at face value, speculators would reap large profits. Hamilton put the +case of the opposition as strongly as possible. It might be urged that it +was unreasonable "to pay twenty shillings in the pound to one who had not +given more for it than three or four; and it is added that it would be +hard to aggravate the misfortune of the first owner, who, probably through +necessity, parted with, his property at so great a loss, by obliging him +to contribute to the profit of the person who had speculated on his +distresses." Nevertheless, Hamilton submitted considerations showing that +discrimination would be "equally unjust and impolitic, as highly injurious +even to the original holders of public securities, as ruinous to public +credit." It is unnecessary to repeat the lucid argument by which Hamilton +demonstrated the soundness of his position, for security of transfer is +now well understood to be an essential element of public credit; but the +special point of interest is that the debate simply ignored Hamilton's +argument and rambled along over the superficial aspects of the case, +dwelling upon the sorrows of those who had parted with their holdings, and +exhibiting their situation as the most important matter to be considered. + +Madison was most active in making that branch of the case the leading +issue, and in a series of elaborate speeches which cannot now be read +without regret, he urged that the present holders should be allowed only +the highest market price previously recorded, and that the residue should +go to the original holders. Boudinot at once pointed out that there was +nothing on record to show who might be an original bona fide holder. Great +quantities of the certificates of indebtedness had, as a mere matter of +convenience, been issued to government clerks who afterwards distributed +them among those who furnished supplies to the government or who performed +services entitling them to pay. He mentioned that he himself appeared on +the record as original holder in cases wherein he had really acted in +behalf of his neighbors to relieve them of the trouble of personal +appearance. Madison's proposition would therefore invest him with a legal +title to property which really belonged to others. But this and other +evidence of the real effect of Madison's proposal failed to move him, +further than to cause him to declare that "all that he wished was that the +claims of the original holders, not less than those of the actual holders, +should be fairly examined and justly decided," Finally Benson of New York +gave him a shrewd home thrust that plainly embarrassed him. He put the +question whether, if he had purchased a certificate from Madison, and the +Treasury withheld part of the amount for Madison as the original holder, +Madison would keep the money? "I ask," said Benson, "whether he would take +advantage of the law against me, and refuse to give me authority to take +it up in his name?" Madison evaded the query by saying that everything +would depend upon the circumstances of any particular case, and that +circumstances were conceivable in which the most tender conscience need +not refrain from taking the benefit of what the government had determined. + +The debate on Madison's discrimination amendment lasted from the eleventh +to the twenty-second day of February--Washington's birthday. The House did +honor to the day when it rejected Madison's motion by the crushing vote of +36 to 13. With that, his pretensions to the leadership of the House quite +disappeared. + +The assumption of state debts was the subject of a debate in committee of +the whole which lasted from the twenty-third of February to the second of +March. New factional lines now revealed a supposed diversity of interest +of the several States. The false notions of finance then current were +illustrated by an argument that was in continual use, either on the floor +or in the lobby. Members would figure how much their States would have to +pay as their share of the debt that would be assumed, and on that basis +would reach conclusions as to how their States stood to win or lose by the +transaction. By this reckoning, of course, the great gainer would appear +to be the State upon whom the chances of war had piled the largest debt. +This calculation made Burke of South Carolina, usually an opponent of +anything coming from Hamilton, a strong advocate of assumption. He told +the House that "if the present question was lost, he was almost certain it +would end in her bankruptcy, for she [South Carolina] was no more able to +grapple with her enormous debt than a boy of twelve years of age is able +to grapple with a giant." Livermore, representing a State never within the +actual field of military operations, at once replied: "I conceive that the +debt of South Carolina, or Massachusetts, or of an individual, has nothing +to do with our deliberations. If they have involved themselves in debt, it +is their misfortune, and they must extricate themselves as well as they +can." On a later occasion Stone of Maryland, another State that lay +outside the track of war, gave the leading war-debt States an admonition +of the kind that adds insult to injury, saying "however inconvenient it +may be to Massachusetts or South Carolina to make a bold exertion, and +nobly bear the burthens of their present debt, I believe in the end it +would be found to conduce greatly to their advantage." Burke made a +crushing rejoinder. "Was Maryland like South Carolina constantly grappling +with the enemy during the whole war? There is not a road in the State but +has witnessed the ravages of war; plantations were destroyed, and the +skeletons of houses, to this day, point out to the traveler the route of +the British army; her citizens were exposed to every violence, their +capital taken, and their country almost overrun by the enemy; men, women, +and children murdered by the Indians and Tories; all the personal property +consumed, and now is it to be wondered at that she is not able to make +exertions equal with other States, who have been generally in an +undisturbed condition?" + +The argument pressed by the advocates of assumption was that the state +debts contracted during the Revolutionary War were for the common defense, +and that, unless these were assumed by the general government, the +adoption of the new Constitution would do injury by withdrawing revenue +resources which the States had formerly possessed. This position at the +present day seems reasonable enough, but it is certain that at that time +people worked themselves into a genuine rage over the matter and were able +to persuade themselves into a sincere belief that it was outrageous the +unfortunate States should expect the others to bear their troubles, and +that Hamilton was a great rogue for proposing such a scheme. Writing in +his private diary, Maclay characterized the plan as "a monument of +political absurdity," and he was in the habit of referring to Hamilton's +supporters as his "gladiators" and as a "corrupt squadron." + +On the whole the records make painful reading. The prevailing tone of +public life was one of dull and narrow provincialism, at times thickening +into stupidity, at times sharpening into spite, although ordinarily made +respectable by a serious attitude to life and by a stolid fortitude in +facing whatever the distracted times might present. It was the influence +of a few great men that made America a nation. If one is not subject to +the spirit of ancestor worship that has long ruled American history, one +is bound to say that--apart from some forceful pamphleteering of transient +purpose--the voluminous political literature of the formative period +displays much pedantic erudition but has little that goes really deep. The +_Federalist_, the artillery of a hard fought battle, is a striking +exception. So, too, is the series of reports by Hamilton. But his plans +could not prevail by force of reason against the general spirit of selfish +particularism. Although on March 2 a motion adverse to assumption in +committee of the whole was defeated by a vote of 28 to 22, it was then +known that a majority could not be procured for enactment, and on April 12 +the assumption bill was defeated outright in the House, 31 to 29. Maclay, +who went over to the House from the Senate to witness the event, gloated +over the defeat in his diary: + +"Sedgwick, from Boston, pronounced a funeral oration over it. He was +called to order; some confusion ensued; he took his hat and went out. When +he returned, his visage bore the visible marks of weeping. Fitzsimmons +reddened like scarlet; his eyes were brimful. Clymer's color, always pale, +now merged to a deadly white; his lips quivered, and his nether jaw shook +with convulsive motions; his head, neck, and breast contracted with +gesticulations resembling those of a turkey or goose nearly strangled in +the act of deglutition. Benson bungled like a shoemaker who has lost his +end.... Wadsworth hid his grief under the rim of a round hat. Boudinot's +wrinkles rose in ridges and the angles of his mouth were depressed and +assumed a curve resembling a horse's shoe." The defeat did not discourage +Hamilton. He had successfully handled a more difficult situation in +getting New York to ratify the Constitution, and, resorting now to the +same means he had then employed, he used pressure of interest to move +those who could not be stirred by reason. The intense concern felt by +members in the choice of the site of the national capital supplied him +with the leverage which he brought to bear on the situation. Most of the +members were more stirred by that question than by any other before +Congress. It was a prominent topic in Madison's correspondence from the +time the Constitution was adopted. Maclay's diary abounds with references +to the subject. Some of his bitterest sentences are penned about the +conduct of those who preferred some other site to that on the Susquehanna +River which he knew to be the best because he lived there himself. +Bargaining among the members as to the selection had been going on almost +from the first. As early as April 26, 1789, before Washington had been +installed in his office, Maclay mentions a meeting "to concert some +measures for the removal of Congress." Thereafter notices of pending deals +appear frequently in his diary. After the defeat of the assumption bill, +the diary notes the activity of Hamilton in this matter. An entry of June +14, 1790, ascribes to Robert Morris the statement that "Hamilton said he +wanted one vote in the Senate and five in the House of Representatives; +that he was willing and would agree to place the permanent residence of +Congress at Germantown or Falls of the Delaware (Trenton), if he would +procure him those votes." Although definite knowledge is unattainable, one +gets the impression, in following the devious course of these intrigues, +that had Pennsylvania interests been united they could have decided the +site of the national capital; but the delegation was divided over the +relative merits of the Delaware and the Susquehanna as well as on +the question of assumption. Hamilton's efforts in this quarter were +ineffectual, and the winning combination was finally arranged elsewhere +and otherwise by the aid of Jefferson. + +Thomas Jefferson was at this time forty-seven years old, and owing both to +seniority and to the distinguished positions he had held, he ranked as the +most illustrious member of the Administration. His correspondence at this +period shows that he was fully aware of the importance of the crisis, and +he did not overrate it when he wrote to James Monroe, June 20, 1790, that, +unless the measures of the Administration were successful, "our credit +will burst and vanish, and the States separate to take care everyone of +itself." In this letter Jefferson outlined the compromise that was +actually adopted by Congress. The strongest opposition to the assumption +bill had come from Virginia, although Maryland, Georgia, and New Hampshire +also opposed it, and the Middle States were divided. Jefferson was able to +get enough Southern votes to carry assumption in return for enough votes +from Hamilton's adherents to carry the Potomac site. An agreement was +reached at a dinner given by Jefferson to which he invited Hamilton and +Madison. According to this arrangement, the capital was to remain in +Philadelphia for ten years and after that to be on the Potomac River in a +district ten miles square to be selected by the President. The residence +act was approved July 16, 1790; the funding and assumption measures, now +combined in one bill, became law on August 4. + +After Jefferson turned against the Administration, his participation in +the passage of the assumption bill was such an awkward circumstance that +he discredited his own intelligence by professing that he "was most +ignorantly and innocently made to hold the candle" to Hamilton's "game." +In reality the public service Jefferson then performed was the most useful +in all his long and fruitful career. But for this action, the Declaration +of Independence, to the drafting of which he owes his greatest fame, might +now be figuring among the historical documents of lost causes, like +similar elaborate statements of principle made during the Commonwealth +period in England. Had the national forces failed at the critical period +of financial organization, and the States, bankrupt by the revolutionary +struggle, been left in the lurch, the republic would have followed the +usual course of disintegration displayed by federations from the time of +the Greek amphictyonies down to that of the Holy Roman Empire. + +The charge was made soon after Hamilton's victory that it was largely due +to the influence of speculators. The advance in the market value of +securities produced by Hamilton's measures certainly gave an opportunity +to speculators of which they availed themselves with the unscrupulous +activity characteristic of the sordid tribe. Jefferson has left an account +of "the base scramble." "Couriers and relay horses by land, and swift +sailing pilot boats by sea, were flying in all directions. Active partners +and agents were associated and employed in every state, town, and country +neighborhood, and this paper was bought up at five shillings, and even as +low as two shillings in the pound, before the holder knew that Congress +had already provided for its assumption at par. Immense sums were thus +filched from the poor and ignorant, and fortunes accumulated by those who +had themselves been poor enough before." + +This account is highly colored. The struggle was too close, and the issue +was long too doubtful, to admit of speculative preparations extending to +every "town and country neighborhood." If speculation took place on such a +large scale, it must have been also taking risks on a large scale, for +assumption was not assured until Jefferson himself put his shoulder to the +wheel. The lack of means for prompt diffusion of intelligence naturally +provided large opportunity for speculation by those in a position to +keep well-informed, and undoubtedly large profits were made; but the +circumstances were such that it seems most probable that profits were less +than market opportunities would have allowed had not the issue been so +long in doubt. Nevertheless there was much speculative activity, and the +charge was soon made that it extended into Congress.[Footnote: This charge +was put forth by John Taylor in pamphlets printed in 1793 and 1794, in +which he reviewed the financial policy of the Administration and gave a +list of Congressmen who had invested in the public funds. The facts on +which this charge rests have been collected and examined by Professor +Beard in his _Economic Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy_. His analysis +shows that out of sixty-four members of the House, twenty-nine were +security holders, and of these twenty-one voted for and eight voted +against assumption. But the facts disclosed do not sustain his theory that +the issue was essentially a conflict between capitalism and agrarianism. +The assumption bill was lifted to its place on the statute book through +the leverage exerted by Hamilton and Jefferson, with Washington's prestige +as their fulcrum. The characters of these three men resist schemes of +classification according to economic interest. The principal value of +analysis of the economic elements of the struggle is to protect from +undervaluation the motives that actuated the opposition to Hamilton's +measures. The historian has the advantage of a perspective denied to +participants in events, and this fact is apt to turn unduly to the +discredit of lost causes.] + +The passage of assumption was the turning point. Other important measures +followed, but none of them met with difficulties which the Administration +could not overcome by ordinary methods of persuasion and appeal. A +national bank was authorized by an act approved on February 25, 1791. +Hamilton's famous report on manufactures, a masterly analysis of the +sources of national wealth and of the means of improving them, was sent to +Congress on December 5, 1791. Upon his recommendation Congress established +the mint, the only point which excited controversy being Hamilton's +proposal that the coins should be stamped with the head of the President +in whose administration they were issued. This suggestion was rejected on +the ground that it smacked too much of the practice of monarchies. The +queer totemistic designs of American coinage are a consequence of this +decision. + +The formation of national government by voluntary agreement is a unique +event. The explanation of this peculiar result in the case of America is +the unifying influence of Hamilton's measures. They interested in the +support of the government economic forces strong enough to counteract the +separatist tendencies that had always before broken up states unless +they were held together by sheer might of power in their rulers. The +means employed have been cited as evidence in support of the economic +interpretation of history now in fashion. Government, it is true, like +every other form of life, must meet the fundamental needs of subsistence +and defense, but this truism supplies no explanation of the particular +mode of doing so that may be adopted. Those needs account for motion but +not for direction. Human will, discernment, and purpose enter and +complicate the situation in a way that makes theories of determinism +appear absurd. No one has ever contended that Hamilton was prompted by an +economic motive in giving up his law practice to accept public office. He +did so against the remonstrances of his friends, whose predictions that +what he would get out of it for himself would be calumny, persecution, and +loss of fortune, were all fully verified; but he possessed a nature which +found its happiness in bringing high ideals to grand fulfillment, and in +applying his powers to that object he let everything else go. Hamilton's +career is one of the greatest of those facts that baffle attempts to +reduce history to an exhibition of the play of economic forces. + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +ALARUMS AND EXCURSIONS + +The Shakespearian stage direction which heads this chapter appropriately +describes the course of administrative experience while Washington was +trying to get from Congress the means of sustaining the responsibilities +with which he was charged by his office. Events did not stand still +because for a time anything like national government had ceased. Before +Washington left Mount Vernon he had been disquieted by reports of Indian +troubles in the West, and of intrigues by Great Britain--which still +retained posts that according to the treaty of peace belonged to the +United States,--and by Spain which held the lower Mississippi. Washington +applied himself to these matters as soon as he was well in office, but he +was much hindered in his arrangements by apathy or indifference in +Congress. He noted in his diary for May 1, 1790, communications made to +him of a disposition among members of Congress "to pay little attention to +the Western country because they were of the opinion it would soon shake +off its dependence on this, and, in the meantime would be burdensome to +it." From a letter of Gen. Rufus Putnam, one of the organizers of the Ohio +company, it appears that in July, 1789, Ames of Massachusetts put these +queries to him: "Can we retain the western country with the government of +the United States? And if we can, what use will it be to them?" Putnam +wrote a labored article to the effect that it was both feasible and +desirable to hold the West, but the character of his arguments shows that +there was then a poor prospect of success. At that time no one could have +anticipated the Napoleonic wars which ended all European competition for +the possession of the Mississippi valley, and, as it were, tossed that +region into the hands of the United States. There was strong opposition in +Congress to pursuing any course that would require maintenance of an army +or navy. Some held that it was a great mistake to have a war department, +and that there would be time enough to create one in case war should +actually arrive. + +In a message to the Senate, August 7, 1789, Washington had urged the +importance of "some uniform and effective system for the militia of the +United States," saying that he was "particularly anxious" it should +receive early attention. On January 18, 1790, General Knox submitted to +Congress a plan to which there are frequent references in Washington's +diary, showing the special interest he took in the subject. The report +laid down principles which have long since been embraced by European +nations, but which have just recently been recognized by the United +States. It asserts: "That it is the indispensable duty of every nation to +establish all necessary institutions for its protection and defense; that +it is a capital security to a free state for the great body of the people +to possess a competent knowledge of the military art; that every man of +the proper age and ability of body is firmly bound by the social compact +to perform, personally, his proportion of military duty for the defense of +the State; that all men of the legal military age should be armed, +enrolled, and held responsible for different degrees of military service." +In furtherance of these principles a scheme was submitted providing for +military service by the citizens of the United States beginning at +eighteen years of age and terminating at sixty. The response of Congress +was the Act of April 30, 1790, authorizing a military establishment "to +the number of one thousand two hundred and sixteen non-commissioned +officers, privates, and musicians," with permission to the President to +call State Militia into service if need be, "in protecting the inhabitants +of the frontiers." Washington, in noting in his diary his approval of the +act, observed that it was not "adequate to the exigencies of the +government and the protection it is intended to afford." + +The Indian troubles in the Southwest were made particularly serious by the +ability of the head-chief of the Creek nation, Alexander McGillivray, the +authentic facts of whose career might seem too wildly improbable even for +the uses of melodrama. His grandmother was a full-blooded Creek of high +standing in the nation. She had a daughter by Captain Marchand, a French +officer. This daughter, who is described as a bewitching beauty, was taken +to wife by Lachland McGillivray, a Scotchman engaged in the Indian trade. +A son was born who, at the age of ten, was sent by his father to +Charleston to be educated, where he remained nearly seven years receiving +instruction both in English and Latin. This son, Alexander, was intended +by his father for civilized life, and when he was seventeen he was placed +with a business house in Savannah. During the Revolutionary War the father +took the Tory side and his property was confiscated. The son took refuge +with his Indian kinsfolk, and acquired in their councils an ascendancy +which also extended to the Seminole tribe. His position and influence made +his favor an important object with all powers having American interests. +During the war the British conferred upon him the rank and pay of a +colonel. In 1784, as the representative of the Creek and Seminole nations, +he formed a treaty of alliance with Spain, by the terms of which he became +a Spanish commissary with the rank and pay of a colonel. + +Against the State of Georgia, the Creek nation had grievances which +McGillivray was able to voice with a vigor and an eloquence that compelled +attention. It was the old story, so often repeated in American history, of +encroachments upon Indian territory. Attempts at negotiation had been made +by the old government, and these were now renewed by Washington with no +better result. McGillivray met the commissioners, but left on finding that +they had no intention of restoring the Indian lands that had been taken. A +formidable Indian war seemed imminent, but Washington, whose own frontier +experience made him well versed in Indian affairs, judged correctly that +the way to handle the situation was to induce McGillivray to come to New +York, though, as he noted in his diary, the matter must be so managed that +the "government might not appear to be an agent in it, or suffer in its +dignity if the attempt to get him here should not succeed." With his +habitual caution, Washington considered the point whether he could send +out an agent without consulting the Senate on the appointment, and he +instructed General Knox "to take the opinion of the Chief Justice of the +United States and the Secretary of the Treasury." The assurances obtained +were such that Washington selected an experienced frontier commander, +Colonel Marinus Willett of New York, and impressed upon him the importance +of bringing the Indian chiefs to New York, pointing out "the arguments +justifiable for him to use to effect this, with such lures as respected +McGillivray personally, and might be held out to them." + +Colonel Willett was altogether successful, though the inducements he +offered were probably aided by McGillivray's desire to visit New York and +meet General Washington. Other chiefs accompanied him, and on their way +they received many official attentions. An incident which occurred at +Guilford Court House, North Carolina, displays McGillivray's character in +a kindly light. A woman whose husband had been killed by Creek Indians and +who with her children had been made captive, visited McGillivray to thank +him for effecting their release, and it was disclosed that he had since +that time been contributing to the support of the family. At New York, the +recently organized Tammany Society turned out in costumes supposed to +represent Indian attire and escorted the visiting chiefs to Federal Hall. +Eventually Washington himself went to Federal Hall in his coach of state +and in all the trappings of official dignity, to sign the treaty concluded +with the Indians. The treaty, which laid down the pattern subsequently +followed by the government in its dealings with the Indians, recognized +the claims of the Creek nation to part of the territory it claimed, and +gave compensation for the part it relinquished by an annuity of fifteen +hundred dollars for the tribe, and an annuity of one hundred dollars for +each of the principal chiefs. + +For his part in the transaction McGillivray was commissioned an agent of +the United States with the rank of brigadier-general, a position which he +sustained with dignity. He was six feet tall, spare in frame, erect in +carriage. His eyes were large, dark, and piercing; his forehead, wider at +the top than just above the eyes, was so high and broad as to be almost +bulging. When he was a British colonel, he wore the uniform of that rank; +when in the Spanish service, he wore the military dress of that country; +and after Washington appointed him a brigadier-general he sometimes wore +the uniform of the American army, but never in the presence of Spaniards. +In different parts of his dominions he had good houses where he practised +generous hospitality. His influence was shaken by his various political +alliances, and before he died in 1793 he had lost much of his authority. + +In the course of these negotiations Washington had an experience with the +Senate which thereafter affected his official behavior. The debates of the +constitutional convention indicated an expectation that the Senate would +act as a privy council to the President; and Washington--intent above all +things on doing his duty--tried to treat it as such. In company with +General Knox he went to the Senate chamber, prepared to explain his +negotiations with the Indian chiefs, but he forthwith experienced the +truth of the proverb that although you may lead a horse to water you +cannot make him drink. In his diary for August 22, 1789, Maclay gave a +characteristic account of the scene. Washington presided, taking the +Vice-President's chair. "He rose and told us bluntly that he had called on +us for our advice and consent to some propositions respecting the treaty +to be held with the Southern Indians. Said he had brought General Knox +with him who was well acquainted with the business." A statement was read +giving a schedule of the propositions on which the advice of the Senate +was asked. Maclay relates that he called for the reading of the treaties +and other documents referred to in the statement. "I cast an eye at the +President of the United States. I saw he wore an aspect of stern +displeasure." There was a manifest reluctance of the Senate to proceed +with the matter in the President's presence, and finally a motion was made +to refer the business to a committee of five. A sharp debate followed in +which "the President of the United States started up in a violent fret. +'This defeats every purpose of my coming here' were the first words that +he said. He then went on to say that he had brought his Secretary of War +with him to give any necessary information; that the Secretary knew all +about the business, and yet he was delayed and could not go on with the +matter." The situation evidently became strained. Maclay relates: "A pause +for some time ensued. We waited for him to withdraw. He did so with a +discontented air." + +The privy council function of the Senate was thus in effect abolished by +its own action. Thereafter the President had practically no choice save to +conclude matters subject to subsequent ratification by the Senate. It soon +became the practice of the Senate to restrict the President's power of +appointment by conditioning it upon the approval of the Senators from the +State in which an appointment was made. The clause providing for +the advice and consent of the Senate was among the changes made in +the original draft to conciliate the small States, but it was not +supposed that the practical effect would be to allow Senators to dictate +appointments. It was observed in the _Federalist_ that "there will be no +exertion of choice on the part of Senators." Nevertheless there was some +uneasiness on the point. In a letter of May 31, 1789, Ames remarked that +"the meddling of the Senate in appointments is one of the least defensible +parts of the Constitution," and with prophetic insight he foretold that +"the number of the Senators, the secrecy of their doings, would shelter +them, and a corrupt connection between those who appoint to office and the +officers themselves would be created." + +Washington had to submit to senatorial dictation almost at the outset of +his administration, the Senate refusing to confirm his nomination of +Benjamin Fishbourn for the place of naval officer at Savannah. The only +details to be had about this affair are those given in a special message +of August 6, 1789, from which it appears that Washington was not notified +of the grounds of the Senate's objection. He defended his selection on the +ground that Fishbourn had a meritorious record as an army officer, had +held distinguished positions in the state government of Georgia which +testified public confidence, and moreover was actually holding, by virtue +of state appointment, an office similar to that to which Washington +desired to appoint him. The appointment was, in fact, no more than the +transfer to the federal service of an official of approved administrative +experience, and was of such manifest propriety that it seems most likely +that the rejection was due to local political intrigue using the Georgia +Senators as its tool. The office went to Lachlan McIntosh, who was a +prominent Georgia politician. Over ten years before he had killed in a +duel Button Gwinnett, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. +Gwinnett was the challenger and McIntosh was badly wounded in the duel, +but the affair caused a feud that long disturbed Georgia politics, and +through the agency of the Senate it was able to reach and annoy the +President of the United States. + +At the time when Washington was inaugurated both North Carolina and Rhode +Island were outside the Union. The national government was a new and +doubtful enterprise, remote from and unfamiliar to the mass of the people. +To turn their thoughts toward the new Administration it seemed to be good +policy for Washington to make tours. The notes made by Washington in his +diary indicate that the project was his own notion, but both Hamilton and +Knox cordially approved it and Madison "saw no impropriety" in it. +Therefore, shortly after the recess of the first session of Congress, +Washington started on a trip through the Northern States, pointedly +avoiding Rhode Island, then a foreign country. It was during this tour +that a question of etiquette occurred about which there was a great stir +at the time. John Hancock, then Governor of Massachusetts, did not call +upon Washington but wrote inviting Washington to stay at his house, and +when this invitation was declined, he wrote again inviting the President +to dinner _en famille_. Washington again declined, and this time the +failure of the Governor to pay his respects to the President of the United +States was the talk of the town. Some of Hancock's aides now called with +excuses on the score of his illness. Washington noted in his diary, "I +informed them in explicit terms that I should not see the Governor unless +it was at my own lodgings." This incident occurred on Saturday evening, +and the effect was such that Governor Hancock called in person on Sunday. +The affair was the subject of much comment not to Governor Hancock's +advantage. Washington's church-going habits on this trip afford no small +evidence of the patient consideration which he paid to every point of +duty. In New York, he attended Episcopal church service regularly once +every Sunday. On his northern tour he went to the Episcopal church in the +morning, and then showed his respect for the dominant religious system of +New England by attending the Congregational church in the afternoon. His +northern tour lasted from October 15 to November 13, 1789, and was +attended by popular manifestations that must have promoted the spread of +national sentiment. On November 21, 1789, North Carolina came into the +Union, and Rhode Island followed on May 29, 1790. Washington started on a +tour of the Southern States on March 21,1791, in which he covered more +than seventeen hundred miles in sixty-six days, and was received with +grand demonstrations at all the towns he visited. + +While he was making these tours, which in the days before the railroad and +the telegraph were practically the only efficacious means of establishing +the new government in the thoughts and feelings of the people, he was much +concerned about frontier troubles, and with good reason, as he well knew +the deficiency of the means that Congress had allowed. The tiny army of +the United States was under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Josiah +Harmar, with the brevet rank of general. In October, 1790, Harmar led his +troops, nearly four-fifths of which were new levies of militia, against +the Indians who had been disturbing the western frontier. The expedition +was a succession of blunders and failures which were due more to the rude +and undisciplined character of the material that Harmar had to work with +than to his personal incapacity. Harmar did succeed in destroying five +Indian villages with their stores of corn, but their inhabitants had +warning enough to escape and were able to take prompt vengeance. A +detachment of troops was ambushed and badly cut up. The design had been to +push on to the upper course of the Wabash, but so many horses had been +stolen by the Indians that the expedition was crippled. As a result, +Harmar marched his troops back again, professing to believe that +punishment had been inflicted upon the Indians that would be a severe +lesson to them. What really happened was that the Indians were encouraged +to think that they were more than a match for any army which the settlers +could send against them, and before long news came of the destruction of +settlements and the massacre of their inhabitants. "Unless," wrote Rufus +Putnam to Washington, "Government speedily sends a body of troops for our +protection, we are a ruined people." + +Washington did what he could. He sent to Congress Putnam's letter and +other frontier communications, but Congress, which was stubbornly opposed +to creating a national army, replied, when the need was demonstrated, that +the militia of the several States were available. The Government was +without means of protecting the Indians against abuse and injustice or of +protecting the settlers against the savage retaliations that naturally +followed. The dilemma was stated with sharp distinctness in correspondence +which passed between Washington and Hamilton in April, 1791. Washington +wrote that it was a hopeless undertaking to keep peace on the frontier +"whilst land-jobbing and the disorderly conduct of our borderers are +suffered with impunity; and while the States individually are omitting +no occasion to intermeddle in matters which belong to the general +Government." Hamilton in reply went to the root of the matter. "Our system +is such as still to leave the public peace of the Union at the mercy of +each state government." He proceeded to give a concrete instance: "For +example, a party comes from a county of Virginia into Pennsylvania, and +wantonly murders some friendly Indians. The national Government, instead +of having power to apprehend the murderers and bring them to justice, is +obliged to make a representation to that of Pennsylvania; that of +Pennsylvania, again, is to make a requisition of that of Virginia. And +whether the murderers shall be brought to justice at all must depend upon +the particular policy, and energy, and good disposition of two state +governments, and the efficacy of the provisions of their respective laws. +And security of other States and the money of all are at the discretion of +one. These things require a remedy; but when that will come, God knows." + +Toward the close of its last session, the First Congress was induced to +pass an act "for raising and adding another regiment to the military +establishment of the United States and for making further provision for +the protection of the frontiers." The further provision authorized the +President to employ "troops enlisted under the denomination of levies" for +a term not exceeding six months and in number not exceeding two thousand. +The law thus made it compulsory that the troops should move while still +raw and untrained. Congress had fixed the pay of the privates at three +dollars a month, from which ninety cents were deducted, and it had been +necessary to scrape the streets and even the prisons of the seaboard +cities for men willing to enlist upon such terms. Washington gave the +command to General Arthur St. Clair, whose military experience should have +made him a capable commander, but he was then in bad health and unable to +handle the situation under the conditions imposed upon him. General +Harmar, enlightened by his own experience, predicted that such an army +would certainly be defeated. + +The campaign was intended as an expedition to chastise the Indians so that +they would be deterred from molesting the settlers, but it resulted in a +disaster that greatly encouraged Indian depredations. As the army +approached the Indian towns, a body of the militia deserted, and it was +reported to St. Clair that they intended to plunder the supplies. He sent +one of his regular regiments after them, thus reducing his available force +to about fourteen hundred men. On November 3, 1791, this force camped on +the eastern fork of Wabash. Before daybreak the next morning the Indians +made a sudden attack, taking the troops by surprise and throwing them into +disorder. It was the story of Braddock's defeat over again. The troops +were surrounded by foes that they could not see and could not reach. +Indian marksmen picked off the gunners until the artillery was silenced; +then the Indians rushed in and seized the guns. In the combat there were +both conspicuous exploits of valor and disgraceful scenes of cowardice. In +that dark hour St. Clair showed undaunted courage. He was in the front of +the fight, and several times he headed charges. He seemed to have a +charmed life, for although eight bullets pierced his clothes, one +cutting away a lock of the thick gray hair that flowed from under his +three-cornered hat, he escaped without a wound. Finally defeat became a +rout which St. Clair was powerless to check. Pushed aside in the rush of +fugitives, he was left in a position of great peril. If the Indian pursuit +had been persistent, few might have escaped, but the Indians stopped to +plunder the camp. Nevertheless six hundred and thirty men were killed and +over two hundred and eighty wounded, with small loss to the Indians. + +Washington's reception of the news illustrates both his iron composure and +the gusts of passion under which it sometimes gave way. The details are +unquestionably authentic, as they were communicated by Washington's +secretary who witnessed the scene. Washington was having a dinner party +when an officer arrived at the door and sent word that he was the bearer +of dispatches from the Western army. The secretary went out to him, but +the officer said his instructions were to deliver the dispatches to the +President in person. Washington then went to the officer and received the +terrible news. He returned to the table as though nothing had happened, +and everything went on as usual. After dinner there was a reception in +Mrs. Washington's drawing-room and the President, as was his custom, spoke +courteously to every lady in the room. By ten o'clock all the visitors had +gone and Washington began to pace the floor at first without any change of +manner, but soon he began to show emotional excitement and he broke out +suddenly: "It's all over! St. Clair is defeated--routed,--the officers +nearly all killed--the men by wholesale,--the rout complete,--too +shocking to think of,--and a surprise into the bargain!" + +When near the door in his agitated march about the room, he stopped and +burst forth, "Yes, here on this very spot I took leave of him; I wished +him success and honor; 'You have your instructions,' I said, 'from the +Secretary of War; I had a strict eye to them, and will add one word-- +Beware of a surprise! You know how the Indians fight us!' He went off with +that as my last solemn warning thrown into his ears. And yet, to suffer +that army to be cut to pieces--hacked, butchered, tomahawked--by a +surprise! O God, O God, he's worse than a murderer! How can he answer it +to his country! The blood of the slain is upon him--the curse of the +widows and orphans--the curse of Heaven!" + +The secretary relates that this torrent of passion burst forth in +appalling tones. The President's frame shook. "More than once he threw his +hands up as he hurled imprecations upon St. Clair." But at length he got +his feelings under control, and after a pause he remarked, "I will hear +him without prejudice. He shall have full justice." St. Clair was, indeed, +treated with marked leniency. A committee of the House reported that the +failure of the expedition could not "be imputed to his conduct, either at +any time before or during the action." St. Clair was continued in his +position as Governor of the Northwest Territory and remained there until +1802. + +Notwithstanding the dire results of relying on casual levies, Congress was +still stubbornly opposed to creating an effective force under national +control, and in this attitude to some extent reflected even frontier +sentiment. Ames in a letter of January 13, 1792, wrote that "even the +views of the western people, whose defense has been undertaken by +government, have been unfriendly to the Secretary of War and to the +popularity of the Government. They wish to be hired as volunteers, at +two-thirds of a dollar a day to fight the Indians. They are averse to the +regulars." By the Act of March 5, 1792, Congress authorized three +additional regiments, with the proviso, however, that they "shall be +discharged as soon as the United States shall be at peace with the Indian +tribes." This legislation, nevertheless, was a great practical improvement +on the previous act. General Wayne, who now took command, was fortunately +circumstanced in that he was under no pressure to move against the +Indians. Public opinion favored a return to negotiation, so that he had +time to get his troops under good discipline. He did not move the main +body of his troops until the summer of 1794, and on August 20, he +inflicted a smashing defeat on the Indians, at a place known as the Fallen +Timbers, followed up the victory by punitive expeditions to the Indian +towns, and burned their houses and crops. The campaign was a complete +success. The Indians were so humbled by their losses that they sued for +peace, and negotiations began which were concluded in the summer of 1795 +by the treaty of Greenville, under which the Northwestern tribes ceded an +extensive territory to the United States. + +It was notorious that the trouble which the American authorities had +experienced with the Indians had been largely due to the activity of +British agents. In his report Wayne noted that the destruction effected by +his troops included "the houses, stores, and property of Colonel McKee, +the British agent, and principal stimulator of the war now existing +between the United States and the savages." A sharp correspondence took +place between Wayne and Major William Campbell, commanding a British post +on the Miami. Campbell protested against the approach of Wayne's army, "no +war existing between Great Britain and America." Wayne assented to this +statement, and then asked what he meant "by taking post far within the +well known and acknowledged limits of the United States." Campbell +rejoined that he had acted under orders and as to his right, that was a +matter which were best left to "the ambassadors of our different nations." +Campbell refused to obey Wayne's demand to withdraw, and Wayne ignored +Campbell's threat to fire if he were approached too close. Wayne reported +that the only notice he took of this threat was "by immediately setting +fire to and destroying everything within view of the fort, and even under +the muzzles of the guns." "Had Mr. Campbell carried his threats into +execution," added Wayne, "it is more than probable he would have +experienced a storm." No collision actually took place at that time but +there was created a situation which, unless it were removed by diplomacy, +must have eventually brought on war. + + + +CHAPTER V + + +TRIBUTE TO THE ALGERINES + +At the time when Washington took office, the captains and crews of two +American vessels, which had been seized by Algerine Corsairs in 1785, +still remained in captivity. The Continental Congress had made some +efforts in their behalf which were contemptuously received. The Dey of +Algiers did not wish any treaty with the United States; but he did want +$59,496.00 for the twenty-one captives whom he then held. Farther than +that negotiation had not progressed. Agents of the United States were +advised that, if such a high amount were paid, the Corsairs would pursue +American vessels in preference to those of any other nation, and that the +shrewd thing would be to pretend indifference to the fate of the captives. +This advice was acted upon even to the extent of cutting off the supplies +which had been forwarded to the captives through the Spanish consul at +Algiers. The summary method which was pursued was that of dishonoring +bills drawn by him to cover his expenditures. + +Jefferson, who while Minister to France had been closely connected with +these proceedings, was called upon by Congress for a report upon them, not +long after he took office as Secretary of State. This report, December 28, +1790, set forth the fact that the Mediterranean trade, which had employed +from eighty to one hundred ships with about twelve hundred seamen, had +been almost destroyed. In the interest of the negotiations, it had been +necessary "to suffer the captives and their friends to believe for a +while, that no attention was paid to them, no notice taken of their +letters," and they were "still under this impression." Jefferson contented +himself with submitting the facts in the case, remarking that "upon the +whole it rests with Congress to decide between war, tribute, and ransom. +If war, they will consider how far our own resources shall be called +forth, and how far they will enable the Executive to engage, in the forms +of the Constitution, the cooperation of other Powers. If tribute or +ransom, it will rest with them to limit and provide the amount; and +with the Executive, observing the same constitutional forms, to make +arrangements for employing it to the best advantage." + +The problem which Jefferson thus put before Congress was a singularly +difficult one. Among the captives was Captain Richard O'Brien, whose ship, +the _Dauphin_ of Philadelphia, was taken July 30, 1785. He had a ready pen +and, apparently, had unrestricted access to the mails. His letters were +those of a shrewd observer and depicted a situation that bristled with +perplexity. The Algerines had about a dozen vessels, their armament +ranging from ten to thirty-six guns, but of these vessels only two +belonged to the Government, the others being private ventures. Though they +preyed on merchantmen, they avoided engagements, and did not come out at +all if there were vessels cruising for them. A blockade was effective only +while it lasted. Whenever it was raised, out came the Corsairs again. An +occasional bombardment of their port did not cow them and had no permanent +effect. A French official described it as being "like breaking glass +windows with guineas." The Algerines made treaties with some Powers in +consideration of tribute but refused peace to others on any terms; as they +did not desire to shut out all opportunity for their time-honored sport of +piracy. + +Congress was slow to take action of any kind. In January, 1791, Maclay +noted that a committee had decided that the Mediterranean trade could not +be preserved without an armed force to protect it, and that a navy should +be established as soon as the Treasury was in a position to bear the +expense. Meanwhile the President began fresh negotiations, which were +attended by singular fatality. Thomas Barclay, who had some diplomatic +experience, was commissioned to go to the Emperor of Morocco. When Barclay +reached Gibraltar, he was taken ill, and, after being removed to Lisbon, +he died. Admiral John Paul Jones was then appointed special commissioner +to arrange for the ransom of the captives. As he had then left the Russian +service and was living in Paris, it was supposed that his services would +be available, but he died before the commission could reach him. The delay +caused by these events was made so much worse by the slow transmission of +intelligence that two years elapsed before a fresh start was made by +placing the conduct of matters in the hands of Colonel David Humphreys, +then Minister to Portugal. Humphreys had gone as far as Gibraltar on his +mission when he learned that a truce had been suddenly arranged between +Portugal and Algiers. This was alarming news, since it meant that the +Algerines could now pass into the Atlantic from which they had been +excluded by Portuguese war-vessels stationed in the strait of Gibraltar. +"I have not slept since the receipt of the news of this the hellish plot," +wrote Edward Church, the United States consul at Lisbon. Church was +energetic in spreading the intelligence, which fortunately reached some +American shipmasters in time to save them. In October, 1793, as thirteen +American vessels were in the port of Lisbon afraid to venture out, Church +pleaded their case so vigorously that the Portuguese government agreed to +give them an armed convoy. Nevertheless the Algerines found plenty of game +among American ships then at sea, for they captured ten vessels and added +one hundred and five more Americans to the stock of slaves in Algiers. +"They are in a distressed and naked situation," wrote Captain O'Brien, who +had himself then been eight years in captivity. + +Humphreys made arrangements by which they received clothing and a money +allowance ranging from twelve cents a day for a seaman up to eight dollars +a month for a captain. Nothing, however, could be done in the way of peace +negotiations. One of Humphreys' agents reported that the Dey could not +make peace even if he really wanted to do so. "He declared to me that his +interest does not permit him to accept your offers, Sir, even were you to +lavish millions upon him, 'because,' said he, 'if I were to make peace +with everybody, what should I do with my Corsairs? What should I do with +my soldiers? They would take off my head, for want of other prizes.'" + +This was an honest disclosure of the situation. Humphreys wrote Jefferson +that "no choice is left for the United States but to prepare a naval force +for the protection of their trade." Captain O'Brien wrote, "By all means +urge Congress to fit out some remarkably fast sailing cruisers, well +appointed and manned." In January, 1794, accordingly, a committee of the +House brought in a resolution for building four ships of 44 guns and two +of 20 guns each. The debate began on February 6, and for some time was +altogether one-sided, with one speaker after another opposing the creation +of a navy. Madison, as was now his habit, had doubts as to the propriety +of the measure. He fancied that peace "might be purchased for less +money than this armament would cost." Clark of New Jersey had "an +objection to the establishment of a fleet, because, when once it had been +commenced, there would be no end to it." He had "a scheme which he judged +would be less expensive and more effectual. This was to hire the +Portuguese to cruise against the Algerines." Baldwin of Georgia thought +that "bribery alone could purchase security from the Algerines." Nicholas +of Virginia "feared that we were not a match for the Algerines." + +Smith of Maryland and Fitzsimmons of Pennsylvania championed the +resolution, and Fisher Ames made some remarks on Madison's lack of spirit +that caused Madison to define his position. He proposed as a substitute +for the pending measure that money should "be employed in such a manner as +should be found most effectual for obtaining a peace with the Regency of +Algiers; and failing of this, that the sum should be applied to the end of +obtaining protection from some of the European Powers." This motion warmed +up the debate. Giles of Virginia came to Madison's support in a style that +was not helpful. He "considered navies altogether as very foolish things. +An immense quantity of property was spread on the water for no purpose +whatever, which might have been employed by land to the best purpose." The +suggestion that the United States should be a hermit nation was an +indiscreet exposure of the logical significance of Madison's plan, and it +perhaps turned the scale in favor of employing force. + +The bill came up in the House for final passage on March 10, 1794. Its +opponents now sparred for time, but a motion to recommit in order to give +opportunity for further consideration was defeated by 48 to 41. Giles made +a final effort, by a long and elaborate address, in which he argued that +the effect of fitting out a navy would be to involve the United States in +war with all the European Powers. Moreover, a navy would be dangerous to +American liberty. "A navy is the most expensive of all means of defense, +and the tyranny of governments consists in the expensiveness of their +machinery." He pointed to the results of British naval policy. "The +government is not yet destroyed, but the people are oppressed, liberty is +banished." The French monarchy had been ruined by its navy. He was +"astonished, with these fatal examples before our eyes, that there should +be gentlemen who would wish to enter upon this fashionable system of +politics." In discussing the expense of maintaining a navy, he expressed +his fear that it would eventually bring back the miseries of feudalism. + +William Smith of South Carolina made a reply in which he defined the issue +as being between defense and tribute; but Giles had the last word. He +wanted to know whether it was maintained that the frigates it was proposed +to build would "boldly march upon land and break the chains of the +prisoners?" He begged Congress not to do what "would irritate the +barbarians and furnish additional misery to the unfortunate prisoners." In +this closing struggle over the bill Giles fought single-handed. When he +had quite finished, the bill was passed by 50 yeas to 39 nays, a result +which showed a decided gain in strength from the discussion. + +The debates in the Senate have not been preserved, but the Senate was so +evenly divided that it took the casting vote of the Vice-President to pass +the bill, which became law March 27, 1794. In order to get it passed at +all, a proviso had been tacked on that, if peace terms could be arranged, +"no farther proceeding be had under this Act." In September, 1795, a +treaty of peace with Algiers was finally concluded, after negotiations had +been facilitated by a contingent fee of $18,000 paid to "Bacri the Jew, +who has as much art in this sort of management as any man we ever knew," +the American agents reported. It was a keen bargain, as Bacri had to +propitiate court officials at his own risk, and had to look for both +reimbursement and personal profit, too, out of the lump sum he was to +receive in event of his success. It can hardly be doubted that he had the +situation securely in hand before making the bargain. The money paid in +Algiers for the ransom of the captives, for tribute and for presents to +officials amounted to $642,500.00. But in addition the United States +agreed to build a frigate for the Algerine navy and also supply naval +stores, which with incidental expenses brought the total cost of the peace +treaty up to $992,463.25. Moreover, the United States agreed to pay an +annual tribute of 12,000 sequins,--about $27,500. + +By the terms of the navy act, the United States had to stop building +vessels for its own protection. Of those which had been authorized, the +frigates _Constitution, United States_, and _Constellation_ were under way +and were eventually completed. The timber, with material that had been +collected for the other vessels, was sold, except what was needed for the +frigate which was to be presented to the Algerines, and which was to be +built at Portsmouth, N.H. The whole affair was a melancholy business that +must have occasioned Washington deep chagrin. In his address to Congress, +December 7, 1796, announcing the success of the negotiations for effecting +the release of the captives, he observed that "to secure respect to a +neutral flag requires a naval force, organized and ready to vindicate it +from insult or aggression." + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +FRENCH DESIGNS ON AMERICA + +A few months before France declared war upon England, February 1, 1793, +Edmond Genet was appointed French Minister to the United States. He landed +at Charleston, April 8, and at once began activities so authoritative as +to amount to an erection of French sovereignty in the United States. The +subsequent failure of his efforts and the abrupt ending of his diplomatic +career have so reacted upon his reputation that associations of boastful +arrogance and reckless incompetency cling to his name. This estimate holds +him too lightly and underrates the peril to which the United States was +then exposed. Genet was no casual rhetorician raised to important office +by caprice of events, but a trained diplomatist of hereditary aptitude and +of long experience. His father was chief of the bureau of correspondence +in the Department of Foreign Affairs for the French monarchy, and it was +as an interpreter attached to that bureau that the son began his career in +1775. While still a youth, he gained literary distinction by his +translations of historical works from Swedish into French. Genet was +successively attached to the French Embassies at Berlin and Vienna, and in +1781 he succeeded his father in the Department of Foreign Affairs. In +1788, he was Secretary of the French Embassy at St. Petersburg, where his +zeal for French Revolutionary principles so irritated the Empress +Catherine that she characterized him as "a furious demagogue," and in 1792 +he was forced to leave Russia. In the same year he was named Ambassador to +Holland, and thence was soon transferred to the United States. + +It is obvious that a man of such experience could not be ignorant of +diplomatic forms and of international proprieties of behavior. If he +pursued a course that has since seemed to be a marvel of truculence, the +explanation should be sought in the circumstances of his mission more than +in the nature of his personality. When the matter is considered from this +standpoint, not only does one find that Genet's proceedings become +consistent and intelligible, but one becomes deeply impressed with the +magnitude of the peril then confronting the United States. Nothing less +than American independence was at stake. + +It should be borne in mind that France, in aiding America against England, +had been pursuing her own ends. In August, 1787, the French government +advised its American representative that it had observed with indifference +the movements going on in the United States and would view the break-up of +the Confederation without regret. "We have never pretended to make of +America a useful ally; we have had no other object than to deprive Great +Britain of that vast continent." But, now that war with England had broken +out again, it was worth while making an effort to convert America into a +useful ally. Jefferson, while Minister to Paris, had been sympathetic with +the Revolutionary movement. In 1789, the English Ambassador reported to +his government that Jefferson was much consulted by the leaders of the +Third Estate. On the other hand, Gouverneur Morris, who was then living in +Paris, sympathized frankly with the King. Nevertheless he was chosen to +succeed Jefferson as the American Minister. In notifying him of the +appointment, Washington let him know that there had been objections. "It +was urged that in France you were considered as a favorer of the +aristocracy, and unfriendly to its Revolution." Washington's reminder that +it was his business to promote the interest of his own country did not +have any apparent effect on Morris's behavior. He became the personal +agent of Louis XVI, and he not only received and disbursed large sums on +the King's account, but he also entered into plans for the King's flight +from Paris. During the Reign of Terror which began in 1792, he behaved +with an energy and an intrepidity honorable to him as a man; in general, +however, his course tended to embroil and not to guard American interests. + +In the face of the European coalition against revolutionary France, the +principle of action was that announced by Danton,--"to dare, and to dare, +and without end to dare." Genet therefore went on his mission to America +keyed to measures which were audacious but which can hardly be described +as reckless. By plunging heavily he might make a big winning; if he +failed, he was hardly worse off than if he had not made the attempt. To +draw the United States into the war as the ally of France was only one +part of his mission. He was also planning to reëstablish the +French colonial empire, the loss of which was still an unhealed wound. +Canada, Louisiana, and the Floridas were all in his mind. In Louisiana, +France regarded conditions as being so favorable that Genet was instructed +to make special efforts in that quarter. Spain, which had entered the +coalition against republican France, held the lower Mississippi. Spain was +therefore the common enemy of France and of the American settlements west +of the mountains. Ought not then those two republican interests to work +together to expel Spain and to seize Louisiana? Moreover, there was a +belief, not without grounds, that the older States which formed the +American union were indifferent to the needs and interests of the country +west of the Alleghenies and would be more relieved than afflicted if it +should take its destinies into its own hands. Such considerations animated +a group of Americans in Paris, among whose prominent members were Thomas +Paine, the pamphleteer, Joel Barlow, the poet, and Dr. James O'Fallon, a +Revolutionary soldier now interested in Western land speculation. All were +then ardent sympathizers with the French Revolution, and they entered +heartily into the design of stirring up the Western country against Spain. +The project attracted some frontier leaders, among them George Rogers +Clark, famous for his successful campaigns against the hostile Indians and +the British during the Revolutionary War. He was to lead a force of +Western riflemen against the Spanish posts in Louisiana, and Genet brought +with him blank brevets of officers up to the grade of captain for bestowal +on the Indian chiefs who would cooperate. The expenses of the expedition +were to be met by collections which Genet expected to make from the +treasury of the United States on account of sums due to France. + +The project of using the United States as a French base could claim legal +rights under the treaties of 1778 between France and the United States. +There were two treaties, both concluded on the same day. One, entitled a +treaty of amity and commerce, was a mutual conveyance of privileges; it +provided that the ships of war of each country should defend the vessels +of the other country against all attacks that might occur while they were +in company. Besides this right of convoy, each country had the right to +use the ports of the other, either for ships of war or for privateers and +their prizes, "nor shall such prizes be arrested or seized when they come +to and enter the ports of either party; nor shall the searchers or other +officers of those places search the same, or make any examination +concerning the lawfulness of such prizes, but they may hoist sail at any +time, and depart." All vessels of either country had the right to take +refuge in the ports of the other, whether from stress of weather or +pursuit of enemies, "and they shall be permitted to refresh and provide +themselves at reasonable rates, with victuals and all things needful for +the sustenance of their persons or reparation of their ships, and +conveniency of their voyage; and they shall no ways be detained or +hindered from returning out of the said ports or roads, but may remove and +depart when and whither they please, without any let or hindrance." It was +expressly provided that such hospitality should not be extended to vessels +of an enemy of either country. The accompanying instrument, entitled a +treaty of alliance, was a mutual guarantee of territorial possessions, +"forever against all other powers." These broad rights and privileges were +supplemented by the convention of 1788 on consular functions, which +facilitated the organization of a consular jurisdiction competent to deal +with cases arising from the treaties. There was still due to France on +loans contracted during the Revolution a remainder of about $2,300,000 +payable by instalments, subject to the proviso that "Congress and the +United States" had "the liberty of freeing themselves by anticipated +payments should the state of their finances admit." It was planned to get +the United States to reciprocate the past favors of France by favoring her +now, if not by direct payments of money, at least by acceptances which +Genet could use in purchasing supplies. The fact that whatever in the way +of money or accommodations was obtained in the United States would be +used in business in that country was counted upon to facilitate the +transaction. + +These facts form the background against which Genet's activities should be +viewed. He came with deliberate intent to rush the situation, and armed +with all needful powers for that purpose, so far as the French government +could confer them. According to a dispatch from Morris to the State +Department, Genet "took with him three hundred blank commissions which he +is to distribute to such as will fit out cruisers in our ports to prey on +the British commerce." + +At Charleston, Genet received an enthusiastic reception. The Revolutionary +commander, General Moultrie, who was then governor of South Carolina, +entered so cordially into Genet's plans that in his first dispatch home, +Genet was able to say to his government that Moultrie had permitted him to +arm privateers and had assisted the various branches of his mission in +every possible way. Such was Genet's energy that within five days after +his arrival he had opened a recruiting station at which American seamen +were taken into the French service; he had commissioned American vessels +as French privateers; and he had turned the French consul's office into an +admiralty court for which business was provided by the prizes that were +being brought in. + +After seeing under way all matters that he could attend to in Charleston, +Genet moved on to Philadelphia, and received on his way thither such +greetings as to give to his journey the character of a triumphal progress. +Meanwhile, _L'Ambuscade_, the French frigate which had brought Genet to +Charleston, was proceeding to Philadelphia, taking prizes on her way and +sending them to American ports. In Delaware Bay she captured the _Grange_, +an English merchantman lying there at anchor, and took this vessel +with her to Philadelphia as a prize. As Genet neared Philadelphia on +May 16, _L'Ambuscade_ gave notice by firing three guns, at which signal a +procession was formed to meet Genet at Gray's Ferry and escort him to his +lodgings. He found awaiting him a letter from George Rogers Clark, which +gave an account of his plans for the invasion of Louisiana and the capture +of New Orleans, and which announced his readiness to start if he were +assisted by some frigates and provided with three thousand pounds sterling +to meet expenses. Genet received reports from other agents or friendly +correspondents in the Spanish territory, and so active was he in +forwarding the objects of his mission that on June 19 he was able to write +to his government, "I am provisioning the West Indies, I excite the +Canadians to break the British yoke, I arm the Kentukois and prepare a +naval expedition which will facilitate their descent on New Orleans." + +These claims were well founded. Genet did, in fact, make an effective +start, and had he been able to command funds he might have opened a great +chapter of history. George Rogers Clark was the ablest and most successful +commander that the frontier had yet produced, and such was the weakness of +the Spanish defenses that had his expedition been actually launched as +planned, the conquest of Louisiana might indeed have been accomplished. It +was not any defect in Genet's arrangements that frustrated his plans, but +his inability to raise money and the uncertainty of his position as the +agent of a government which was undergoing rapid revolutionary change. + +News that the French Republic had declared war against Great Britain +reached the United States early in April, 1793. Washington, who was then +at Mount Vernon, wrote to Jefferson that "it behooves the Government of +this country to use every means in its power to prevent the citizens +thereof from embroiling us with either of those Powers, by endeavoring to +maintain a strict neutrality," and he requested that the Secretary should +"give the subject mature consideration, that such measures as shall be +deemed most likely to effect this desirable purpose may be adopted without +delay." On arriving at Philadelphia a few days later, Washington was met +by a distracted Cabinet. The great difficulty was the conflict of +obligations. The United States had a treaty of alliance with France; it +had a treaty of peace with Great Britain. The situation had become such +that it could not sustain both relations at the same time. If the United +States remained neutral, it would have to deny to France privileges +conferred by the treaty which had been negotiated when both countries were +at war with Great Britain. How far was that treaty now binding? It had +been made with "the Most Christian king," whose head had been cut off. Did +not his engagements fall with his head? That was the very position taken +by the government of the French Republic, which had asserted the right to +decide what treaties of the old monarchy should be retained and what +rejected. As an incident of the present case, the question was to be +decided whether the ambassador of the French Republic should be received. + +Such were the issues that Washington's Administration had to face, at a +time when the whole country was thrilling with enthusiasm in behalf of the +French Republic. Chief Justice Marshall left on record his opinion that +this feeling "was almost universal," and that "a great majority of the +American people deemed it criminal to remain unconcerned spectators of a +conflict between their ancient enemy and republican France." + +Washington acted with his customary deliberation. On April 18, 1793, he +submitted to the members of his Cabinet thirteen questions. Jefferson, who +held that the French treaty was still operative, noted that the questions +reached him in Washington's own handwriting, "yet it was palpable from +the style, their ingenious tissue and suite, that they were not the +President's, that they were raised upon a prepared chain of argument, in +short, that the language was Hamilton's and the doubts his alone." In +Jefferson's opinion they were designed to lead "to a declaration of the +Executive that our treaty with France is void." Jefferson was right as to +Hamilton's authorship. At a time when Jefferson had no advice to give save +that it would be well to consider whether Congress ought not to be +summoned, Hamilton had ready a set of interrogatories which subjected the +whole situation to close analysis. The critical questions were these: + +"Shall a proclamation issue for the purpose of preventing interferences of +the citizens of the United States in the war between France and Great +Britain, &c.? Shall it contain a declaration of neutrality or not? What +shall it contain? + +"Are the United States obliged, by good faith, to consider the treaties +heretofore made with France as applying to the present situation of the +parties? May they either renounce them, or hold them suspended till the +government of France shall be established?" + +To the interrogatories framed by Hamilton, Washington added one which +presented the point raised by Jefferson--"Is it necessary or advisable to +call together the two Houses of Congress, with a view to the present +posture of European affairs? If it is, what shall be the particular object +of such a call?" + +The Cabinet met on April 19. On the question of a proclamation of +neutrality Jefferson argued that such a proclamation would be equivalent +to a declaration that the United States would not take part in the war, +and that this matter did not lie within the power of the Executive, since +it was the province of Congress to declare war. Congress ought therefore +to be called to consider the question. Hamilton, who held that it was both +the right and the duty of the President to proclaim neutrality, was +strongly opposed to summoning Congress. In a brief record of the +proceedings he remarked that "whether this advice proceeded from a secret +wish to involve us in a war, or from a constitutional timidity, certain it +is such a step would have been fatal to the peace and tranquillity of +America." The matter was finally compromised by an unanimous agreement +that a proclamation should be issued "forbidding our citizens taking any +part in any hostilities on the seas with or against any of the belligerent +powers; and warning them against carrying to any such powers any of those +articles deemed contraband, according to the modern usage of nations; and +enjoining them from all acts and proceedings inconsistent with the duties +of a friendly nation toward those at war." Jefferson's scruples having +been appeased by avoiding the use of the term "neutrality," it was now +unanimously decided that Congress should not be called. It was further +decided that the French Minister should be received. Jefferson and +Randolph, however, were of opinion that he should be received without +conditions, while Hamilton, supported by Knox, held that the Minister +ought to be apprised of the intention to reserve the question whether the +treaties were still operative, "lest silence on that point should occasion +misconstruction." The even division of the Cabinet on this point was in +practical effect a victory for Jefferson. The Cabinet was unable to reach +any decision in the matter of treaty obligations. Jefferson held that +they were still operative; Hamilton, that they were "temporarily and +provisionally suspended." Knox sided with Hamilton, and Randolph, although +he at first sided with Jefferson, was so shaken in his opinion by +Hamilton's argument that he asked further time for consideration. +Eventually written opinions were submitted by Hamilton, Jefferson, and +Randolph, confirming the views they had previously expressed, and, as Knox +concurred with Hamilton, the Cabinet was still evenly divided on that +fundamental question. + +The proclamation, on the lines upon which all had agreed, was draughted by +Randolph who showed it to Jefferson in order to assure him that "there was +no such word as neutrality in it." Jefferson, whose own account this is, +did not mention that he raised any objection to the wording of the +proclamation at the time, though a few months later he referred to it in +his private correspondence as a piece of "pusillanimity," because it +omitted any expression of the affection of America for France. The +proclamation was issued on April 22, two weeks after the arrival of Genet +at Charleston. The procedure that had been adopted at Jefferson's instance +avoided none of the difficulties that a declaration of neutrality would +have encountered but rather increased them by putting the Government in a +false position. The mere omission of the term did not prevent it from +being known as a neutrality proclamation. It was at once so designated and +has always been so considered. Jefferson himself, in advising the American +foreign representatives of the policy of the Government, said that it +would be "a fair neutrality"; and, in writing to Madison a few days after +the proclamation had been issued, he remarked, "I fear a fair neutrality +will prove a disagreeable pill to our friends, though necessary to keep us +out of the calamities of war." + +By its terms, however, the proclamation was simply an admonition to +American citizens to keep out of the war, with notice that, if they got +into trouble by engaging in contraband trade, they would not receive the +protection of the United States, and would be liable to prosecution for +the commission of acts of a nature to "violate the law of nations." It is +manifest that the question whether or not the French treaty was still in +operation was of great practical importance. If it was still in force, the +treaty formed part of the law of the land, and American citizens might +plead immunity for acts done in pursuance of its provisions. Hamilton was +for suspending the treaty since a situation had arisen which made its +provisions inconsistent with a policy of neutrality. His main contention +was that the obligations imposed by the treaty of '78 were no longer +binding on the United States, since they contemplated only defensive war. +By her declaration of war France had taken the offensive, thereby +relieving the United States of her reciprocal obligations. Jefferson held +that the treaty was still operative, for even if its provisions apparently +required the United States to engage in the war, it did not follow that +such action would be an actual consequence. The possibility was "not yet +certain enough to authorize us in sound morality to declare, at this +moment, the treaties null." + +Meanwhile Genet was left in a position in which he had a perfect right to +claim all privileges conferred on France by the treaty. The result was a +curious chapter of diplomatic correspondence. Genet took an attitude of +indignant remonstrance at the duplicity of the American position. Did not +the United States have a treaty with France? By what authority then did +the Administration interfere with him in the enjoyment of his rights as +the representative of France, and interfere with American citizens in +their dealings with him? He shrewdly refrained from any attempt to defend +the capture of the _Grange_ by _L'Ambuscade_ in Delaware Bay. "The learned +conclusions of the Attorney-General of the United States, and the +declarations of the American Government, have been on this subject the +rule of my conduct. I have caused the prize to be given up." But he stood +firm on rights secured by the treaty. "As long as the States, assembled in +Congress, shall not have determined that this solemn engagement should not +be performed, no one has the right to shackle our operations, and to annul +their effect, by hindering those of our marines who may be in the American +ports, to take advantage of the commissions which the French Government +has charged me to give to them, authorizing them to defend themselves, and +fulfill, if they find an opportunity, all the duties of citizens against +the enemies of the State." + +This was using an argument borrowed from Jefferson's abundant stock of +constitutional limitations. Genet was, of course, advised of the +dissensions in the Cabinet. He was on such confidential terms with +Jefferson that he talked freely about the projected raid on Louisiana. +Jefferson noted in his diary that "he communicated these things to me, not +as Secretary of State, but as Mr. Jefferson." Jefferson told Genet that he +"did not care what insurrections should be excited in Louisiana," but that +"enticing officers and soldiers from Kentucky to go against Spain was +really putting a halter about their necks, for that they would assuredly +be hung if they commenced hostilities against a nation at peace with the +United States." So great is the force of legal pedantry that Jefferson was +unable to agree that the President should proclaim neutrality in clear and +positive terms; but that same pedantry was effectively employed in +covering the legal flaws of Jefferson's position in his notes to Genet. He +attenuated the treaty obligations by strict construction and also by +reservations founded on the general principles of international law. "By +our treaties with several of the belligerent Powers," he told Genet, "we +have established a style of peace with them. But without appealing to +treaties, we are at peace with them all by the law of nature: for, by +nature's law, man is at peace with man." Hence the propriety of forbidding +acts within American jurisdiction that would cause disturbance of this +peace, a point on which he quoted copiously from Vattel. Genet manifested +some irritation at being referred to treatises on international law when +he was resting his case on a treaty the validity of which Jefferson +acknowledged. "Let us not lower ourselves," he wrote, "to the level +of ancient politics by diplomatic subtleties. Let us be frank in +our overtures, in our declarations, as our two nations are in their +affections, and, by this plain and sincere conduct, arrive at the object +by the shortest way." + +Logically Jefferson's position was that of maintaining the validity of the +treaty while opposing the fulfillment of its obligations. At the same time +he had to carry on a correspondence with Hammond, the British Minister, +who was making complaints of the use of American ports for French +depredations on British commerce, and to him Jefferson pleaded entire +willingness to discharge in good faith the obligations of a neutral Power. +It may seem as if Jefferson was attempting the impossible feat of trying +to ride at one time two horses going in opposite directions, but such was +his dexterity that in appearance he was largely successful. Meanwhile he +contrived to throw on Hamilton and his adherents the blame for the +feebleness and inconsistency of national policy. In letters to his +Congressional lieutenants, Monroe in the Senate and Madison in the House, +he lamented "the anglophobia, secret antigallomany" that have "decided the +complexion of our dispositions." He spoke scornfully of Randolph, whom he +regarded as so irresolute that the votes in the Cabinet were "generally +two and a half against one and a half," by which he meant that Hamilton +and Knox stood together against Jefferson, while Randolph divided his +influence between the two actions. + +So inflamed was the state of public opinion that a rising against the +Government seemed possible. In a letter written twenty years later, John +Adams described "the terrorism excited by Genet, in 1793, when ten +thousand people in the streets of Philadelphia, day after day, threatened +to drag Washington out of his house, and effect a revolution in the +Government, or compel it to declare war in favor of the French Revolution +and against England." Adams related that he "judged it prudent and +necessary to order chests of arms from the War Office" to be brought into +his house to defend it from attack, and he had it from "the coolest +and firmest minds" that nothing but the outbreak of yellow fever in +Philadelphia that summer "could have saved the United States from a fatal +revolution of government." On the other hand, letters written by Hamilton +during the time of all this excitement show that he thought little of it, +although he more than anyone else was its target. In May, 1793, he wrote +that the number of persons who went to meet Genet "would be stated high at +a hundred," and he did not believe that a tenth part of the city +participated in the meetings and addresses of Genet's sympathizers. "A +crowd will always draw a crowd, whatever be the purpose. Curiosity will +supply the place, of attachment to, or interest in, the object." +Washington's own letters at this period show no trace of concern about his +personal safety though he smarted under the attacks on his motives. An +entry of August 2, 1793, in Jefferson's private diary, forming the volume +since known as "The Anas," relates that at a cabinet meeting Knox +exhibited a print entitled the funeral of George W----n, in which the +President was placed on a guillotine. "The President was much inflamed; +got into one of those passions when he cannot command himself; ran much on +the personal abuse which had been bestowed upon him; defied any man on +earth to produce one single act of his since he had been in the Government +which was not done from the purest motives; that he had never repented but +once the having slipped the moment of resigning his office, and that was +every moment since; that by God he had rather be in his grave than in his +present situation; that he had rather be on his farm than to be made +emperor of the world; and that they were charging him with wanting to be +king; that that rascal Freneau sent him three of his papers every day, as +if he thought he would become the distributor of his papers; that he could +see in this nothing but an impudent design to insult him." + +Freneau was one of Jefferson's subordinates in the State Department, +combining with his duties there the editorship of a newspaper engaged in +spreading the calumny that the Administration was leaning toward +monarchy through the influence of Hamilton and his friends, who despised +republicanism, hated France, and loved England. This journalistic campaign +went on under the protection of Jefferson to the disturbance of an +administration of which Jefferson himself formed a part. This circumstance +has given trouble to Jefferson's biographers, and it is now somewhat +difficult to make those allowances to which Jefferson is entitled from the +candid historian. Such behavior at the present day would be regarded as +treacherous, for it is now a settled doctrine that it is the duty of a +member of the President's Cabinet to give unreserved support to his +policy, or to resign. But at that period, neither in England nor in the +United States, did this view of cabinet solidarity prevail. It was not +considered against the rules of the game for a cabinet official to use any +opportunities within reach for promoting his aims or to boast such +behavior as patriotic zeal. Jefferson, who wanted to resign and stayed on +only at Washington's earnest desire, certainly rendered a service to the +Administration, which was then so unpopular that Jefferson's connection +with it was a political asset of great value. + +Hamilton also made use of the services of journalism. When on June +29,1793, publication began of a series of eight articles signed +"Pacificus," it was well known that Hamilton was the author. The acute +analysis and cogent reasoning of these articles have given them classic +rank as an exposition of national rights and duties. Upon minds open to +reason their effect was marked. Jefferson wrote to Madison, "For God's +sake, my dear Sir, take up your pen, select the most striking heresies, +and cut him to pieces in the face of the public." Madison did take up his +pen, but he laid it down again without attempting to controvert Hamilton's +argument. The five articles which Madison wrote over the signature +"Helvidius" do not proceed farther into the subject than a preliminary +examination of executive authority, in which he laid down principles of +strict construction of the Constitution which have never been adopted in +practice and which are now interesting only as specimens of dialectic +subtlety. + +Although as an electioneering tactician Jefferson had superior ability, +neither he nor any of his associates was a match for Hamilton in debate. +As the issues were discussed, the Jeffersonians lost ground, and for this +they put the blame on Genet. By July 7, Jefferson was writing to Madison +that Genet "renders my position immensely difficult," and thereafter in +the correspondence of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, Genet figures as a +rash man whose indiscretions embarrassed his friends and impeded his own +objects. This view has to a large extent passed over into history, but +when it is considered that Genet did not come to America for Jefferson's +comfort but to accomplish certain things for his own government, it must +be owned that he had considerable success. Although his means were small, +he managed to engage in the French service an active American fleet +including such vessels as _Le Cassius, L'Ami de le Point à Petre, L'Amour +de la Liberté, La Vengeance, La Montagne, Le Vainqueur de la Bastille, La +Carmagnole, L'Espérance, Le Citoyen Genet, Sans Pareil_, and _Le +Petit Démocrate._ The last-mentioned vessel was originally an English +merchantman, the brig _Little Sarah_, brought into Philadelphia harbor as +a French prize. When it was learned that this vessel had been armed and +equipped for service as a French man-of-war, Governor Mifflin of +Pennsylvania gave orders that the vessel should be detained. Genet +threatened forcible resistance, and a clash might have occurred, had +Jefferson not intervened. He went to Genet's house on Sunday to persuade +him not to move the vessel until the President could decide the case. +Genet refused to give any promise, but remarked that the vessel would +probably not be ready to depart for several days. Jefferson thereupon +exerted himself successfully to prevent the taking of any steps to detain +the vessel. + +Washington, harassed and confused by the dissensions of his Cabinet, now +desired that the advice of the justices of the Supreme Court be taken. +Hamilton was opposed to a proceeding which involved prejudgment by the +Court on questions which might come before it in due course of law, and +which seemed to him also to be an avoidance of the proper responsibility +of the executive. Nevertheless he took part in preparing the case, and of +the twenty-nine questions submitted to the Supreme Court, Hamilton framed +twenty-one, Jefferson seven, and Washington himself the last. Jefferson +notified Genet of this consultation as an additional reason for patience, +"the object of it being to obtain the best advice possible on the sense of +the laws and treaties respecting the several cases. I am persuaded you +will think the delay well compensated." Genet did not think so, and _Le +Petit Démocrate_ put to sea in defiance of American authority. + +The justices declined to answer the questions, and the Administration had +to face its responsibilities on its own judgment of its rights and duties. +At least one member of the Administration had clear and positive ideas on +that subject. Hamilton, who in his "Pacificus" letters had given a +masterly exposition of international obligations, now took up the +particular issues raised by Genet's claims, which at that time were +receiving ardent championship. Freneau's _National Gazette_ held that +Genet had really acted "too tamely," had been "too accommodating for the +peace of the United States." Hamilton now replied by a series of articles +in the _Daily Advertiser_ over the signature "No Jacobin," in which +Genet's behavior was reviewed. After five articles had appeared in rapid +succession, the series was abruptly terminated because Hamilton was taken +down by the yellow fever. + +The journalistic war was almost in the nature of a duel between the State +and the Treasury Departments. Genet must have been amused. Lack of funds +hindered his activities more than anything else. Jefferson had advised +Washington that, "if the instalments falling due in this year could be +advanced without incurring more danger," it would be well to make the +payments, as he "thought it very material to keep alive the friendly +sentiments of France." But this was a matter which pertained to Hamilton's +own department, and in that field his advice controlled Washington. Genet +could do nothing in this direction, and before the affair of _Le Petit +Démocrate_ he had ceased to expect financial aid. + +Jefferson was now so angry and indignant that he no longer opposed the +suggestions that had been made in cabinet meetings that Genet should be +dismissed, and the note on that subject which he drafted for transmission +to the French Government is an able document. The French Government, with +ample reason, conditioned the recall of Genet upon the recall of Morris, +who was succeeded by James Monroe. Meanwhile Genet's situation had become +perilous through revolution at home. On October 16, 1793, his Government +issued an order for his arrest. The United States now became his asylum. +He acquired citizenship, married a daughter of Governor Clinton of New +York, and settled down to a useful and respected career as a country +gentleman devoted to the improvement of agriculture. He died at his home, +Schodak, New York, in 1834, after having founded an American family. + +At the time when Genet, favored by the exasperated state of Western +sentiment over the navigation of the lower Mississippi, was promoting an +attack upon the Spanish posts, the Administration had already been engaged +for a long time in efforts to secure "full enjoyment of that navigation," +as well as a settlement of the southwestern boundary. In December, 1791, +Washington nominated William Carmichael, chargé d'affaires in Spain, and +William Short, then chargé d'affaires in France, commissioners to make a +treaty. Their efforts proved unsuccessful, and in 1794 the Spanish +commissioner in the United States gave notice that they were not +acceptable personally, and that it "was hoped that some other person would +be appointed, with full powers, to settle this treaty, and graced with +such a character as became the royalty to which he was accredited." +Washington then nominated Thomas Pinckney, at that time minister in +London, as minister plenipotentiary in Spain. When Pinckney arrived on the +scene he was met with the dilatory methods then characteristic of Spanish +diplomacy, and finally he had to bring matters to an issue by demanding +his passports. His determination so impressed the Spanish Government that +it finally consented to a treaty, October 27, 1795, which fixed the +southern boundary of the United States and opened the Mississippi River to +navigation. The boundary line was to run east along the thirty-first +parallel of latitude from the Mississippi to the Appalachicola, thence +along the latter river to its junction with the Flint, thence to the +headwaters of the St. Mary's, and along its course to the Atlantic Ocean. +The free navigation of the Mississippi was coupled with the privilege of +depositing merchandise at New Orleans "without paying any other duty than +a fair price for the hire of the stores." This privilege was to be +continued after three years, or "an equivalent establishment" on the banks +of the Mississippi was to be assigned to citizens of the United States--a +provision which was not free from ambiguities and which furnished fresh +material for controversy a few years later. + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +A SETTLEMENT WITH ENGLAND + +According to Jefferson, the President originally took the same view of the +French treaty that he did. Jefferson relates that on April 18, 1793, +Washington spoke of having "never had a doubt of the validity of the +French treaty," and he notes that in the cabinet disputes Washington was +inclined to his views. As the embarrassments of the Administration +thickened, the President, it is true, leaned more and more toward +Hamilton, but this inclination was due more to necessity than to personal +partiality. The explanation stands out in Jefferson's own account of +events. Hamilton was clear, positive, and decided as to what to do and how +to do it. Jefferson was active in finding objections but not in finding +ways and means of action. This contrast became sharper as time went on, +and, as Washington was in a position where he had to do something, he was +forced to rely on Hamilton more and more. Jefferson held that it +would be inexpedient for the general government to assume the duty of +fortifying the harbors, and that there was no constitutional authority for +establishing a military academy. On November 28, 1793, there was a +prolonged wrangle over these issues at a cabinet meeting, which the +President ended by saying that he would recommend the military academy to +Congress, and "let them decide for themselves whether the Constitution +authorized it or not." This was the last of the quarrelsome cabinet +sessions recorded by Jefferson. He vacated the office of Secretary of +State, December 31, 1793, and thereafter the ascendancy of Hamilton in the +Cabinet was indisputed. + +An immediate effect of the change was to give new vigor to efforts at +reaching a settlement with Great Britain. The old troubles over her +retention of the western posts still continued, and in addition to them +came new difficulties arising from war measures. On January 30, 1793, +Thomas Pinckney, then American minister to Great Britain, wrote that war +was about to begin, "and although our claim to a free intercourse is +founded in reason and our national right, yet, as we have no armed +neutrality the members whereof this people have to fear, they may stop our +vessels bound to French ports with provisions." What was feared soon +happened. By the French decree of 1793, the French colonies were opened to +American trade and West Indian commerce flourished. This was now afflicted +by contraband regulations laid down by Great Britain, under which many +American vessels were seized for carrying cargoes to or from French ports. +Although Genet's activities and the extent to which they were indulged by +the United States did not tend to promote friendly relations with Great +Britain, yet it does not appear that the British policy was inspired by +resentment. The regulations as defined by instructions issued on June 8, +1793, made liable to detention all vessels carrying "corn, flour, or meal" +to French ports, with the proviso that the cargoes might be purchased on +behalf of the British government and the ships might then be released with +a due allowance for freight, or they might be allowed to dispose of their +cargoes in the ports of any country in amity with Great Britain. +Vessels attempting to enter a blockaded port were liable to seizure and +condemnation, save that the ships of Denmark and Sweden might be seized +only if they should persist in trying to enter after once having been +turned back. + +Conciliatory explanations were made by Hammond, the British minister, in +notifying our State Department. He pointed out that only corn and flour +were contraband, that the regulations did not extend to other provisions, +and that they secured "to the proprietors, supposing them neutral, a full +indemnification for any loss they may possibly sustain." The special +privilege extended to Denmark and Sweden was attributed to treaty +requirements and therefore could not be regarded as invidious. In reply +Jefferson at home and Pinckney abroad argued in behalf of the United +States for the principle that free ships make free goods, but Great +Britain would not hearken to a doctrine that struck at the efficacy of her +sea power. + +Washington besought Congress to support the efforts of the Administration +by making, for the defense of American interests, such provision as would +inspire respect. In his address of December 3, 1793, he observed: "There +is a rank due to the United States among nations which will be withheld, +if not absolutely lost, by the reputation of weakness. If we desire to +avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, +one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be +known that we are at all times ready for war." The answer of Congress was +the grudging consent to some naval preparations already recounted. + +After the passage of the navy bill Sedgwick of Massachusetts endeavored to +interest the House in the general subject of military preparation. On +March 12, 1794, he introduced resolutions for raising fifteen additional +regiments for two years, the term to be extended for three years in case +of the outbreak of war. In advocating this measure he spoke of the sorry +experience of the country in depending upon militia. Their "want of +discipline occasions them to commit a great waste on the property of their +fellow citizens, besides a waste of public property." As long as we depend +upon militia, "European nations will not consider us as able to retaliate +and assert our rights." Nothing came of this sensible proposal, but +Sedgwick made an auxiliary suggestion which Congress did adopt. He urged +that the sailing of vessels from the ports of the United States be +prohibited. An embargo would hold over foreign nations the threat that, +unless they behaved themselves, their supplies from the United States +might be cut off. Such embargo was voted for a month from March 26, 1794, +which was subsequently extended for another month, and the President was +authorized to lay, regulate, and revoke embargoes during the recess of +Congress. Congress regarded the embargo policy as a cheap way out of a +difficult situation, but this method was really not only far more costly +to the nation than would have been the straightforward course of arming +for defense, but at the same time accomplished nothing. Dayton of New +Jersey proposed to supplement the embargo by the sequestration of all +debts due from citizens of the United States to British subjects. Clark of +New Jersey outdid his colleague by proposing to prohibit all commercial +intercourse between the United States and Great Britain until such time +as that country should surrender the western posts and should make +restitution for all losses sustained by American citizens. + +Violent speeches were made on these proposals at the very time when the +House was refusing to support either an army or a navy. Sedgwick +introduced some good sense into a debate that was alternating between +blatant vaporing and legal pedantry, by pointing out that, under the +Constitution, the President of the United States ought to be allowed +to have some say about the matter. It was the function of the President +to treat with foreign powers, and yet the House was now considering action +which was in effect "prescribing the terms of treaty, and restraining +the constitutional power from treating on any other terms." This argument +was used effectively by a number of speakers. It turned the main +position taken by the advocates of non-intercourse, which was that the +real objection came from the bondholders who feared that the ensuing +loss of revenue might prevent them from getting their interest. Such +imputations of sordid motive became fruitless when the issue was raised of +the constitutional authority of the President, but the advocates of +non-intercourse met this new point of view by pointing out that the +Constitution gave Congress the right to regulate commerce. The feeling +against Great Britain was so great that the House was bent on indulging +it, and on April 25, 1794, the non-intercourse bill was passed by a vote +of 58 to 34. The Senate was so evenly divided that, on the motion to pass +the bill to its third reading, there was a tie vote, and Vice-President +Adams, who was called upon for a casting vote, gave it against the bill. +About a month later in the House another attempt was made to carry the +policy of non-intercourse by a joint resolution, but by this time a +reaction in favor of the Administration had set in and the resolution +received only 24 yeas to 46 nays, James Madison being among those who +stuck to the proposal to the last. + +While the House was abandoning itself to reckless mischief-making, +Washington was striving to arrange matters by negotiation. The +perplexities of his situation were great and varied. As a military man +he knew that American jurisdiction was precarious so long as Great +Britain held the interior. The matter had been the subject of prolix +correspondence between Jefferson and Hammond, but the American demands +that Great Britain should surrender the frontier posts in accordance with +the treaty of peace had been met by demands that America, in accordance +with that same treaty, should first satisfy various claims of British +subjects for restitution, indemnity, and relief. The regular diplomatic +machinery stuck fast at this point, both at home and abroad. In one of his +gossipy, confidential letters Fisher Ames remarked that Hammond was a most +"petulant, impudent" man, habitually railing against the conduct of our +government "with a gabble that his feelings render doubly unintelligible." +But Pinckney, our representative in England, was equally undiplomatic. He +was "sour and also Gallican"; although calm in manner, "he had prejudices, +and unless a man has a mind above them, he can do little service there." + +Washington decided that it would be wise to send a special envoy to deal +with all the points at issue. He thought first of Hamilton, but was warned +that the Senate would not ratify such an appointment. Hamilton recommended +John Jay as "the only man in whose qualifications for success there would +be thorough confidence." Jay was then chief-justice, but the crisis was so +dangerous as to justify Washington in calling him even from that important +post. He had matchless qualifications for the mission. He had been +minister to Spain, 1778-1782; he had been one of the commissioners who had +negotiated the treaty of peace of 1783; he had been Secretary of Foreign +Affairs, 1784-1789; so that he had had an experience which familiarized +him with every detail of the questions at issue. As a negotiator he had +always gained marked success by acting upon his own principle that "a +little good-natured wisdom often does more in politics than much slippery +craft." Jay showed fine patriotism in accepting the appointment. He +remarked to his friends that no man could frame a treaty with Great +Britain without making himself unpopular and odious and he accepted the +mission under "a conviction that to refuse it would be to desert my duty +for the sake of my ease and domestic concerns and comforts." + +Jay was nominated as envoy extraordinary on April 16, 1794, and, after +three days of violent debate, the appointment was confirmed by the +Senate. The event did not moderate the rage of the House for immediate +action. Some members urged that it was indelicate for the House to be +passing reprisals at a time when the Executive was attempting friendly +negotiations; but the reply was made that, if there was any indelicacy, it +was on the part of the Executive, inasmuch as the House proceedings had +been already begun when the President decided to nominate an envoy +extraordinary. While Congress was fuming and wrangling, Jay was proceeding +with his difficult task. He sailed on May 12, and on June 8 landed +in England where he was hospitably received. Despite these personal +attentions, the differences to be adjusted were so numerous and +complicated that on the surface the situation looked almost hopeless. +Conditions, however, were really more favorable than they appeared to be. +A change, latent but influential, had taken place in the mental attitude +of the governing class in England. There had been a notion that American +independence would not last long and that the country would eventually be +restored to the British Crown. The drift of events was rather in that +direction until Hamilton's measures gave the ascendancy to the forces +making for American national development. The practical statesmanship of +Great Britain perhaps saw more clearly the significance of what was taking +place than did that of America itself, and it was prepared to reckon with +this new condition. Moreover, the European commotion resulting from the +French Revolution had brought to the front a new set of interests and +anxieties, for the free handling of which a settlement of differences with +the United States might be advantageous. The effect of such considerations +was at least to render the situation more manageable than might have been +expected, and Jay improved his opportunities with admirable tact. + +In pursuance of his principle of bringing "good-natured wisdom" to bear, +Jay suggested to Lord Grenville, the British Secretary for Foreign +Affairs, that they should dispense with written communications, and merely +meet and converse informally "until there should appear a probability +of coming to some amicable mutual understanding." Even after such +understanding should be put into writing, it was not to be regarded as +official or binding, but simply as an exchange of private memoranda. So +strictly was this informal method adhered to that the regular force of +secretaries and copyists had nothing to do with the proceedings until the +treaty was almost ready for signing. Jay had been instructed to demand +compensation for some three thousand slaves who had followed the British +troops when they departed, but Lord Grenville stood firm on the principle +that the slave, once under the British flag, became a free man, the +property rights of the former owner thereupon becoming extinct and not +forming a subject for compensation. Jay, who really held the same opinion, +had to yield the point. It was agreed that the western posts should be +evacuated by June 1, 1796, an arrangement which would allow the British +government to retain them about two years longer. That government had +already justified its retention of these posts by averring that the United +States had not complied with the articles of the peace treaty relating to +British debts. Jay was not in a position to argue the point with any +force, for when he was Secretary of Foreign Affairs he had advised +Congress that these articles "have been constantly violated on our part by +legislative acts, then and still existing and operating"; and that Great +Britain was therefore not to blame for retaining the posts. The British +government was undoubtedly cognizant of this report, and Jay could not +make any effective opposition to a proviso which in effect said to the +United States, "before surrendering the posts we will wait and see whether +you intend to fulfill your agreements." The root of the trouble--an evil +often felt and still experienced in the United States--was defective +sovereignty, an inability of the whole to control the behavior of its +parts. Jay could not deny that the peace treaty had been violated by state +legislation, and only by the humiliating means of an avowal of its +impotence could he exonerate the national government from the imputation +of bad faith. The matter was disposed of by provision for a joint +commission to decide upon all cases in which it was alleged that +unlawful impediments had been placed in the way of collection of debts due +British subjects, and by the United States undertaking payment of the +awards. A similar commission was to pass upon American claims for British +violation of neutral rights. This arrangement was a concession whose +practical value was eventually shown by the fact that as a result American +merchants received some millions of dollars. + +Jay displayed marked adroitness as a negotiator in dealing with the issues +growing out of past differences, but he made an extraordinary slip in +providing for commercial relations between the two countries. In their +general tenor the articles displayed broad liberality. Between all British +dominions in Europe and the territories of the United States there was to +be "a reciprocal and perfect liberty of commerce and navigation." American +vessels were to "be admitted and hospitably received" in the ports of East +India, and, although participation in the coasting trade was prohibited, +it was provided that this restriction should not prevent ships going from +one port of discharge to another. The East Indian trade was not, however, +so important as the nearer West Indian trade, and with respect to the +latter the treaty provisions were narrow and exacting. American vessels +were limited to seventy tons burden, and it was provided that "the United +States will prohibit and restrain the carrying away of molasses, sugar, +coffee, or cotton in American vessels, either for his Majesty's Islands or +the United States, to any part of the world except the United States, +reasonable sea-stores excepted." Jay, in a letter to Washington, excused +his acceptance of this restraint on the ground that "the commercial part +of the treaty may be terminated at the expiration of two years after the +war, and in the meantime a state of things more auspicious to negotiation +will probably arise, especially if the next session of Congress should not +interpose fresh obstacles." + +The treaty was silent on the subject of impressment, but Jay's failure on +that point was just what was to have been expected in view of the +unwillingness of the United States to defend its commerce. Impressment was +not abandoned until many years afterwards, and then not through treaty +stipulation but because the United States had a navy and could resist +aggression on the seas. In its treatment of the subject of contraband, the +treaty took positions in accord with the international law then received, +but in one respect it made a distinct advance. Provision was made that war +between the two countries should never become the pretext for confiscation +of debts or annulment of contracts. This position involves the noble +principle that war should never supersede justice but should be the +servant of justice. Great practical advantage was experienced from it in +the War of 1812, when the United States was a creditor nation. + +On the whole, Jay's diplomacy was as enlightened as it was shrewd, but at +the time it exposed him to furious denunciation which he disdained to +notice. "I had read the history of Greece," he wrote to a friend, "and was +apprised of the politics and proceedings of more recent date." The +philosophic composure which he drew from his knowledge of history enabled +him to behave with calm dignity while he was being burned in effigy, and +while mob orators were heaping insult and calumny on his name. After a +struggle that shook the Government, the treaty was ratified by the Senate +on June 24, 1795, with the exception of the article about the West Indian +trade, an omission to which Great Britain made no objection. The treaty +was extremely unpopular, chiefly because unreasonable expectations of its +provisions had been entertained. People had yet to learn that national +independence has its defects as well as its advantages, and that the +traditional intimacy between the West Indies and America was now on a +footing of privilege and not of right. The great benefits conferred by the +treaty were therefore not appreciated, and so violent was the fury its +terms excited that it was perhaps fortunate that Jay did not resume his +seat on the Supreme Bench. Before his return from England and before the +details of the treaty had been made public, he had been elected governor +of New York, and to accept this office he resigned the chief-justiceship. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +PARTY VIOLENCE + +When, in July, 1793, Jefferson notified the President of his wish to +resign from the Cabinet, Hamilton's resignation had already been before +the President for several weeks. Ever since the removal of Congress to +Philadelphia, Hamilton's circumstances had become less and less able to +endure the strain of maintaining his official position on a salary of +$3500 a year. He had fully experienced the truth of the warnings he had +received that, if he gave himself to the public service, he might spend +his time and substance without receiving gratitude for his efforts or +credit for his motives. His vocation for statesmanship, however, was too +genuine and his courage too high for such results to dishearten him. He +had now accomplished what he had set out to do in securing the adoption of +the measures which established the new government, and he no longer +regarded his administrative position as essential to the success of his +policy. Meanwhile the need had become urgent that he should resume the +practice of his profession to provide for his family. It was not in his +nature, however, to leave the front when a battle was coming on, and, +although he gave early notice of his intention so that Washington should +have ample time to look about for his successor, the resignation was not +to become effective until Congress had met and shown its temper. According +to Jefferson, Washington once remarked to him that he supposed Hamilton +"had fixed on the latter part of next session to give an opportunity to +Congress to examine into his conduct." Although Hamilton had made up his +mind to retire, he intended to march out with flying colors, as became the +victor on a hard-fought field. So far, he had met and beaten all enemies +who had dared to assail his honor; he meant to beat them again if they +renewed the attack, and he had word that one encounter was coming more +formidable than any before. + +Hamilton's success in carrying his measures through Congress, by sheer +dexterity of management when numbers were against him, added intense +bitterness to the natural chagrin felt by the defeated faction. Men like +Jefferson and Madison were subject to traditions of behavior that required +them to maintain a certain style of public decorum no matter how they +might rage in private. But new men with new manners were coming on the +scene, and among them the opposition to Hamilton had found a new leader-- +William Branch Giles of Virginia. He was a Princeton graduate of the class +of 1781, had studied for the bar, and had been admitted to practice in +1786. To the full legal equipment of the period he added an energy and an +audacity that speedily brought him legal and political distinction. He was +active and outspoken in advocating the adoption of the new Constitution, +at a time when popular sentiment in Virginia was strongly inclined to be +adverse. He had no hesitation about undertaking unpopular causes, and +hence British debt cases became a marked feature of his practice. Virginia +State law had suspended the recovery of debts due British subjects until +reparation had been made for the loss of negro slaves taken away by the +British during the war, and until the western posts had been surrendered. +But the peace treaty of 1783 stipulated that creditors on neither side +should meet with lawful impediment in the recovery of debts, and by the +new Constitution treaties had become part of the law of the land. On the +basis of a national jurisdiction in conflict with the Virginia statutes, +Giles acted so energetically, that he himself related that by 1792 he had +been employed in at least one hundred British debt cases, and was "as +successful in collecting monies under judgments as is usually the case +with citizens." + +Comprehension of the true nature of the struggle in which Giles became +conspicuous must start with the fact that the Constitution was reluctantly +accepted and with great uneasiness as to possible consequences. In the +Virginia convention of 1788, it was declared that the new Constitution was +essentially a scheme of the military men to subject the people to their +rule. This argument was not so much met as avoided by the declaration that +there could be no tyranny while Washington lived. The rejoinder was +obvious: what if he should not be able to withstand military influence? +What if, in spite of him, the government should be given a dangerous +character that would develop after he passed away? Jefferson had felt +misgivings on this score from the first, and Madison experienced them as +soon as differences on practical measures arose between himself and +Hamilton. Jefferson and Madison wanted the government to be made +respectable but not strong. Hamilton saw what they could not see--and +indeed what few at that time could see--that a government cannot be made +respectable without being made strong. + +Washington was probably without any clear views of his own on +constitutional questions, and what evidence there is on this point +supports Jefferson's claim that Washington was more disposed to confide in +him and in Madison than in Hamilton. When Jefferson relinquished the State +Department, Washington proposed to give Madison the post, but was told he +would not think of taking it. Washington then transferred Randolph to the +position because he could not get anybody else of suitable capacity. +Whatever Washington's personal inclinations may have been, he was in a +position in which he had to act. Hamilton was the only one whom he could +find to show him the way, and thus circumstances more and more compelled +Washington to accept Hamilton's guidance, while at the same time it seemed +increasingly clear to the opposition that it was above all things +necessary to crush Hamilton. This state of sentiment must be kept in mind +in order to make intelligible the rabid violence of the party warfare +which had long been going on against Hamilton, and which--now that +Jefferson had left the Cabinet--was soon to be extended to Washington +himself. + +When Giles went to the front in this war, both Jefferson and Madison were +busy behind the firing line supplying munitions. Giles was elected in 1790 +to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Theodorick Bland, and took his +seat in the third session of the First Congress. The assumption bill had +been passed, but that was only the first of the series of financial +measures proposed by Hamilton, and Giles followed Madison's lead in +unsuccessful resistance to the excise and to the national bank. Giles was +re-elected to the Second Congress, which opened on October 24, 1791. In +the course of this session he became the leader of the opposition, not by +supplanting Madison but through willingness to take responsibilities from +which Madison, like Jefferson, shrank, because he, too, preferred activity +behind the scenes. This situation has often occurred in parliamentary +history--a zealous party champion scouting the scruples and restraints +that hampered the official leadership, and assuming an independent line of +attack with the covert favor and assistance of that leadership. In the +effort to crush Hamilton a series of raids was led by Giles, whose +appetite for fighting could never be extinguished no matter how severe +might be his defeat. + +After much preliminary skirmishing which put heavy tasks on Hamilton in +the way of getting up reports and documents, a grand attack was made on +January 23, 1793. A series of resolutions, in drafting which Madison and +Jefferson took part, was presented, calling for minute particulars of all +loans, names of all persons to whom payments had been made, statements of +semi-monthly balances between the Treasury and the Bank, and an account of +the sinking fund and of unexpended appropriations,--all from the beginning +of the government until the end of 1792. The resolution required Hamilton +to complete and state all the accounts of the Treasury Department up to a +period only a little over three weeks before the resolutions were +presented, and to give a detailed transcript of particulars. But +the Treasury accounts were in such perfect order, and so great was +Hamilton's capacity for work, that the information called for was promptly +transmitted in reports dated February 4, February 13, and February 14. At +the same time Hamilton hit back by observing that the resolutions "were +not moved without a pretty copious display of the reasons on which they +were founded," which "were of a nature to excite attention, to beget +alarm, to inspire doubts." + +Giles was soon able to renew the attack. Jefferson and Madison helped him +to prepare a series of nine resolutions which were presented on February +27. They specifically charged Hamilton with violation of law, neglect of +duty, transgression of the proper limits of his authority, and indecorum +in his attitude towards the House. The series ended with a resolution that +a copy should be transmitted to the President. The proceeding was a sort +of impeachment, framed with the purpose not of bringing Hamilton to trial +but of forcing him out of the Cabinet. The charges against him were purely +technical and were actuated by malevolence. Hamilton, though not allowed +to come into the House to defend himself, nevertheless participated in the +debate indirectly by writing the speech delivered by William Smith and +credited to him in the Annals of Congress. It was so generally felt in +Congress that the resolutions were founded on nothing more substantial +than spite that Giles could not hold his forces together, and as the +debate proceeded the number of his adherents dwindled. The House began +voting at a night session on March 1st. After the third resolution had +been defeated by a vote of 40 to 12, an attempt was made to withdraw the +others, but such action was refused, and one by one the remaining +resolutions were defeated by increasing numbers until only seven voted +with Giles at the last, among them James Madison. It was a signal triumph +for Hamilton. But his enemies were not disposed to accept the decision as +final, and Jefferson thought it might be revised at the next session. + +It was not until the Second Congress that the old factions finally +disappeared and the formation of national parties began. The issue +over the adoption of the Constitution had produced Federalists and +Anti-Federalists, but with its adoption Anti-Federalism as such became a +thing of the past. Opposition to the Government had to betake itself to +the political platform provided by the successful introduction of the new +system of government, and was obliged to distinguish itself from official +Federalism by attacking not the Constitution but the way in which the +Constitution was being construed and applied. The suspicion, jealousy, and +dislike with which the new government was regarded, in many quarters were +reflected from the beginning in the behavior of Congress. There was from +the first a disposition to find fault and to antagonize, and as time went +on this disposition was aggravated by the great scope allowed to +misunderstanding and calumny from the lack of direct contact between +Congress and the Administration. In founding a new party, Jefferson only +organized forces that were demanding leadership. He consolidated the +existing opposition, and gave it the name "Republican Party," implying +that its purpose was to resist the rise of monarchy and the growth of +royal prerogative in the system of government which was introduced by the +adoption of the Constitution. It is clear enough now that the implication +was mere calumny; the notion that Washington was either aiming at monarchy +or was conniving at it through ignorance was a grotesque travesty of the +shameful situation that actually existed; but fictions, pretenses, +slanders, and calumnies that would never have been allowed utterance if +the Administration and Congress had stood face to face now had opportunity +to spread and infect public opinion. Hence the tone of extreme rage that +dishonors the political contention of the period and the malice that +stains the correspondence of the faction chiefs. + +Although a distinct party opposition appeared and assumed a name during +the Second Congress, it disavowed as yet any opposition to Washington +and represented its actual attempts to thwart the measures of the +Administration as efforts to counteract Washington's evil advisers. The +old constitutional tradition that the king can do no wrong, which still +lingered in American politics, tended to an analogous elevation of the +presidential office above the field of party strife, while leaving the +President's Cabinet advisers fully exposed to it, just as in the case of +the ministers of the Crown in England. Allowance must be made for the +effect of this tradition when judgment is passed on the political +activities of the period. Considered with regard to present standards of +political behavior, the course of Jefferson in fomenting opposition to the +Administration of which he was a part wears the appearance of despicable +intrigue. There was nothing mean or low about it, however, in the opinion +of himself and his friends, and even his enemies would have allowed it to +be within the rules of the game. Jefferson did his best to defeat in +Congress measures adopted by Washington on the advice of Hamilton, and he +also did his best to undermine Washington's confidence in Hamilton. In his +personal dealings with Washington, Jefferson had every advantage, for he +had Washington's ear and could, more readily than Hamilton, direct the +currents of unconscious influence that produce the will to believe. But +Jefferson's animosity kept tempting him to overplay his hand in a way that +was fatal in the face of an antagonist so keen and so dexterous as +Hamilton. + +In a letter of May 23, 1792, Jefferson presented to Washington an +elaborate indictment of Hamilton's policy as a justification of his own +behavior in organizing an opposition party in Congress. He charged +Hamilton with subverting the character of the Government by his financial +measures, the logical consequence of which would be "a change from the +present republican form of government to that of a monarchy." Hence the +need for organizing "the Republican party who wish to preserve the +government in its present form." Washington thought over the matter, and-- +according to Jefferson--reopened the subject in a personal interview on +July 10. Being now fully apprised of Jefferson's case, Washington himself +prepared a brief of it, divided into numbered sections, and applied to +Hamilton for a statement of his ideas upon the "enumerated discontents," +framed so "that those ideas may be applied to the correspondent numbers." +The proceeding is a fine instance of the care which Washington exercised +in forming his opinions. Of course, as soon as charges of corruption and +misdemeanor were reduced to exact statement the matter was put just where +Hamilton wanted to get it, and in the grasp of his powerful hands its +trashy character was promptly displayed. It is needless to go into +details, now that public loans, the funding of floating indebtedness in +excess of current income, and the maintenance of a national banking system +to supply machinery of credit, are such well recognized functions that the +wonder is how any statesman could have ever thought otherwise. Jefferson's +arguments, when read with the prepossessions of the present day, are so +apt to leave an impression of absurdity that they constitute a troublesome +episode for his biographers. + +Jefferson's maneuvering utterly failed to injure Hamilton in Washington's +esteem, but it did have the effect of so thoroughly disgusting +Washington with public life that at one time he was determined to +refuse a reelection, and even went so far as to ask Madison to prepare a +valedictory address for him. He consented to serve another term most +reluctantly, and not until he had been besought to do so by the leaders on +both sides. Jefferson was as urgent as was Hamilton. While Washington was +still wavering, he received a strong letter from Edmund Randolph that +doubtless touched his soldierly pride. The letter closed with this sharp +argument: + +"You suffered yourself to yield when the voice of your country summoned +you to the Administration. Should a civil war arise, you cannot stay at +home. And how much easier will it be to disperse the factions, which are +rushing to this catastrophe, than to subdue them after they shall appear +in arms? It is the fixed opinion of the world, that you surrender nothing +incomplete." + +An appeal of this character was the most effective that could possibly be +addressed to Washington, but in consenting he grumbled over the hardship +of having to keep in active service at his time of life after already +having served for so long a time. He complained that his hearing was +getting bad and that "perhaps his other faculties might fall off and he +not be sensible of it." + +Acquiescence in Washington's candidacy made it practically impossible for +the Republican party to manifest its true strength. The compliment of +Republican support was awarded to Governor Clinton of New York, who +together with Washington received all the electoral votes of Virginia, +New York, North Carolina, and Georgia. A stray electoral vote from +Pennsylvania brought Clinton's total up to 50, whereas John Adams received +77 votes which re-elected him as vice-president. Jefferson received only +four electoral votes, all from Kentucky, but his poor showing in this +election was wholly due to the intricacy of the electoral system, and his +party meanwhile developed so much strength that when the Third Congress +met on December 2, 1793, the Republicans were strong enough to elect the +speaker. + +Undeterred by this circumstance, Hamilton forced the fighting. The +Jeffersonians had been excusing the defeat they had received in attacking +Hamilton in the previous Congress on the ground that the House had acted +without allowing sufficient time for due examination of the evidence. This +plea supplied to Hamilton an occasion for prompt action. Exactly two weeks +after the meeting of Congress he addressed a letter to the Speaker, in +which he declared: "Unwilling to leave the matter on such a footing, I +have concluded to request of the House of Representatives, as I now do, +that a new inquiry may be, without delay, instituted in some mode, most +effectual for an accurate and thorough investigation; and I will add, that +the more comprehensive it is, the more agreeable it will be to me." + +Giles promptly took up the challenge, and moved the appointment of a +committee to examine the state of the Treasury Department in all its +particulars. Pending action by the House, a new complication was +introduced, which, though meant as a blow at Hamilton, resulted in a +signal triumph for him. His enemies got hold of a discharged clerk of the +Treasury Department by means of whom they now tried to counteract the +effect of Hamilton's challenge. Two days after Hamilton's letter to the +Speaker, a memorial from Andrew G. Fraunces was laid before the House +making charges which amounted to this: that there was a combination +between Hamilton and other officers of the Treasury Department to evade +payment of warrants so that they could be bought up for speculative +purposes. Hamilton's request for an investigation was allowed to lie on +the table, but the memorial from Fraunces was referred to a select +committee of which Giles was a member. This circumstance turned out to be +much to Hamilton's advantage. Giles was an erect, bold, manly foe; he +could not stomach the sort of testimony upon which depended the charges +against Hamilton's personal integrity, and he concurred in a report on +Hamilton finding that the evidence was "fully sufficient to justify his +conduct; and that in the whole course of this transaction the Secretary +and other officers of the Treasury have acted a meritorious part towards +the public." + +Giles, while exonerating Hamilton of the charge of dishonesty, did not +desist from pressing his motion for further investigation of the Treasury +Department. But he admitted that imputations upon the Secretary's +integrity had been quite removed, and he now urged that "the primary +object of the resolution is to ascertain the boundaries of discretion and +authority between the Legislature and the Treasury Department." In thus +shifting his ground he presented a new issue in which the House--and +indeed Giles's own party associates--took little interest. The fact was +that the attack on Hamilton had failed, that the purpose of showing +him to be unworthy of Washington's confidence had been abandoned as +impracticable, and that all that remained was a proposal that the House +should again engage in a laborious investigation of the desirability of +attempting a new delimitation of the functions of the Treasury Department +and of Congress. But this, of course, did not concern Hamilton. He had +acted under existing laws and with responsibilities which were defined by +them. If Congress saw fit to make new laws, the consequences would fall +upon his successor in office, not upon him since he was about to retire. +If Congress made fetters for the Secretary, it might even be that some +member of Giles's own party would have to wear them. Thus, however Giles's +latest proposal might be viewed, it was not attractive. Moreover, it was +presented at a time when the House had much more urgent matters to +consider. The country was wild with excitement over the retaliating orders +and decrees of Great Britain and France, which subjected American +interests to injury from both sides. Giles and Page appear to have been +the only speakers on the resolution when it was taken up for consideration +on February 24, 1794, and both disclaimed any intention of reflecting +upon Hamilton. The resolution received decent interment by reference to a +committee, with no one objecting. The practical conclusion of the matter +was that Hamilton had beaten his enemies once more and beaten them +thoroughly. + +Before resigning his office, Hamilton added still another great +achievement to his record of illustrious service in establishing public +authority. The violent agitation against the excise act promoted by the +Jeffersonians naturally tended to forcible resistance. One of the counts +of Jefferson's indictment of Hamilton's policy which had been presented to +Washington was that the excise law was "of odious character ... committing +the authority of the Government in parts where resistance is most probable +and coercion least practicable." The parts thus referred to were the +mountains of western Pennsylvania. The popular discontent which arose +there from the imposition of taxes upon their principal staple--distilled +spirits--naturally coalesced with the agitation carried on against +Washington's neutrality policy. At a meeting of delegates from the +election districts of Allegheny county held at Pittsburgh, resolutions +were adopted attributing the policy of the Government "to the pernicious +influence of stockholders." This was an echo of Jefferson's views. But the +resolutions went on to declare: "Our minds feel this with so much +indignancy, that we are almost ready to wish for a state of revolution and +the guillotine of France, for a short space, in order to inflict +punishment on the miscreants that enervate and disgrace our Government." +This was an echo of the talk in the political clubs that had been formed +throughout the country. The original model was apparently the Jacobin club +of Paris. The Philadelphia club with which the movement started, soon +after Genet's arrival, adopted the Jacobin style of utterance. It declared +its object to be the preservation of a freedom whose existence was menaced +by a "European confederacy transcendent in power and unparalleled in +iniquity," and also by "the pride of wealth and arrogance of power" +displayed in the United States. Writing to Governor Lee of Virginia, +Washington said that he considered "this insurrection as the first +formidable fruit of the Democratic Societies." + +Hamilton moved warily, doing whatever lay in his power to smooth the +practical working of the system in the hope of "attaining the object of +the laws by means short of force." But such was the inflamed state of +feeling in western Pennsylvania that no course was acceptable short of +abandonment by the Government of efforts to enforce the internal revenue +laws. During 1793, there were several outrageous attacks on agents of the +Government, and the execution of warrants for the arrest of rioters was +refused by local authority. People who showed a disposition to side with +the Government had their barns burned. A revenue inspector was tarred and +feathered, and was run out of the district. The patience with which the +Government endured insults to its authority encouraged the mob spirit. On +July 16, 1794, the house of Inspector Neville was attacked by a mob, and, +when he appealed to the local authorities for protection, he was notified +that there was such a general combination of the people that the laws +could not be executed. Neville, a revolutionary veteran of tried valor, +was able to obtain the help of an officer and eleven soldiers from Fort +Pitt, but the mob was too numerous and too well-armed to be withstood by +so weak a force. After a skirmish in which the mob fired the buildings and +the place became untenable, the troops had to surrender. Soon after this +affair, a convention of delegates from the four western counties of +Pennsylvania was called to meet on August 14 to concert measures for +united action. Organized insurrection had, in fact, begun. + +"The Government," said Washington, "could no longer remain a passive +spectator of the contempt with which the laws were treated." But when he +called for Cabinet opinions, the old variance at once showed itself. +Randolph thought that calm consideration of the situation "banishes every +idea of calling the militia into immediate action." He pointed out that +the disaffected region had more than fifteen thousand white males above +the age of sixteen, and that sympathy with the insurgents was active in +"several counties in Virginia having a strong militia." There was also the +risk that the insurgents might seek British aid, in which case a severance +of the Union might result. Randolph also enlarged upon the expense that +would attend military operations and questioned whether the funds could be +obtained. He advised a proclamation and the appointment of commissioners +to treat with the insurgents. Should such means fail, and should it appear +that the judiciary authority was withstood, then at last military force +might be employed. + +Hamilton held that "a competent force of militia should be called forth +and employed to suppress the insurrection, and support the civil +authority." It appeared to him that "the very existence of the Government +demands this course." He urged that the force employed ought "to be an +imposing one, such, if practicable, as will deter from opposition, save +the effusion of the blood of the citizens, and serve the object to be +accomplished." He proposed a force of twelve thousand men, of whom three +thousand were to be cavalry, and he advised that, in addition to the +Pennsylvania militia, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia should each +contribute a quota. + +All the members of the Cabinet except Randolph concurred in Hamilton's +opinion. The practical execution of the measures was entrusted to +Hamilton, who acted with great sagacity. Some appearance of timidity and +inertia in Pennsylvania state authority was indirectly but effectually +counteracted by measures which showed that the military expedition would +move even if Pennsylvania held back. Although some troops were to gather +at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, others were to meet at Cumberland Fort, +Virginia. The business was so shrewdly managed that Pennsylvania state +authority fell obediently into line, and the insurgents were so cowed by +the determined action of the Government that they submitted without a +struggle. Washington thought that this event would react upon the clubs +and "effectuate their annihilation sooner than it might otherwise have +happened." A general collapse among them certainly followed, and they +disappeared from the political scene. + +It is in the nature of precaution that the more successful it is the less +necessary it appears to have been, and thus the complete success of +Hamilton's management furnished his enemies with a new argument against +him of which they afterwards made great use. The costly military +expedition that had no fighting to do was continually held up to public +ridicule. That the expense was trifling in comparison with the objects +achieved must deeply impress any one who examines the records of the +times. A mistake might have been fatal to the existence of the Government. +It has become so powerful and massive since that time, that we can hardly +realize what a rickety structure it then was, and how readily, in less +capable hands, it might have collapsed. + +Randolph, then Secretary of State, seems to have been in a panic. Fauchet, +the French minister at that time, reported to his government that Randolph +called upon him and with a grief-stricken countenance declared, "It is all +over; a civil war is about to ravage our unhappy country." He represented +to Fauchet that there were four men whose talents, influence, and energy +might save it. "But debtors of English merchants, they will be deprived of +their liberty if they take the smallest step." He wanted to know whether +Fauchet could lend "funds sufficient to shelter them from English +persecution." Fauchet's letter was captured by the British and made +public. Randolph's explanations did not clear up the obscurity that +surrounds the affair. His version was that the four men were flour +merchants who were being pressed by their creditors "and that the money +was wanted only for the purpose of paying them what was actually due to +them in virtue of existing contracts." Even on his own showing it was a +shady transaction, and he retired from Washington's Cabinet under a cloud. + +Washington always had difficulty about the composition of his Cabinet. A +capable man had been found to succeed Randolph as Attorney-General in the +person of William Bradford, an able Pennsylvania lawyer, but he died in +1795, and was succeeded by Charles Lee of Virginia. When Knox resigned in +1794, the vacancy was filled by transferring to the War Department +Timothy Pickering of Massachusetts, who had previously served as +Postmaster-General. When Hamilton retired, January, 1795, he was +succeeded by Oliver Wolcott of Connecticut, who had been Comptroller of +the Treasury. After Randolph had been discredited by the Fauchet +letter, the office of Secretary of State went a-begging. It was offered to +William Paterson of New Jersey, to Thomas Johnson of Maryland, to Charles +Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina, but all these men declined. +Washington got word that Patrick Henry, the old antagonist of the +Constitution, was showing Federalist leanings in opposition to Jefferson +and Madison, and Henry was then tendered the appointment, but he +too declined. Others were approached but all refused, and meanwhile +Pickering, though Secretary of War, also attended to the work of the State +Department. The matter was finally settled by permanently attaching +Pickering to the State Department, while the vacancy thus created at the +head of the War Department was filled by James McHenry, an appointment +which Washington himself described as "Hobson's choice." + +Hamilton, although out of the Cabinet, still remained a trusted adviser, +and he rendered splendid service at a dangerous crisis. In spite of the +fact that the Jay treaty had been ratified by the Senate in June, 1795, it +was an issue in the Fall elections that year. Jefferson held that the +treaty was an "execrable thing," an "infamous act, which is really nothing +more than a treaty of alliance between England and the Anglo-men of this +country against the Legislature and the people of the United States." +Giles, who had been in close consultation with Jefferson, moved with +characteristic energy to translate Jefferson's views into congressional +action. + +The Fourth Congress met on December 7, 1795, and although a Federalist, +Jonathan Dayton of New Jersey was elected Speaker, the Republicans +were strong enough to tone down the reply to the President's address +by substituting for an expression of "undiminished confidence" an +acknowledgment of "zealous and faithful services," which expressed +"approval of his course." On March 24, 1796, the House by a vote of 62 to +37 adopted a resolution calling upon the President to lay before it his +instructions to Jay, "together with the correspondence and the other +documents relative to said treaty." Advised by Hamilton and sustained by +his whole Cabinet, Washington replied on March 30, by declining to comply +because concurrence of the House was not necessary to give validity to the +treaty, and "because of the necessity of maintaining the boundaries fixed +by the Constitution between the different departments." The House retorted +by a resolution declaring its right to judge the merits of the case when +application was made for an appropriation to give effect to a treaty. +Debate on this issue, which is still an open one in our constitutional +system, began on April 14 and continued for sixteen days. Madison opposed +the execution of the treaty, but the principal speech was made by Giles, +whose argument covers twenty-eight columns in the _Annals_. As the +struggle proceeded, the Jeffersonians lost ground. It became evident that +weighty elements of public opinion were veering around to the support of +the treaty as the best arrangement attainable in the circumstances. The +balance of strength became so close that the scales were probably turned +by a speech of wonderful power and eloquence delivered by Fisher Ames. A +decision was reached on April 30, the test question being on declaring the +treaty "highly objectionable." Forty-eight votes were cast on each side +and the Speaker gave his decision for the negative. In the end, the House +stood 51 to 48 in favor of carrying the treaty into effect. Only four +votes for the treaty came from the section south of Mason and Dixon's +line. + +During the agitation over the Jay treaty the rage of party spirit turned +full against Washington himself. He was blackguarded and abused in every +possible way. He was accused of having shown incapacity while General and +of having embezzled public funds while President. He was nicknamed "the +Step-Father of his country." The imputation on his honor stung so keenly +that he declared "he would rather be in his grave than in the Presidency," +and in private correspondence he complained that he had been assailed "in +terms so exaggerated and indecent as could scarcely be applied to a Nero, +a notorious defaulter, or even to a common pickpocket." The only rejoinder +which his dignity permitted him to make is that contained in his Farewell +Address, dated September 17, 1796, in which he made a modest estimate of +his services and made a last affectionate appeal to the people whom he had +so faithfully served. + +The Farewell Address was not a communication to Congress. It was issued in +view of the approaching presidential election, to give public notice that +he declined "being considered among the number of those out of whom a +choice is to be made." The usual address to Congress was delivered by +Washington on December 7, 1796, shortly after the opening of the second +session of the Fourth Congress. The occasion was connected in the public +mind with his recent valedictory, and Congress was ready to vote a reply +of particularly cordial tenor. Giles stood to his guns to the last, +speaking and voting against complimentary resolutions. "He hoped gentlemen +would compliment the President privately, as individuals; at the same +time, he hoped such adulation would never pervade the House." He held that +"the Administration has been neither wise nor firm," and he acknowledged +that he was "one of those who do not think so much of the President as +some others do." On this issue Madison forsook him, and Giles was voted +down, 67 to 12. Among the eleven who stood by Giles was a new member who +made his first appearance that session--Andrew Jackson of Tennessee. In +later years, when Giles's opinions had been modified by experience and +reflection, he regretted his attitude towards Washington. It is due to +Giles to say that he did not stab in the dark. He had qualities of +character that under better constitutional arrangements would have +invigorated the functions of the House as an organ of control, but at that +time, with the separation that had been introduced between the House and +the Administration, his energy was mischievous and his intrepidity was a +misfortune to himself and to his party. + +Washington's term dragged to its close like so much slow torture. Others +might resign, but he had to stand at his post until the end, and it was a +happy day for him when he got his discharge. His elation was so manifest +that it was noticed by John Adams. Writing to his wife about the ceremony +the day after the inauguration, Adams remarked that Washington "seemed to +me to enjoy a triumph over me. Methought I heard him say, 'Ay! I am fairly +out, and you fairly in! See which of us will be the happiest.'" + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +THE PERSONAL RULE OF JOHN ADAMS + +The narrow majority by which John Adams was elected did not accurately +reflect the existing state of party strength. The electoral college +system, by its nature, was apt to distort the situation. Originally the +electors voted for two persons without designating their preference for +President. There was no inconvenience on that account while Washington was +a candidate, since he was the first choice of all the electors; but in +1796, with Washington out of the field, both parties were in the dilemma +that, if they voted solidly for two candidates, the vote of the electoral +college would not determine who should be President. To avert this +situation, the adherents of a presidential candidate would have to scatter +votes meant to have only vice-presidential significance. This explains the +wide distribution of votes that characterized the working of the system +until it was changed by the Twelfth Amendment adopted in 1804. + +In 1796, the electoral college gave votes to thirteen candidates. The +Federalist ticket was John Adams and Thomas Pinckney of South Carolina. +Hamilton urged equal support of both as the surest way to defeat +Jefferson; but eighteen Adams electors in New England withheld votes from +Pinckney to make sure that he should not slip in ahead of Adams. Had they +not done so, Pinckney would have been chosen President, a possibility +which Hamilton foresaw because of Pinckney's popularity in the South. New +York, New Jersey, and Delaware voted solidly for Adams and Pinckney as +Hamilton had recommended, but South Carolina voted solidly for both +Jefferson and Pinckney, and moreover Pinckney received scattering votes +elsewhere in the South. The action of the Adams electors in New England +defeated Pinckney, and gave Jefferson the vice-presidency, the vote for +the leading candidates being 71 for Adams, 68 for Jefferson, and 59 for +Pinckney. The tendency of such conditions to inspire political feuds and +to foster factional animosity is quite obvious. This situation must be +borne in mind, in order to make intelligible the course of Adams's +administration. + +Adams had an inheritance of trouble from the same source which had plagued +Washington's administration,--the efforts of revolutionary France to rule +the United States. In selecting Monroe to succeed Morris, Washington knew +that the former was as friendly to the French Revolution as Morris had +been opposed to it, and hence he hoped that Monroe would be able to impart +a more friendly feeling to the relations of the two countries. Monroe +arrived in Paris just after the fall of Robespierre. The Committee of +Public Safety then in possession of the executive authority hesitated to +receive him. Monroe wrote to the President of the National Convention then +sitting, and a decree was at once passed that the Minister of the United +States should "be introduced in the bosom of the Convention." Monroe +presented himself on August 15, 1794, and made a glowing address. He +descanted upon the trials by which America had won her independence and +declared that "France, our ally and friend, and who aided in the contest, +has now embarked in the same noble career." The address was received with +enthusiasm, the President of the Convention drew Monroe to his bosom in a +fraternal embrace; and it was decreed that "the flags of the United States +of America shall be joined to those of France, and displayed in the hall +of the sittings of the Convention, in sign of the union and eternal +fraternity of the two peoples." In compliance with this decree Monroe soon +after presented an American flag to the Convention. + +When the news of these proceedings reached the State Department, a sharp +note was sent to Monroe "to recommend caution lest we be obliged at some +time or other to explain away or disavow an excess of fervor, so as to +reduce it down to the cool system of neutrality." The French Government +regarded the Jay treaty as an affront and as a violation of our treaties +with France. Many American vessels were seized and confiscated with their +cargoes, and hundreds of American citizens were imprisoned. Washington +thought that Monroe was entirely too submissive to such proceedings; +therefore, on August 22, 1796, Monroe was recalled and soon after Charles +Cotesworth Pinckney was appointed in his stead. + +The representation of France in the United States had been as mutable as +her politics. Fauchet, who succeeded Genet, retired in June, 1795, and +was succeeded by Adet, who like his predecessors, carried on active +interference with American politics, and even attempted to affect the +presidential election by making public a note addressed to the Secretary +of State complaining of the behavior of the Administration. In Adams's +opinion this note had some adverse effect in Pennsylvania but no other +serious consequences, since it was generally resented. Meanwhile Pinckney +arrived in France in December, 1796, and the Directory refused to receive +him. He was not even permitted to remain in Paris; but honors were +showered upon Monroe as he took his leave. In March, 1797, Adet withdrew, +and diplomatic relations between the two countries were entirely +suspended. By a decree made two days before Adams took office, the +Directory proclaimed as pirates, to be treated without mercy, all +Americans found serving on board British vessels, and ordered the seizure +of all American vessels not provided with lists of their crews in proper +form. Though made under cover of the treaty of 1778, this latter provision +ran counter to its spirit and purpose. Captures of American ships began at +once. As Joel Barlow wrote, the decree of March 2, 1797, "was meant to be +little short of a declaration of war." + +The curious situation which ensued from the efforts made by Adams to deal +with this emergency cannot be understood without reference to his personal +peculiarities. He was vain, learned, and self-sufficient, and he had the +characteristic defect of pedantry: he overrated intelligence and he +underrated character. Hence he was inclined to resent Washington's +eminence as being due more to fortune than to merit, and he had for +Hamilton an active hatred compounded of wounded vanity and a sense of +positive injury. He knew that Hamilton thought slightingly of his +political capacity and had worked against his political advancement, and +he was too lacking in magnanimity to do justice to Hamilton's motives. His +state of mind was well known to the Republican leaders, who hoped to be +able to use him. Jefferson wrote to Madison suggesting that "it would be +worthy of consideration whether it would not be for the public good to +come to a good understanding with him as to his future elections." +Jefferson himself called on Adams and showed himself desirous of cordial +relations. Mrs. Adams responded by expressions of pleasure at the success +of Jefferson, between whom and her husband, she said, there had never been +"any public or private animosity." Such rejoicing over the defeat of the +Federalist candidate for Vice-President did not promote good feeling +between the President and the Federalist leaders. + +The morning before the inauguration, Adams called on Jefferson and +discussed with him the policy to be pursued toward France. The idea had +occurred to Adams that a good impression might be made by sending out a +mission of extraordinary weight and dignity, and he wanted to know whether +Jefferson himself would not be willing to head such a mission. Without +checking Adams's friendly overtures, Jefferson soon brought him to agree +that it would not be proper for the Vice-President to accept such a post. +Adams then proposed that Madison should go. On March 6, Jefferson reported +to Adams that Madison would not accept. Then for the first time, according +to Adams's own account, he consulted a member of his Cabinet, supposed to +be Wolcott although the name is not mentioned. + +Adams took over Washington's Cabinet as it was finally constituted after +the retirement of Jefferson and Hamilton and the virtual expulsion of +Randolph. The process of change had made it entirely Federalist in its +political complexion, and entirely devoted to Washington and Hamilton in +its personal sympathies. That Adams should have adopted it as his own +Cabinet has been generally regarded as a blunder, but it was a natural +step for him to take. To get as capable men to accept the portfolios as +those then holding them would have been difficult, so averse had prominent +men become to putting themselves in a position to be harried by Congress, +with no effective means of explaining and justifying their conduct. +Congress then had a prestige which it does not now possess, and its +utterances then received consideration not now accorded. Whenever +presidential electors were voted for directly by the people, the poll was +small compared with the vote for members of Congress. Moreover, there was +then a feeling that the Cabinet should be regarded as a bureaucracy, and +for a long period this conception tended to give remarkable permanence to +its composition. + +When the personal attachments of the Cabinet chiefs are considered, it is +easy to imagine the dismay and consternation produced by the dealings of +Adams with Jefferson. By the time Adams consulted the members of his +Cabinet, they had become suspicious of his motives and distrustful of his +character. Before long they were writing to Washington and Hamilton for +advice, and were endeavoring to manage Adams by concerted action. In this +course they had the cordial approval of leading Federalists, who would +write privately to members of the Cabinet and give counsel as to +procedure. Wolcott, a Federalist leader in Connecticut, warned his son, +the Secretary of the Treasury, that Adams was "a man of great vanity, +pretty capricious, of a very moderate share of prudence, and of far less +real abilities than he believes himself to possess," so that "it will +require a deal of address to render him the service which it will be +essential for him to receive." + +The policy to be pursued was still unsettled when news came of the +insulting rejection of Pinckney and the domineering attitude assumed by +France. On March 25, Adams issued a call for the meeting of Congress on +May 15, and then set about getting the advice of his Cabinet. He presented +a schedule of interrogatories to which he asked written answers. The +attitude of the Cabinet was at first hostile to Adams's favorite notion of +a special mission, but as Hamilton counseled deference to the President's +views, the Cabinet finally approved the project. Adams appointed John +Marshall of Virginia and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts to serve in +conjunction with Pinckney, who had taken refuge in Holland. + +Strong support for the Government in taking a firm stand against France +was manifested in both Houses of Congress. Hamilton aided Secretary +Wolcott in preparing a scheme of taxation by which the revenue could be +increased to provide for national defense. With the singular fatality that +characterized Federalist party behavior throughout Adams's Administration, +however, all the items proposed were abandoned except one for stamp taxes. +What had been offered as a scheme whose particulars were justifiable by +their relation to the whole was converted into a measure which was +traditionally obnoxious in itself, and was now made freshly odious by an +appearance of discrimination and partiality. The Federalists did improve +their opportunity in the way of general legislation: much needed laws were +passed to stop privateering, to protect the ports, and to increase the +naval armament; and Adams was placed in a much better position to maintain +neutrality than Washington had been. Fear of another outbreak of yellow +fever accelerated the work of Congress, and the extra session lasted only +a little over three weeks. + +Such was the slowness of communication in those days that, when Congress +reassembled at the regular session in November, no decisive news had +arrived of the fate of the special mission. Adams with proper prudence +thought it would be wise to consider what should be done in case of +failure. On January 24, 1798, he addressed to the members of his Cabinet a +letter requesting their views. No record is preserved of the replies of +the Secretaries of State and of the Treasury. Lee, the Attorney-General, +recommended a declaration of war. McHenry, the Secretary of War, offered a +series of seven propositions to be recommended to Congress: 1. Permission +to merchant ships to arm; 2. The construction of twenty sloops of war; 3. +The completion of frigates already authorized; 4. Grant to the President +of authority to provide ships of the line, not exceeding ten, "by such +means as he may judge best." 5. Suspension of the treaties with France; 6. +An army of sixteen thousand men, with provision for twenty thousand more +should occasion demand; 7. A loan and an adequate system of taxation. + +These recommendations are substantially identical with those made by +Hamilton in a letter to Pickering, and the presumption is strong that +McHenry's paper is a product of Hamilton's influence, and that it had the +concurrence of Pickering and Wolcott. The suggestion that the President +should be given discretionary authority in the matter of procuring ships +of the line contemplated the possibility of obtaining them by transfer +from England, not through formal alliance but as an incident of a +coöperation to be arranged by negotiation, whose objects would also +include aid in placing a loan and permission for American ships to join +British convoys. This feature of McHenry's recommendations could not be +curried out Pickering soon informed Hamilton that the old animosities were +still so active "in some breasts" that the plan of cooperation was +impracticable. + +Meanwhile the composite mission had accomplished nothing except to make +clear the actual character of French policy. When the envoys arrived in +France, the Directory had found in Napoleon Bonaparte an instrument of +power that was stunning Europe by its tremendous blows. That instrument +had not yet turned to the reorganization of France herself, and at the +time it served the rapacious designs of the Directory. Europe was looted +wherever the arms of France prevailed, and the levying of tribute both on +public and on private account was the order of the day. Talleyrand was the +Minister of Foreign Affairs, and he treated the envoys with a mixture of +menace and cajolery. It was a part of his tactics to sever the Republican +member, Gerry, from his Federalist colleagues. Gerry was weak enough to be +caught by Talleyrand's snare, and he was foolish enough to attribute the +remonstrances of his colleagues to vanity. "They were wounded," he wrote, +"by the manner in which they had been treated by the Government of France, +and the difference which had been used in respect to me." Gerry's conduct +served to weaken and delay the negotiations, but he eventually united with +his colleagues in a detailed report to the State Department, which was +transmitted to Congress by the President on April 3, 1798. In the original +the names of the French officials concerned were written at full length in +the Department cipher. In making a copy for Congress, Secretary Pickering +substituted for the names the terminal letters of the alphabet, and hence +the report has passed into history as the X.Y.Z. dispatches. + +The story, in brief, was that on arriving in Paris the envoys called on +Talleyrand, who said that he was busy at that very time on a report to the +Directory on American affairs, and in a few days would let them know how +matters stood. A few days later they received notice through Talleyrand's +secretary that the Directory was greatly exasperated by expressions used +in President Adams's address to Congress, that the envoys would probably +not be received until further conference, and that persons might +be appointed to treat with them. A few more days elapsed, and then +three persons presented themselves as coming from Talleyrand. They +were Hottinguer, Bellamy, and Hauteval, designated as X.Y.Z. in the +communication to Congress. They said that a friendly reception by the +Directory could not be obtained unless the United States would assist +France by a loan, and that "a sum of money was required for the pocket of +the Directory and Ministers, which would be at the disposal of M. +Talleyrand." This "douceur to the Directory," amounting to approximately +$240,000, was urged with great persistence as an indispensable condition +of friendly relations. The envoys temporized and pointed out that their +Government would have to be consulted on the matter of the loan. The +wariness of the envoys made Talleyrand's agents the more insistent about +getting the "douceur." At one of the interviews Hottinguer exclaimed:-- +"Gentlemen, you do not speak to the point; it is money; it is expected +that you will offer money." The envoys replied that on this point their +answer had already been given. "'No,' said he, 'you have not: what is your +answer?' We replied, 'It is no; no; not a sixpence.'" This part of the +envoys' report soon received legendary embellishment, and in innumerable +stump speeches it rang out as, "Not one cent for tribute; millions for +defense!" + +The publication of the X.Y.Z. dispatches sent rolling through the country +a wave of patriotic feeling before which the Republican leaders quailed +and which swept away many of their followers. Jefferson held that the +French Government ought not to be held responsible for "the turpitude of +swindlers," and he steadfastly opposed any action looking to the use of +force to maintain American rights. Some of the Republican members of +Congress, however, went over to the Federalist side, and Jefferson's party +was presently reduced to a feeble and dispirited minority. Loyal addresses +rained upon Adams. There appeared a new national song, _Hail Columbia_, +which was sung all over the land and which was established in lasting +popularity. Among its well-known lines is an exulting stanza beginning: + +"Behold the chief who now commands, +Once more to serve his country stands." + +This is an allusion to the fact that Washington had left his retirement to +take charge of the national forces. The envoys had been threatened that, +unless they submitted to the French demands, the American Republic might +share the fate of the Republic of Venice. The response of Congress +was to vote money to complete the frigates, the _United States_, the +_Constitution_, and the _Constellation_, work on which had been suspended +when the Algerine troubles subsided; and further, to authorize the +construction or purchase of twelve additional vessels. For the management +of this force, the Navy Department was created by the Act of April 30, +1798. By an Act of May 28, the President was authorized to raise a +military force of ten thousand men, the commander of which should have the +services of "a suitable number of major-generals." On July 7, the treaties +with France that had so long vexed the United States were abrogated. + +The operations of the Navy Department soon showed that American sailors +were quite able and willing to defend the nation if they were allowed the +opportunity. In December, 1798, the Navy Department worked out a plan of +operations in the enemy's waters. To repress the depredations of the +French privateers in the West Indies, a squadron commanded by Captain John +Barry was sent to cruise to the windward of St. Kitts as far south as +Barbados, and it made numerous captures. A squadron under Captain Thomas +Truxtun cruised in the vicinity of Porto Rico. The flagship was the +frigate _Constellation_, which on February 9, 1799, encountered the French +frigate, _L'Insurgente_, and made it strike its flag after an action +lasting only an hour and seventeen minutes. The French captain fought +well, but he was put at a disadvantage by losing his topmast at the +opening of the engagement, so that Captain Truxtun was able to take a +raking position. The American loss was only one killed and three wounded, +while _L'Insurgente_ had twenty-nine killed and forty-one wounded. On +February 1, 1800, the _Constellation_ fought the heavy French frigate +_Vengeance_ from about eight o'clock in the evening until after midnight, +when the _Vengeance_ lay completely silenced and apparently helpless. But +the rigging and spars of the _Constellation_ had been so badly cut up that +the mainmast fell, and before the wreck could be cleared away the +_Vengeance_ was able to make her escape. During the two years and a half +in which hostilities continued, the little navy of the United States +captured eighty-five armed French vessels, nearly all privateers. Only one +American war vessel was taken by the enemy, and that one had been +originally a captured French vessel. The value of the protection thus +extended to American trade is attested by the increase of exports from +$57,000,000 in 1797 to $78,665,528 in 1799. Revenue from imports increased +from $6,000,000 in 1797 to $9,080,932 in 1800. + +The creation of an army, however, was attended by personal disagreements +that eventually wrecked the Administration. Without waiting to hear from +Washington as to his views, Adams nominated him for the command and then +tried to overrule his arrangements. The notion that Washington could be +hustled into a false position was a strange blunder to be made by anyone +who knew him. He set forth his views and made his stipulations with his +customary precision, in letters to Secretary McHenry, who had been +instructed by Adams to obtain Washington's advice as to the list of +officers. Washington recommended as major-generals, Hamilton, C.C. +Pinckney, and Knox, in that order of rank. Adams made some demur to the +preference shown for Hamilton, but McHenry showed him Washington's letter +and argued the matter so persistently that Adams finally sent the +nominations to the Senate in the same order as Washington had requested. +Confirmation promptly followed, and a few days later Adams departed for +his home at Quincy, Massachusetts, without notice to his Cabinet. It soon +appeared that he was in the sulks. When McHenry wrote to him about +proceeding with the organization of the army, he replied that he was +willing provided Knox's precedence was acknowledged, and he added that the +five New England States would not patiently submit to the humiliation of +having Knox's claim disregarded. + +From August 4 to October 13, wrangling over this matter went on. The +members of the Cabinet were in a difficult position. It was their +understanding that Washington's stipulations had been accepted, but the +President now proposed a different arrangement. Pickering and McHenry +wrote to Washington explaining the situation in detail. News of the +differences between Adams and Washington of course soon got about and +caused a great buzz in political circles. Adams became angry over the +opposition he was meeting, and on August 29 he wrote to McHenry +that "there has been too much intrigue in this business, both with +General Washington and with me"; that it might as well be understood that +in any event he would have the last say, "and I shall then determine it +exactly as I should now, Knox, Pinckney, and Hamilton." Washington stood +firm and, on September 25, wrote to the President demanding "that he might +know at once and precisely what he had to expect." In reply Adams said +that he had signed the three commissions on the same day in the hope "that +an amicable adjustment or acquiescence might take place among the +gentlemen themselves." But should this hope be disappointed, "and +controversies shall arise, they will of course be submitted to you as +commander-in-chief." + +Adams, of course, knew quite well that such matters did not settle +themselves, but he seems to have imagined that all he had to do was to sit +tight and that matters would have to come his way. The tricky and +shuffling behavior to which he descended would be unbelievable of a man of +his standing were there not an authentic record made by himself. The +suspense finally became so intolerable that the Cabinet acted without +consulting the President any longer on the point. The Secretary of War +submitted to his colleagues all the correspondence in the case and asked +their advice. The Secretaries of State, of the Treasury, and of the Navy +made a joint reply declaring "the only inference which we can draw +from the facts before stated, is, that the President consents to the +arrangement of rank as proposed by General Washington," and that therefore +"the Secretary of War ought to transmit the commissions, and inform the +generals that in his opinion the rank is definitely settled according to +the original arrangement." This was done; but Knox declined an appointment +ranking him below Hamilton and Pinckney. Thus, Adams despite his +obstinacy, was completely baffled, and a bitter feud between him and his +Cabinet was added to the causes now at work to destroy the Federalist +party. + +The Federalist military measures were sound and judicious, and the +expense, although a subject of bitter denunciation, was really trivial +in comparison with the national value of the enhanced respect and +consideration obtained for American interests. But these measures were +followed by imprudent acts for regulating domestic politics. By the Act of +June 18,1798, the period of residence required before an alien could be +admitted to American citizenship was raised from five years to fourteen. +By the Act of June 25, 1798, the efficacy of which was limited to two +years, the President might send out of the country "such aliens as he +shall judge dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States, or +shall have reasonable grounds to suspect are concerned in any treasonable +or secret machinations against the government thereof." The state of +public opinion might then have sanctioned these measures had they stood +alone, but they were connected with another which proved to be the weight +that pulled them all down. By the Act of July 14, 1798, it was made a +crime to write or publish "any false, scandalous, and malicious" +statements about the President or either House of Congress, to bring them +"into contempt or disrepute," or to "stir up sedition within the United +States." + +There were plenty of precedents in English history for legislation of such +character. Robust examples of it were supplied in England at that very +time. There were also strong colonial precedents. According to Secretary +Wolcott, the sedition law was "merely a copy from a statute of Virginia in +October, 1776." But a revolutionary Whig measure aimed at Tories was a +very different thing in its practical aspect from the same measure used by +a national party against a constitutional opposition. Hamilton regarded +such legislation as impolitic, and, on hearing of the sedition bill, he +wrote a protesting letter, saying, "Let us not establish tyranny. Energy +is a very different thing from violence." + +But in general the Federalist leaders were so carried away by the +excitement of the times that they could not practice moderation. Their +zealotry was sustained by political theories which made no distinction +between partisanship and sedition. The constitutional function of +partisanship was discerned and stated by Burke in 1770, but his definition +of it, as a joint endeavor to promote the national interest upon some +particular principle, was scouted at the time and was not allowed until +long after. The prevailing idea in Washington's time, both in England and +America, was that partisanship was inherently pernicious and ought to be +suppressed. Washington's _Farewell Address_ warned the people "in the most +solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party." The +idea then was that government was wholly the affair of constituted +authority, and that it was improper for political activity to surpass the +appointed bounds. Newspaper criticism and partisan oratory were among the +things in Washington's mind when he censured all attempts "to direct, +control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the +constituted authorities." Hence judges thought it within their province to +denounce political agitators when charging a grand jury. Chief Justice +Ellsworth, in a charge delivered in Massachusetts, denounced "the French +system-mongers, from the quintumvirate at Paris to the Vice-President and +minority in Congress, as apostles of atheism and anarchy, bloodshed, and +plunder." In charges delivered in western Pennsylvania, Judge Addison +dealt with such subjects as Jealousy of Administration and Government, and +the Horrors of Revolution. Washington, then in private life, was so +pleased with the series that he sent a copy to friends for circulation. + +Convictions under the sedition law were few, but there were enough of them +to cause great alarm. A Jerseyman, who had expressed a wish that the wad +of a cannon, fired as a salute to the President, had hit him on the rear +bulge of his breeches, was fined $100. Matthew Lyon of Vermont, while +canvassing for reëlection to Congress, charged the President with +"unbounded thirst for ridiculous pomp, foolish adulation, and a selfish +avarice." This language cost him four months in jail and a fine of $1000. +But in general the law did not repress the tendencies at which it was +aimed but merely increased them. + +The Republicans, too weak to make an effective stand in Congress, tried to +interpose state authority. Jefferson drafted the Kentucky Resolutions, +adopted by the state legislature in November, 1798. They hold that the +Constitution is a compact to which the States are parties, and that "each +party has an equal right to judge for itself as well of infractions as of +the mode and measure of redress." The alien and sedition laws were +denounced, and steps were proposed by which protesting States "will concur +in declaring these Acts void and of no force, and will each take measures +of its own for providing that neither these Acts, nor any others of the +general Government, not plainly and intentionally authorized by the +Constitution, shall be exercised within their respective territories." The +Virginia Resolutions, adopted in December, 1798, were drafted by Madison. +They view "the powers of the federal Government as resulting from the +compact to which the States are parties," and declare that, if those +powers are exceeded, the States "have the right and are in duty bound to +interpose." This doctrine was a vial of woe to American politics until it +was cast down and shattered on the battlefield of civil war. It was +invented for a partisan purpose, and yet was entirely unnecessary for that +purpose. + +The Federalist party as then conducted was the exponent of a theory of +government that was everywhere decaying. The alien and sedition laws were +condemned and discarded by the forces of national politics, and state +action was as futile in effect as it was mischievous in principle. It +diverted the issue in a way that might have ultimately turned to the +advantage of the Federalist party, had it possessed the usual power of +adaptation to circumstances. After all, there was no reason inherent +in the nature of that party why it should not have perpetuated its +organization and repaired its fortunes by learning how to derive authority +from public opinion. The needed transformation of character would have +been no greater than has often been accomplished in party history. Indeed, +there is something abnormal in the complete prostration and eventual +extinction of the Federalist party; and the explanation is to be found in +the extraordinary character of Adams's administration. It gave such +prominence and energy to individual aims and interests that the party was +rent to pieces by them. + +In communicating the X.Y.Z. dispatches to Congress, Adams declared: "I +will never send another Minister to France without assurance that he will +be received, respected, and honored, as the representative of a great, +free, powerful, and independent nation." But on receiving an authentic +though roundabout intimation that a new mission would have a friendly +reception, he concluded to dispense with direct assurances, and, without +consulting his Cabinet, sent a message to the Senate on February 18, 1799, +nominating Murray, then American Minister to Holland, to be Minister to +France. This unexpected action stunned the Federalists and delighted the +Republicans as it endorsed the position they had always taken that war +talk was folly and that France was ready to be friendly if America would +treat her fairly. "Had the foulest heart and the ablest head in the +world," wrote Senator Sedgwick to Hamilton, "been permitted to select the +most embarrassing and ruinous measure, perhaps it would have been +precisely the one which has been adopted." Hamilton advised that +"the measure must go into effect with the additional idea of a commission +of three." The committee of the Senate to whom the nomination was referred +made a call upon Adams to inquire his reasons. According to Adams's own +account, they informed him that a commission would be more satisfactory to +the Senate and to the public. According to Secretary Pickering, Adams was +asked to withdraw the nomination and refused, but a few days later, on +hearing that the committee intended to report against confirmation, he +sent in a message nominating Chief Justice Ellsworth and Patrick Henry, +together with Murray, as envoys extraordinary. The Senate, much to Adams's +satisfaction, promptly confirmed the nominations, but this was because +Hamilton's influence had smoothed the way. Patrick Henry declined, and +Governor Davie of North Carolina was substituted. By the time this +mission reached France, Napoleon Bonaparte was in power and the envoys +were able to make an acceptable settlement of the questions at issue +between the two countries. The event came too late to be of service to +Adams in his campaign for reëlection, but it was intensely gratifying to +his self-esteem. + +Some feelers were put forth to ascertain whether Washington could not be +induced to be a candidate again, but the idea had hardly developed before +all hopes in that quarter were abruptly dashed by his death on December +14, 1799, from a badly treated attack of quinsy. Efforts to substitute +some other candidate for Adams proved unavailing, as New England still +clung to him on sectional grounds. News of these efforts of course reached +Adams and increased his bitterness against Hamilton, whom he regarded as +chiefly responsible for them. Adams had a deep spite against members of +his Cabinet for the way in which they had foiled him about Hamilton's +commission, but for his own convenience in routine matters he had retained +them, although debarring them from his confidence. In the spring of 1800 +he decided to rid himself of men whom he regarded as "Hamilton's spies." +The first to fall was McHenry, whose resignation was demanded on May 5, +1800, after an interview in which--according to McHenry--Adams reproached +him with having "biased General Washington to place Hamilton in his list +of major-generals before Knox." Pickering refused to resign, and he was +dismissed from office on May 12. John Marshall became the Secretary of +State, and Samuel Dexter of Massachusetts, Secretary of War. Wolcott +retained the Treasury portfolio until the end of the year, when he +resigned of his own motion. + +The events of the summer of 1800 completed the ruin of the Federalist +party. That Adams should have been so indifferent to the good will of his +party at a time when he was a candidate for reëlection is a remarkable +circumstance. A common report among the Federalists was that he was no +longer entirely sane. A more likely supposition was that he was influenced +by some of the Republican leaders and counted on their political support. +In biographies of Gerry it is claimed that he was able to accomplish +important results through his influence with Adams. At any rate, Adams +gave unrestrained expression to his feelings against Hamilton, and finally +Hamilton was aroused to action. On August 1, 1800, he wrote to Adams +demanding whether it was true that Adams had "asserted the existence of a +British faction in this country" of which Hamilton himself was said to be +a leader. Adams did not reply. Hamilton waited until October 1, and then +wrote again, affirming "that by whomsoever a charge of the kind mentioned +in my former letter, may, at any time, have been made or insinuated +against me, it is a base, wicked, and cruel calumny; destitute even of a +plausible pretext, to excuse the folly, or mask the depravity which must +have dictated it." + +Hamilton, always sensitive to imputations upon his honor, was not +satisfied to allow the matter to rest there. He wrote a detailed account +of his relations with Adams, involving an examination of Adams's public +conduct and character, which he privately circulated among leading +Federalists. It is an able paper, fully displaying Hamilton's power of +combining force of argument with dignity of language, but although +exhibiting Adams as unfit for his office it advised support of his +candidacy. Burr obtained a copy and made such use of parts of it that +Hamilton himself had to publish it in full. + +In this election the candidate associated with Adams by the Federalists +was Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina. Though one Adams +elector in Rhode Island cut Pinckney, he would still have been elected had +the electoral votes of his own State been cast for him as they had been +for Thomas Pinckney, four years before; but South Carolina now voted +solidly for both Republican candidates. The result of the election +was a tie between Jefferson and Burr, each receiving 73 votes, while Adams +received 65 and Pinckney 64. The election was thus thrown into the +House, where some of the Federalists entered into an intrigue to give Burr +the Presidency instead of Jefferson, but this scheme was defeated largely +through Hamilton's influence. He wrote: "If there be a man in this +world I ought to hate, it is Jefferson. With Burr I have always been +personally well. But the public good must be paramount to every private +consideration." + +The result of the election was a terrible blow to Adams. His vanity was so +hurt that he could not bear to be present at the installation of his +successor, and after working almost to the stroke of midnight signing +appointments to office for the defeated Federalists, he drove away from +Washington in the early morning before the inauguration ceremonies began. +Eventually he soothed his self-esteem by associating his own trials and +misfortunes with those endured by classical heroes. He wrote that +Washington, Hamilton, and Pinckney formed a triumvirate like that of +Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus, and "that Cicero was not sacrificed to the +vengeance of Antony more egregiously than John Adams was to the unbridled +and unbounded ambition of Alexander Hamilton in the American triumvirate." + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + +Abundant materials are available for the period covered by this work. +Chief among them are the Annals of Congress, the State Papers, and the +writings of statesmen to be found in any library index under their names. +The style maintained by Washington early became a subject of party +controversy and to this may be attributed a noticeable variation in +accounts given by different authors. For instance, Washington Irving, who +as a child witnessed the first inauguration parade, says in his _Life of +Washington_ that the President's coach "was drawn by a single pair of +horses." But the detailed account given in the _New York Packet_ of May 1, +1789, the day after the ceremony, says that "the President joined the +procession in his carriage and four." The following authorities may be +consulted on the point: + +B.J. Lossing, article in _The Independent_, vol. xli, April 25, 1889. + +Martha J. Lamb, article in _Magazine of American History_, vol. xx, +December, 1888. + +For details of official etiquette during Washington's administration, the +following may be consulted: + +GEORGE WASHINGTON, _Diary_, from 1789 to 1791. Edited by B.J. Lossing +(1860). + +WILLIAM MACLAY, _Journal_, 1789-1791 (1890). + +GEORGE W. P. CUSTIS, _Memoirs of Washington_ (1859). + +JAMES G. WILSON, _The Memorial History of New York_ (1893). + +ANNE HOLLINGSWORTH WHARTON, _Martha Washington_ (1897). + +Works of special importance for their documentary matter and for their +exhibition of the personal aspect of events are: + +J. C. HAMILTON, _History of the Republic of the United States_, 7 vols. +(1860). + +H. S. RANDALL, _Life of Thomas Jefferson_, 3 vols. (1858). + +GEORGE GIBBS, _Administrations of Washington and John Adams_, 2 vols. +(1846). + +Some economic aspects of the struggle over Hamilton's financial measures +are exhibited by: + +CHARLES A. BEARD, _Economic Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy_ (1915). + +New light has been cast upon Genet's mission, causing a great change in +estimates of his character and activities, by materials drawn from the +French archives by Professor F.J. Turner, and presented in the following +articles: + +"The Origin of Genet's Projected Attack on Louisiana and the Floridas," +_American Historical Review_, vol. iii. + +"The Policy of France toward the Mississippi Valley," _American Historical +Review_, vol. x. + +"The Diplomatic Contest for the Mississippi Valley," _Atlantic Monthly_, +vol. xciii. + +Further references will be found appended to the articles on _Washington, +Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, Jay_, and _John Adams_ in _The Encyclopaedia +Britannica_, 11th Edition. + + + +INDEX + + +Adams, John, favors making government impressive through ceremony, + attitude toward Genet affair, reelected Vice-president, elected + President, personal characteristics, relations with Jefferson, Cabinet, + defeat at election of 1800, + +Addison, Alexander, Judge, + +Algiers, relations with, treaty with, + +Alien and Sedition laws, + +Ames, Fisher, of Massachusetts, + + +Bacri, the Jew, + +Barclay, Thomas, + +Baldwin, Abraham, of Georgia, + +Barlow, Joel, + +Barry, John, Captain, + +Beard, C.A., _Economic Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy_, Benson, Egbert, + of New York, + +Boudinot, Elias, of New Jersey, + +Bradford, William, of Rhode Island, + +Burke, Edanus, of South Carolina, + +Burr, Aaron, + +Butler, Pierce, of South Carolina, + + +Cabinet, President's, a development after Washington's administration, + status of, + +Campbell, William, Major, + +Carmichael, William, + +Church, Edward, U. S. consul at Lisbon, + +Clark, Abraham, of New Jersey, + +Clark, George Rogers, + +Clinton, George, of New York, + +_Constellation_, The, ship, + +_Constitution_, The, ship, + +Constitutional amendments adopted, + + +_Daily Advertizer_, + +_Dauphin_, The, ship, + +Dayton, Jonathan, of New Jersey, + +Dexter, Samuel, of Massachusetts, + +District of Columbia, exact site to be selected by the President, + + +Ellsworth, Oliver, of Connecticut, + + +Federal Hall, + +_Federalist_, + +Federalist party, + +Finance, National, Tariff bill, debt of United States (1790), Assumption + bill, national bank established, mint established, + +Fishbourn, Benjamin, + +Fitzsimmons, Thomas, of Pennsylvania, + +France, relations with United States, treaties of 1778, representation in + United States, special mission to, treaties abrogated (1798), maritime + troubles with, second mission to, + +Fraunces, A.G., + +Freneau, Philip, editor of _National Gazette_, + + +Genet, Edmond, appointed French minister to United States; a trained + diplomatist, audacious mission, reception in United States, policy + toward Louisiana, argues for treaty rights, public opinion for, arrest + by French Government, success, United States becomes his asylum, + bibliography, + +Germantown, Proposal to place capital at, + +Gerry, Elbridge, of Massachusetts, + +Giles, W.B., of Virginia, + +_Grange_, The, ship, + +Grayson, William, of Virginia, + +Great Britain, lays down contraband regulations, retains Western posts in + America, treaty with (1795), + +Greenville, Treaty of (1795), + +Gwinnett, Button, + + +_Hail Columbia_, + +Hamilton, Alexander, personal appearance, aid in finance sought by + Washington, advises Washington as to deportment, appointed Secretary of + Treasury, rivalry between Madison and, opinion as to establishment of + courts, report to Congress (1790), stand on the question of security of + transfer, interest in site for national capital, report on manufactures, + appreciation of, author of interrogatories to the cabinet (1793), + opinion on French treaty obligations; stands against Jefferson, calmness + in regard to Genet affair, "Pacificus,", "No Jacobin,", resigns as + Secretary of Treasury (1793), party warfare against, requests a Treasury + investigation, opinion as to enforcing law, remains trusted adviser, + aids Wolcott in preparing scheme of taxation, appointed major-general, + relations with Adams, bibliography, + +Hammond, George, British minister to United States, + +Hancock, John, + +Harmar, Josiah, Lieutenant-Colonel, + +Hazard, Ebenezer, Postmaster-General, + +Henry, Patrick, + +Humphreys, David, Colonel, + + +Indian troubles in the West, + + +Jackson, Andrew, + +Jackson, James, of Georgia, + +Jay, John, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, appointed envoy extraordinary to + Great Britain (1794), mission to England, elected Governor of New York, + +Jay treaty, terms of, agitation over, French attitude toward, + +Jefferson, Thomas, appointed Secretary of State, attitude on question of + assumption of state debts, importance of public service, report on the + Algerine question, as minister to Paris, opinion on French treaty + obligations, "The Anas," disturbs the administration, resigns as + Secretary of State (1793), for the principle "free ships, free goods," + opponent of Hamilton, drafts Kentucky Resolutions (1798), elected + President, bibliography, + +Johnson, Thomas, of Maryland, + +Jones, John Paul, Admiral, + +Judiciary, Establishment of the, + + +Kentucky Resolutions, + +Knox, Henry, Secretary of War since 1785, Secretary of War and of the + Navy, submits plan for militia, supports Hamilton in question of treaty + obligations, recommended as major-general by Washington, question of + precedence of rank, declines appointment, + +_La Carmagnole_, ship, + +_L'Ambuscade_, ship, + +_L'Ami de la Point à Petre_, ship, + +_La Montagne_, ship, + +_L'Amour de la Liberté_, ship, + +_La Vengeance_, ship, + +_Le Cassius_, ship, + +_Le Citoyen Genet_, ship, + +Lee, Arthur, + +Lee, Charles, of Virginia, + +Lee, R.H., of Virginia, + +l'Enfant, P.C., + +_Le Petit Démocrate_, ship, + +_L'Espérance_, ship, + +_Le Vainqueur de Bastille_, ship, + +_Little Sarah_, ship, + +Livermore, Samuel, of New Hampshire, + +Livingston, Walter, + +Louisiana territory, + + +McGillivray, Alexander, Head chief of the Creeks, + +McHenry, James, of Maryland, + +McIntosh, Lachlan, + +Maclay, William, of Pennsylvania, Diary of, + +Madison, James, cooperates with Hamilton in government organization, + personal appearance, introduces scheme for raising revenue, upholds + President's power of removal, acts as advisor to Washington, opinion + as to system of federal courts, stand on question of security of + transfer, opinion on creation of a navy, "Helvidius," attitude toward + non-intercourse, drafts Virginia Resolutions (1798), + +Marshall, John, opinion on neutrality of United States (1793), appointed + commissioner to France, becomes Secretary of State, + +Military preparedness, Policy of, + +Monroe, James, + +Morris, Gouverneur, + +Morris, Robert, + +Moultrie, William, General, + +Murray, W.V., Minister to Holland, + + +Napoleon Bonaparte, + +_National Gazette_, + +Naval policy of the United States, + +Neutrality, Question of (1793), + +New York, desires to be capital of nation, Washington's home in, + +Nicholas, W.C., of Virginia, + +Non-intercourse bill, + +North Carolina admitted to the Union (1789), + + +O'Brien Richard, Captain, + +O'Fallon, James, Dr., + +Osgood, Samuel, Postmaster-General, + + +Page, John, of Virginia, + +Paine, Thomas, + +Paterson, William, of New Jersey, + +Philadelphia club, + +Pickering, Timothy of Massachusetts, + +Pinckney, C.C., + +Pinckney, Thomas, + +President of the United States, social position and duties, official + title, power of removal by, + +Putnam, Rufus, General, + + +Randolph, Edmund, appointed Attorney-General, opinion on question of + French treaty obligations, divides influence between factions in + cabinet, transferred to State Department, letter to Washington, + opinion as to enforcing law, applies to French minister for funds, + retires, + +Republican party, + +Residence act, + +Rhode Island admitted to the Union (1790), + + +St. Clair, Arthur, General, + +_Sans Pareil_, ship, + +Sedgwick, Theodore, of Massachusetts, + +Senate, privy council function of, + +Short, William, + +Smith, Samuel, of Maryland, + +Smith, William, of South Carolina, + +Spain, Treaty with (1795), + +Stone, M.J., of Maryland, + +Story, Joseph, Justice, + + +Talleyrand, + +Tariff, _see_ Finance. + +Taylor, John, + +Treasury Department, established by Congress, rights and duties of + Secretary defined, Secretary's report, + +Trenton, proposal to place capital at, + +Truxtun, Thomas, Captain, + +_United States_, The, ship + + +Virginia Resolutions + + +Wadsworth, Jeremiah, of Connecticut + +War Department, Opposition to + +Washington, George, reluctant to reassume public responsibilities, + installed as President (1789), personal characteristics; his + magnificence, his levees; first message to Congress; first cabinet, + message to Senate (1789), differences with the Senate, tours, + church-going habits, receives news of St. Clair's defeat, concern about + Genet affair, opinion as to validity of French treaty, dependence upon + Hamilton, address of Dec. 3, 1793, reëlected President, party spirit + against, Farewell Address (1796), death (1799), bibliography, + +Washington, Martha, arrival in New York, her entertainments + +Wayne, Anthony, General + +West Indies, trade with + +Whiskey insurrection, + +White, Alexander, of Virginia + +Willett, Marinus, Colonel + +Wolcott, Oliver, of Connecticut + + +"X.Y.Z." dispatches + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11702 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b1777a6 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #11702 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11702) diff --git a/old/11702-8.txt b/old/11702-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..04e0958 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11702-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5036 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Washington and His Colleagues, by Henry Jones +Ford + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Washington and His Colleagues + +Author: Henry Jones Ford + +Release Date: March 24, 2004 [eBook #11702] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WASHINGTON AND HIS COLLEAGUES*** + + +E-text prepared by John R. Bilderback and Project Gutenberg Distributed +Proofreaders + + + +WASHINGTON AND HIS COLLEAGUES + +A CHRONICLE OF THE RISE AND FALL OF FEDERALISM + +BY HENRY JONES FORD + +NEW HAVEN: YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS + +1918 + + + +Textbook Edition + +The Chronicles of America Series + +Allen Johnson, Editor + +Gerhard R. Lomer and Charles W. Jefferys, Assistant Editors + + + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I. AN IMITATION COURT + + II. GREAT DECISIONS + + III. THE MASTER BUILDER + + IV. ALARUMS AND EXCURSIONS + + V. TRIBUTE TO THE ALGERINES + + VI. FRENCH DESIGNS ON AMERICA + + VII. A SETTLEMENT WITH ENGLAND + +VIII. PARTY VIOLENCE + + IX. THE PERSONAL RULE OF JOHN ADAMS + + BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + INDEX + + + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +AN IMITATION COURT + +Washington was glad to remain at Mount Vernon as long as possible after he +had consented to serve as President, enjoying the life of a country +gentleman, which was now much more suited to his taste than official +employment. He was weary of public duties and the heavy demands upon his +time which had left him with little leisure for his private life at home. +His correspondence during this period gives ample evidence of his extreme +reluctance to reassume public responsibilities. To bring the matter to its +true proportions, it must be remembered that to the view of the times the +new constitution was but the latest attempt to tinker the federal scheme, +and it was yet to be seen whether this endeavor would be any more +successful than previous efforts had been. As for the title of President, +it had already been borne by a number of congressional politicians and had +been rather tarnished by the behavior of some of them. Washington was not +at all eager to move in the matter before he had to, and he therefore +remained on his farm until Congress met, formally declared the result of +the election, and sent a committee to Mount Vernon to give him official +notice. It was not until April 30, 1789, that he was formally installed as +President. + +Madison and Hamilton were meanwhile going ahead with their plans. This +time was perhaps the happiest in their lives. They had stood together in +years of struggle to start the movement for a new constitution, to steer +it through the convention, and to force it on the States. Although the +fight had been a long and a hard one, and although they had not won all +that they had wanted, it was nevertheless a great satisfaction that they +had accomplished so much, and they were now applying themselves with great +zest to the organization of the new government. Madison was a member of +Congress; Hamilton lived near the place where Congress held its sittings +in New York and his house was a rendezvous for the federal leaders. +Thither Madison would often go to talk over plans and prospects. A lady +who lived near by has related how she often saw them walking and talking +together, stopping sometimes to have fun with a monkey skipping about in a +neighbor's yard. + +At that time Madison was thirty-eight; Hamilton was thirty-two. They were +little men, of the quick, dapper type. Madison was five feet six and a +quarter inches tall, slim and delicate in physique, with a pale student's +face lit up by bright hazel eyes. He was as plain as a Quaker in his style +of dress, and his hair, which was light in color, was brushed straight +back and gathered into a small queue, tied with a plain ribbon. Hamilton +was of about the same stature, but his figure had wiry strength. His +Scottish ancestry was manifest in his ruddy complexion and in the modeling +of his features. He was more elegant than Madison in his habitual attire. +He had a very erect, dignified bearing; his expression was rather severe +when his features were in repose, but he had a smile of flashing radiance +when he was pleased and interested, Washington, who stood over six feet +two inches in his buckled shoes, had to look down over his nose when he +met the young statesmen who had been the wheel horses of the federal +movement. + +Soon after Washington arrived in New York he sought Hamilton's aid in the +management of the national finances. There was the rock on which the +government of the Confederation had foundered. There the most skillful +pilotage was required if the new government was to make a safe voyage. +Washington's first thought had been to get Robert Morris to take charge +again of the department that he had formerly managed with conspicuous +ability, and while stopping in Philadelphia on his way to New York, he had +approached Morris on the subject. Morris, who was now engaged in grand +projects which were eventually to bring him to a debtor's prison, declined +the position but strongly recommended Hamilton. This suggestion proved +very acceptable to Washington, who was well aware of Hamilton's capacity. + +The thorny question of etiquette was the next matter to receive +Washington's attention. Personally he favored the easy hospitality to +which he was accustomed in Virginia, but he knew quite well that his own +taste ought not to be decisive. The forms that he might adopt would become +precedents, and hence action should be taken cautiously. Washington was a +methodical man. He had a well-balanced nature which was never disturbed by +timidity of any kind and rarely by anxiety. His anger was strong when it +was excited, but his ordinary disposition was one of massive equanimity. +He was not imaginative, but he took things as they came, and did what the +occasion demanded. In crises that did not admit of deliberation, his +instinctive courage guided his behavior, but such crises belong to +military experience, and in civil life careful deliberation was his rule. +It was his practice to read important documents pen in hand to note the +points. From one of his familiar letters to General Knox we learn that on +rising in the morning he would turn over in his mind the day's work and +would consider how to deal with it. His new circumstances soon apprised +him that the first thing to be settled was his deportment as President. +Under any form of government the man who is head of the state is forced, +as part of his public service, to submit to public exhibition and to be +exact in social observance; but, unless precautions are taken, engagements +will consume his time and strength. Writing to a friend about the +situation in which he found himself, Washington declared: "By the time I +had done breakfast, and thence till dinner, and afterwards till bed-time, +I could not get relieved from the ceremony of one visit, before I had to +attend to another. In a word, I had no leisure to read or answer the +dispatches that were pouring in upon me from all quarters." + +The radical treatment which the situation called for was aided by a +general feeling in Congress that arrangements should be made for the +President different from those under the Articles of Confederation. It had +been the practice for the President to keep open house. Of this custom +Washington remarked that it brought the office "in perfect contempt; for +the table was considered a public one, and every person, who could get +introduced, conceived that he had a right to be invited to it. This, +although the table was always crowded (and with mixed company, and the +President considered in no better light than as a _maître d'hôtel_), was +in its nature impracticable, and as many offenses given as if no table had +been kept." It was important to settle the matter before Mrs. Washington +joined him in New York. Inside of ten days from the time he took the oath +of office, he therefore drafted a set of nine queries, copies of which he +sent to Jay, Madison, Hamilton, and John Adams, with these sensible +remarks: + +"Many things, which appear of little importance in themselves and at the +beginning, may have great and durable consequences from their having been +established at the commencement of a new general government. It will be +much easier to commence the Administration upon a well-adjusted system, +built on tenable grounds, than to correct errors, or alter inconveniences, +after they shall have been confirmed by habit. The President, in all +matters of business and etiquette, can have no object but to demean +himself in his public character in such a manner as to maintain the +dignity of his office, without subjecting himself to the imputation of +superciliousness or unnecessary reserve. Under these impressions he asks +for your candid and undisguised opinion." + +Only the replies of Hamilton and Adams have been preserved. Hamilton +advised Washington that while "the dignity of the office should be +supported ... care will be necessary to avoid extensive disgust or +discontent.... The notions of equality are yet, in my opinion, too general +and strong to admit of such a distance being placed between the President +and other branches of the Government as might even be consistent with a +due proportion." Hamilton then sketched a plan for a weekly levee: "The +President to accept no invitations, and to give formal entertainments only +twice or four times a year, the anniversaries of important events of the +Revolution." In addition, "the President on levee days, either by himself +or some gentleman of his household, to give informal invitations to family +dinners ... not more than six or eight to be invited at a time, and the +matter to be confined essentially to members of the legislature and other +official characters. The President never to remain long at table." +Hamilton observed that his views did not correspond with those of other +advisers, but he urged the necessity of behaving so as "to remove the idea +of too immense inequality, which I fear would excite dissatisfaction and +cabal." + +This was sagacious advice, and Washington would have benefited by +conforming to it more closely than he did. The prevailing tenor of the +advice which he received is probably reflected in the communication from +Adams, who was in favor of making the government impressive through grand +ceremonial. "Chamberlains, aides-de-camp, secretaries, masters of +ceremonies, etc., will become necessary.... Neither dignity nor authority +can be supported in human minds, collected into nations or any great +numbers, without a splendor and majesty in some degree proportioned to +them." Adams held that in no case would it be "proper for the President to +make any formal public entertainment," but that this should be the +function of some minister of state, although "upon such occasions the +President, in his private character, might honor with his presence." The +President might invite to his house in small parties what official +characters or citizens of distinction he pleased, but this invitation +should always be given without formality. The President should hold levees +to receive "visits of compliment," and two days a week might not be too +many for this purpose. The idea running through Adams's advice was that in +his private character the President might live like any other private +gentleman of means, but that in his public functions he should adopt a +grand style. This advice, which Washington undoubtedly received from +others as well as Adams, influenced Washington's behavior, and the +consequences were exactly what Hamilton had predicted. According to +Jefferson's recollection, many years afterward, Washington told him that +General Knox and Colonel Humphreys drew up the regulations and that some +were proposed "so highly strained that he absolutely rejected them." +Jefferson further related that, when Washington was re-elected, Hamilton +took the position that the parade of the previous inauguration ought not +to be repeated, remarking that "there was too much ceremony for the +character of our government." + +It is a well-known characteristic of human nature to be touchy about such +matters as these. Popular feeling about Washington's procedure was +inflamed by reports of the grand titles which Congress was arranging to +bestow upon the President. That matter was, in fact, considered by the +Senate on the very day of Washington's arrival in New York and before any +steps could have been taken to ascertain his views. A joint committee of +the two houses reported against annexing "any style or title to the +respective styles or titles of office expressed in the Constitution." But +a group of Senators headed by John Adams was unwilling to let the matter +drop, and another Senate committee was appointed which recommended as a +proper style of address "His Highness, the President of the United States +of America, and Protector of their Liberties." While the Senate debated, +the House acted, addressing the President in reply to his inaugural +address simply as "The President of the United States." The Senate now had +practically no choice but to drop the matter, but in so doing adopted a +resolution that because of its desire that "a due respect for the majesty +of the people of the United States may not be hazarded by singularity," +the Senate was still of the opinion "that it would be proper to annex a +respectable title to the office." Thus it came about that the President of +the United States is distinguished by having no title. A governor may be +addressed as "Your Excellency," a judge as "Your Honor," but the chief +magistrate of the nation is simply "Mr. President." It was a relief to +Washington when the Senate discontinued its attempt to decorate him. He +wrote to a friend, "Happily this matter is now done with, I hope never to +be revived." + +Details of the social entanglements in which Washington was caught at the +outset of his administration are generally omitted by serious historians, +but whatever illustrates life and manners is not insignificant, and events +of this character had, moreover, a distinct bearing on the politics of the +times. The facts indicate that Washington's arrangements were somewhat +encumbered by the civic ambition of New York. That bustling town of 30,000 +population desired to be the capital of the nation, and, in the splendid +exertions which it made, it went rather too far. Federal Hall, designed as +a City Hall, was built in part for the accommodation of Congress, on +the site in Wall Street now in part occupied by the United States +Sub-Treasury. The plans were made by Major Pierre Charles l'Enfant, a +French engineer who had served with distinction in the Continental Army +but whose clearest title to fame is the work which he did in laying out +the city of Washington when it was made the national capital. Federal Hall +exceeded in dignified proportions and in artistic design any public +building then existing in America. The painted ceilings, the crimson +damask canopies and hangings, and the handsome furniture were considered +by many political agitators to be a great violation of republican +simplicity. The architect was first censured in the public press and then, +because of disputes, received no pay for his time and trouble, although, +had he accepted a grant of city lots offered by the town council he would +have received a compensation that would have turned out to be very +valuable. + +Federal Hall had been completed and presented to Congress before +Washington started for New York. The local arrangements for his reception +were upon a corresponding scale of magnificence, but with these Washington +had had nothing to do. The barge in which he was conveyed from the Jersey +shore to New York was fifty feet long, hung with red curtains and having +an awning of satin. It was rowed by thirteen oarsmen, in white with blue +ribbons. In the inauguration ceremonies Washington's coach was drawn by +four horses with gay trappings and hoofs blackened and polished. This +became his usual style. He seldom walked in the street, for he was so much +a public show that that might have been attended by annoying practical +inconvenience; but when he rode out with Mrs. Washington his carriage was +drawn by four--sometimes six--horses, with two outriders, in livery, with +powdered hair and cockades in their hats. When he rode on horseback, which +he often did for exercise, he was attended by outriders and accompanied by +one or more of the gentlemen of his household. Toward the end of the year +there arrived from England the state coach which he used in formal visits +to Congress and for other ceremonious events. It was a canary-colored +chariot, decorated with gilded nymphs and cupids, and emblazoned with the +Washington arms. His state was simplified when he went to church, which he +did regularly every Sunday; then his coach was drawn by two horses, with +two footmen behind, and was followed by a post-chaise carrying two +gentlemen of his household. Washington was fond of horses and was in the +habit of keeping a fine stable. The term "muslin horses" was commonly used +to denote the care taken in grooming. The head groom would test the work +of the stable-boys by applying a clean muslin handkerchief to the coats of +the animals, and, if any stain of dirt showed, there was trouble. The +night before the white horses which Washington used as President were to +be taken out, their coats were covered by a paste of whiting, and the +animals were swathed in wrappings. In the morning the paste was dry and +with rubbing gave a marble gloss to the horses' coats. The hoofs were then +blackened and polished, and even the animals' teeth were scoured. Such +arrangements, however, were not peculiar to Washington's stable. This was +the usual way in which grooming for "the quality" was done in that period. + +The first house occupied by Washington was at the corner of Pearl and +Cherry streets, then a fashionable locality. What the New York end of the +Brooklyn Bridge has left of it is now known as Franklin Square. The house +was so small that three of his secretaries had to lodge in one room; and +Custis in his Recollections tells how one of them, who fancied he could +write poetry, would sometimes disturb the others by walking the floor in +his nightgown trying the rhythm of his lines by rehearsing them with loud +emphasis. About a year later Washington removed to a larger house on the +west side of Broadway near Bowling Green. Both buildings went down at an +early date before the continual march of improvement in New York. In +Washington's time Wall Street was superseding Pearl Street as the +principal haunt of fashion. Here lived Alexander Hamilton and other New +Yorkers prominent in their day; here were fashionable boarding-houses at +which lived the leading members of Congress. When some fashionable +reception was taking place, the street was gay with coaches and +sedan-chairs, and the attire of the people who then gathered was as +brilliant as a flight of cockatoos. It was a period of spectacular dress +and behavior for both men and women, the men rivaling the women in their +use of lace, silk, and satin. Dr. John Bard, the fashionable doctor of his +day, who attended Washington through the severe illness which laid him up +for six weeks early in his administration, habitually wore a cocked hat +and a scarlet coat, his hands resting upon a massive cane as he drove +about in a pony-phaeton. The scarlet waistcoat with large bright buttons +which Jefferson wore on fine occasions, when he arrived on the scene, +showed that he was not then averse to gay raiment. Plain styles of dress +were among the many social changes ushered in by the French Revolution and +the war cycle that ensued from it. + +Titles figured considerably in colonial society, and the Revolutionary War +did not destroy the continuity of usage. It was quite in accord with the +fashion of the times that the courtesy title of Lady Washington was +commonly employed in talk about the President's household. Mrs. Washington +arrived in New York from Mount Vernon on May 27, 1789. She was met by the +President with his barge on the Jersey shore, and as the barge passed the +Battery a salute of thirteen cannon was fired. At the landing-place a +large company was gathered, and the coach that took her to her home was +escorted with military parade. The questions of etiquette had been settled +by that time, and she performed her social duties with the ease of a +Virginia gentlewoman always used to good society. She found them irksome, +however, as such things had long since lost their novelty. Writing to a +friend she said, "I think I am more like a state prisoner than anything +else." She was then a grandmother through her children by her first +husband. Although she preferred plain attire, she is described on one +occasion as wearing a velvet gown over a white satin petticoat, her hair +smoothed back over a moderately high cushion. It was the fashion of the +times for the ladies to tent their hair up to a great height. At one of +Mrs. Washington's receptions, Miss McIvers, a New York belle, had such a +towering coiffure that the feathers which surmounted it brushed a lighted +chandelier and caught fire. The consequences might have been serious had +the fire spread to the pomatumed structure below, but one of the +President's aides sprang to the rescue and smothered the burning plumes +between the palms of his hands before any harm came to the young lady. + +Every Tuesday while Congress was in session Washington received visitors +from three to four o'clock. These receptions were known as his levees. He +is described as clad in black velvet; his hair was powdered and gathered +behind in a silk bag; he wore knee and shoe buckles and yellow gloves; he +held a cocked hat with a cockade and a black feather edging; and he +carried a long sword in a scabbard of white polished leather. As visitors +were presented to him by an aide, Washington made a bow. To a candid +friend who reported to him that his bows were considered to be too stiff, +he replied: "Would it not have been better to throw the veil of charity +over them, ascribing their stiffness to the effects of age, or to the +unskillfulness of my teacher, rather than to pride and dignity of office, +which God knows has no charm for me?" Washington bore with remarkable +humility the criticisms of his manners that occasionally reached him. + +On Friday evenings Mrs. Washington received, and these affairs were known +as her "drawing-rooms." They were over by nine o'clock which was bed-time +in the Washington household; for Washington was an early riser, often +getting up at four in the morning to start the day's work betimes. The +"drawing-rooms" were more cheery affairs than the levees, as Mrs. +Washington had simple unaffected manners, and the General had made it +known that on these occasions he desired to be regarded not as the +President but simply as a private gentleman. This gave him an opportunity +such as he did not have at the levees to unbend and to enjoy himself. +Besides these receptions a series of formal dinners was given to +diplomatic representatives, high officers of government, and members of +Congress. Senator Maclay of Pennsylvania recorded in the diary he kept +during the First Congress that Washington would drink wine with every one +in the company, addressing each in turn by name. Maclay thought it of +sufficient interest to record that on one occasion a trifle was served +which had been made with rancid cream. All the ladies watched to see what +Mrs. Washington would do with her portion; and next day there were +tittering remarks all through the fashionable part of the town over the +fact that she had martyred herself and swallowed the dose. Incidentally +Maclay, who was in nearly everything a vehement opponent of the policy of +the Administration, bore witness to Washington's perfect courtesy, Maclay +noted that in spite of his antagonistic attitude Washington invited him to +dinner and paid him "marked attention," although "he knows enough to +satisfy him that I will not be Senator after the 3d of March, and to the +score of his good nature must I place these attentions." + +In his relations with Congress, Washington followed precedents derived +from the English constitutional system under which he had been educated. +No question was raised by anybody at first as to the propriety of a course +with which the public men of the day were familiar. He opened the session +with an address to Congress couched somewhat in the style of the speech +from the throne. At the first session there was talk of providing some +sort of throne for him; but the proposal came to nothing. He spoke from +the Vice-President's chair, and the Representatives went into the Senate +chamber to hear him, as the Commons proceed to the House of Lords on such +occasions. Congress, too, conformed to English precedents by voting +addresses in reply, and then the members repaired to the President's +"audience chamber," where the presiding officers of the two houses +delivered their addresses and received the President's acknowledgments. +These were disagreeable duties for Washington, although he discharged them +conscientiously. Maclay has recorded in his diary the fact that when +Washington made his first address to Congress he was "agitated and +embarrassed more than ever he was by the leveled cannon or pointed +musket." + +It was not until June 8 that Washington settled these delicate affairs of +official etiquette sufficiently to enable him to attend to details of +administration. The government, although bankrupt, was in active +operation, and the several executive departments were under secretaries +appointed by the old Congress. The distinguished New York jurist, John +Jay, now forty-four years old, had been Secretary of Foreign Affairs since +1784. He had long possessed Washington's confidence, and now retained his +Secretaryship until the government was organized, whereupon he left that +post to become the first chief-justice of the United States. Henry Knox of +Massachusetts, aged thirty-nine, had been Secretary of War since 1785, a +position to which Washington helped him. They were old friends, for Knox +had served through the war with Washington in special charge of artillery. +The Postmaster-General, Ebenezer Hazard, was not in Washington's favor. +While the struggle over the adoption of the Constitution was going on +Hazard put a stop to the customary practice by which newspaper publishers +were allowed to exchange copies by mail. Washington wrote an indignant +letter to John Jay about this action which was doing mischief by "inducing +a belief that the suppression of intelligence at that critical juncture +was a wicked trick of policy contrived by an aristocratic junto." As soon +as Washington could move in the matter, Hazard was superseded by Samuel +Osgood, who as a member of the old Congress had served on a committee to +examine the post-office accounts. There was no Secretary of the Treasury +at that time, but the affairs of that department were in the hands of a +board of commissioners,--this same Samuel Osgood, together with Walter +Livingston and Arthur Lee. To all these officials Washington now applied +for a written account of "the real situation" of their departments. + +Several months elapsed before he was in a position to make new +arrangements. The salary bill was approved September 2, 1789, and on the +same day Washington commissioned Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury,-- +the first of the new appointments, although in the creative enactments the +Treasury Department came last. Next came Henry Knox, Secretary of War and +of the Navy, on September 12; Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State; and +Edmund Randolph, Attorney-General, on September 26, on which date Osgood +was also appointed. What may be said to be Washington's Cabinet was thus +established, but the term itself did not come into use until 1793. At the +outset no more was decided than that the new government should have +executive departments, and in superficial appearance these were much like +those of the old government. The Constitution made no distinct provision +for a cabinet, and the only clause referring to the subject is the +provision authorizing the President to "require the opinion, in writing, +of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any +subject relating to the duties of their respective offices." This +provision does not contemplate a body that should be consultative by its +normal character. The prevailing opinion at the time the Constitution was +framed was that the consultative function would be exercised by the +Senate, which together with the President would form the Administration. +Upon this ground, Mason of Virginia refused to sign the report of the +constitutional convention. It was owing to practical experience and not to +the language of the Constitution that the President was soon repelled from +using the Senate as his privy council and was thrown back upon the aid of +the heads of the executive departments, who were thus drawn close to him +as his Cabinet.[Footnote: In this formative process the Postmaster-General +was left outside in Washington's time, since his functions were purely of +a business nature, not directly affected by the issues on which Washington +desired advice. The Postmaster-General did not become a member of the +Cabinet until 1829.] + +The inchoate character of the Cabinet for a considerable period explains +what might otherwise seem to be an anomaly,--the delay of Jefferson in +occupying his post. He did not arrive until March 21, 1790, when +Washington had been in office nearly a year. But this situation occasioned +no remark. The notion that the heads of the departments formed a cabinet, +taking office with the President and reflecting his personal choice as his +advisers, was not developed until long after Washington's administration, +although the Cabinet itself, as a distinct feature of the system of +government, dates from his first term. The importance which the Cabinet +soon acquired is evidence that, even under a written constitution, +institutions owe more to circumstances than to intentions. The +Constitution of the United States is no exception to the rule that the +true constitution of a country is the actual distribution of power, +written provisions being efficacious only in the way and to the extent +that they affect such distribution in practice. Hence results may differ +widely from the expectations with which those provisions are introduced. A +constitution is essentially a growth and never merely a contrivance. + + + +CHAPTER II + + +GREAT DECISIONS + +While Washington was bearing with military fortitude the rigors and +annoyances of the imitation court in which he was confined, Congress +reached decisions that had a vast effect in determining the actual +character of the government. The first business in order of course was the +raising of revenue, for the treasury was empty, and payments of interest +due on the French and Spanish loans were years behind. Madison attacked +this problem before Washington arrived in New York to take the oath of +office. On April 8 he introduced in the House a resolution which aimed +only at giving immediate effect to a scheme of duties and imposts that had +been approved generally by the States in 1783. On the very next day debate +upon this resolution began in the committee of the whole, for there was +then no system of standing committees to intervene between the House and +its business. The debate soon broadened out far beyond the lines of the +original scheme, and in it the student finds lucidly presented the issues +of public policy that have accompanied tariff debates ever since. + +Madison laid down the general principle that "commerce ought to be free, +and labor and industry left at large to find its proper object," but +suggested that it would be unwise to apply this principle without regard +to particular circumstances. "Although interest will, in general, operate +effectually to produce political good, yet there are causes in which +certain factitious circumstances may divert it from its natural channel, +or throw or retain it in an artificial one." In language which now +reads like prophecy he referred to cases "where cities, companies, or +opulent individuals engross the business from others, by having had an +uninterrupted possession of it, or by the extent of their capitals being +able to destroy a competition." The same situation could occur between +nations, and had to be considered. There was some truth, he also thought, +in the opinion "that each nation should have within itself the means of +defense, independent of foreign supplies," but he considered that this +argument had been urged beyond reason, as "there is good reason to believe +that, when it becomes necessary, we may obtain supplies abroad as readily +as any other nation whatsoever." He instanced as a cogent reason in favor +of protective duties that, as the States had formerly the power of making +regulations of trade to cherish their domestic interests, it must be +presumed that, when they put the exercise of this power into other hands +by adopting the Constitution, "they must have done this with the +expectation that those interests would not be neglected" by Congress. + +Actuated by such views, and doubtless also influenced by the great need +for revenue, Madison was on the whole favorable to amendments extending +the list of dutiable articles. Though there were conflicts between members +from manufacturing districts and those from agricultural constituencies, +and though the salt protectionists of New York had some difficulty in +carrying their point, the contention did not follow sectional lines. Coal +was added to the list on the motion of a member from Virginia. The duties +levied were, however, very moderate, ranging from five to twelve and +one-half per cent, with an exception in the case of one article that might +be considered a luxury. + +The bill as it passed the House discriminated in favor of nations with +which the United States had commercial treaties. That is to say, it +favored France and Holland as against Great Britain, which had the bulk of +America's foreign trade. Though Madison insisted on this provision and was +supported by a large majority of the House, the Senate would not agree to +it. During the early sessions of Congress the Senate met behind closed +doors, a practice which it did not abandon until five years later. From +the accounts of the discussion preserved in Maclay's diary it appears that +there was much wrangling. Maclay relates that on one occasion when +Pennsylvania's demands were sharply attacked, his colleague, Robert +Morris, was so incensed that Maclay "could see his nostrils widen and his +nose flatten like the head of a viper." Pierce Butler of South Carolina +"flamed away and threatened a dissolution of the Union, with regard to his +State, as sure as God was in the firmament." Thus began a line of argument +that was frequently pursued thereafter until it was ended by wager of +battle. On several occasions the division was so close that Vice-President +Adams gave the casting vote. Although there was much railing in the Senate +against imposts as a burden to the agricultural sections, yet some who +opposed duties in the abstract thought of particulars that ought not to be +neglected if the principle of protection were admitted. Duties on hemp and +cotton therefore found their way into the bill through amendments voted by +the Senate. Adjustment of the differences between the two houses was +hindered by the resentment of the House at the removal of the treaty +discrimination feature, but the Senate with characteristic address evaded +the issue by promising to deal with it as a separate measure and ended by +thwarting the House on that point. + +On the whole, in view of the sharp differences of opinion, the action +taken on the tariff was remarkably expeditious. The bill, which passed the +House on May 16, was passed by the Senate on June 2, and although delay +now ensued because of the conflict over the discrimination issue, the bill +became law by the President's approval on July 4. This prompt conclusion +in spite of closely-balanced factions becomes more intelligible when it is +observed that the rules of the Senate then provided that, "in case of a +debate becoming tedious, four Senators may call for the question." +Brief as was the period of consideration as compared with the practice +since that day, Maclay noted indignantly that the merchants had "already +added the amount of the duties to the price of their goods" so that a +burden fell upon the consumers without advantage to the Treasury. Such +consequence is evidence of defect in procedure which the experience of +other nations has led them to correct, but which has continued to increase +in the United States until it has attained monstrous proportions. Under +the English budget system new imposts now take effect as soon as they are +proposed by the government, the contingency of alteration in the course of +enactment being provided for by return of payments made in error. The +general tendency of civilized government is now strongly in favor of +attaching the process of deliberation upon financial measures to the +period of their administrative incubation, and of shortening the period of +formal legislative consideration. + +One of the tasks of Congress in its first session was to draught +amendments to the Constitution. The reasons for such action were stated by +Madison to be a desire to propitiate those who desired a bill of rights, +and an effort to secure acceptance of the Constitution in Rhode Island and +North Carolina. Promises had been made, in the course of the struggle for +adoption, that this matter would be taken up, and there was a general +willingness to proceed with it. Under the leadership of Madison, the House +adopted seventeen amendments, which were reduced by the Senate to twelve. +Of these, ten were eventually ratified and formed what is commonly known +as the Bill of Rights. + +Apart from this matter, the session, which lasted until September 29, was +almost wholly occupied with measures to organize the new government. To +understand the significance of the action taken, it should be remembered +that the passions excited by the struggle over the new Constitution were +still turbulent. Fisher Ames of Massachusetts, a member without previous +national experience, who watched the proceedings with keen observation, +early noticed the presence of a group of objectors whose motives he +regarded as partly factious and partly temperamental. Writing to a friend +about the character of the House, he remarked: "Three sorts of people are +often troublesome: the anti-federals, who alone are weak and some of them +well disposed; the dupes of local prejudices, who fear eastern influence, +monopolies, and navigation acts; and lastly the violent republicans, as +they think fit to style themselves, who are new lights in politics, who +are more solicitous to establish, or rather to expatiate upon, some +sounding principle of republicanism, than to protect property, cement the +union, and perpetuate liberty." The spirit of opposition had from the +first an experienced leader in Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts. He had +seen many years of service in the Continental Congress which he first +entered in 1776. He was a delegate to the Philadelphia convention, in +whose sessions he showed a contentious temper, and in the end refused to +subscribe to the new Constitution. In the convention debates he had +strongly declared himself "against letting the heads of the departments, +particularly of finance, have anything to do with business connected with +legislation." Defeated in the convention, Gerry was now bent upon making +his ideas prevail in the organization of the government. + +On May 19, the matter of the executive departments was brought up in +committee of the whole by Boudinot of New Jersey. At this time it was the +practice of Congress to take up matters first in committee of the whole, +and, after general conclusions had been reached, to appoint a committee to +prepare and bring in a bill. A warm discussion ensued on the question +whether the heads of the departments should be removable by the President. +Gerry, who did not take a prominent part in the debate, spoke with a +mildness that was in marked contrast with the excitement shown by some of +the speakers. He was in favor of supporting the President to the utmost +and of making him as responsible as possible, but since Congress had +obviously no right to confer a power not authorized by the Constitution, +and since the Constitution had conditioned appointments on the consent of +the Senate, it followed that removals must be subject to the same +condition. He spoke briefly and only once, although the debate became long +and impassioned. But he was merely reserving his fire, as subsequent +developments soon showed. Without a call for the ayes and nays, the +question was decided in favor of declaring the power of removal to be in +the President. The committee then proceeded to the consideration of the +Treasury Department. Gerry at once made a plea for delay. "He thought they +were hurrying on business too rapidly. Gentlemen had already committed +themselves on one very important point." He "knew nothing of the system +which gentlemen proposed to adopt in arranging the Treasury Department," +but the fact was worth considering that "the late Congress had, on long +experience, thought proper to organize the Treasury Department, in a mode +different from that now proposed." He "would be glad to know what the +reasons were that would induce the committee to adopt a different system +from that which had been found most beneficial to the United States." + +What Gerry had in view was the retention of the then existing system of +Treasury management by a Board of Commissioners. In 1781 the Continental +Congress had been forced to let the Treasury pass out of its own hands +into those of a Superintendent of Finance, through sheer inability to get +any funds unless the change was made. Robert Morris, who held the +position, had resigned in January, 1783, because of the behavior of +Congress, but the attitude of the army had become so menacing that he was +implored to remain in office and attend to the arrears of military pay. He +had managed to effect a settlement, and at length retired from office on +November 1, 1784. Congress then put the Treasury in the hands of three +commissioners appointed and supervised by it. Gerry was now striving to +continue this arrangement with as little change as possible. + +When debate was resumed the next day, Gerry made a long, smooth speech on +the many superior advantages of the Board system. The extent and variety +of the functions of the office would be a trial to any one man's +integrity. "Admit these innumerable opportunities for defrauding the +revenue, without check or control, and it is next to impossible he should +remain unsullied in reputation, or innoxious with respect to misapplying +his trust." The situation would be "Very disagreeable to the person +appointed, provided he is an honest, upright man; it will be disagreeable +also to the people of the Union, who will always have reason to suspect" +misconduct. "We have had a Board of Treasury and we have had a Financier. +Have not express charges, as well as vague rumors, been brought against +him at the bar of the public? They may be unfounded, it is true; but it +shows that a man cannot serve in such a station without exciting popular +clamor. It is very well known, I dare say, to many gentlemen in this +House, that the noise and commotion were such as obliged Congress once +more to alter their Treasury Department, and place it under the management +of a Board of Commissioners." He descanted upon the perils to liberty +involved in the course they were pursuing. Surround the President with +Ministers of State and "the President will be induced to place more +confidence in them than in the Senate.... An oligarchy will be confirmed +upon the ruin of the democracy; a government most hateful will descend to +our posterity and all our exertions in the glorious cause of freedom will +be frustrated." + +Gerry's speech as a whole was tactful and persuasive, but he made a +blunder when he appealed to the recollections of the old members, men who +had been in the Continental Congress, or else in some position where they +could view its springs of action. Their recollections now came forward to +his discomfiture. "My official duty," said Wadsworth of Connecticut, "has +led me often to attend at the Treasury of the United States, and, from my +experience, I venture to pronounce that a Board of Treasury is the worst +of all institutions. They have doubled our national debt." He contrasted +the order and clearness of accounts while the Superintendent of Finance +was in charge with the situation since then. If the committee had before +them the transactions of the Treasury Board, "instead of system and +responsibility they would find nothing but confusion and disorder, without +a possibility of checking their accounts." Boudinot of New Jersey said he +"would state a circumstance which might give the committee some small idea +of what the savings under the Superintendent were. The expenditure of hay +at a certain post was one hundred and forty tons; such was the estimate +laid before him; yet twelve tons carried the post through the year, and +the supply was abundant, and the post was as fully and usefully occupied +as it had ever been before." Of course there was an outcry against the +Superintendent of Finance; "he rather wondered that the clamor was not +more loud and tremendous." He remembered that "one hundred and forty-six +supernumerary officers were brushed off in one day, who had long been +sucking the vital blood and spirit of the nation. Was it to be wondered +at, if this swarm should raise a buzz about him?" Gerry fought on almost +singlehanded, but he could not refute the evidence that he had invited. He +lost his temper and resorted to sarcasm. If a single head of the Treasury +was so desirable, why not "have a single legislator; one man to make all +the laws, the revenue laws particularly, because among many there is less +responsibility, system, and energy; consequently a numerous representation +in this House is an odious institution." + +The case for the Treasury Board was so hopeless that nothing more was +heard of it; but the battle over the removal question was renewed with +added violence, when the bill for establishing the Department of Foreign +Affairs came up for consideration. White of Virginia now led the attack. +He had been a member of the Continental Congress from 1786 to 1788, and a +member of the ratifying convention of his State. Although he voted for +a provisional acceptance of the Constitution, he had supported an +amendment requiring Congress to collect direct taxes or excises through +State agency, which would have been in effect a return to the plan of +requisitions--the bane of the Confederation. In an elaborate speech he +attacked the clause giving the President power to remove from office, as +an attempt to impart an authority not conferred by the Constitution, and +inconsistent with the requirement that appointments should be made with +the advice and consent of the Senate. The debate soon became heated. "Let +us look around at this moment," said Jackson of Georgia, "and see the +progress we are making toward venality and corruption. We already hear the +sounding title of _Highness_ and _Most Honorable_ trumpeted in our ears, +which, ten years since, would have exalted a man to a station as high as +Haman's gibbet." Page of Virginia was ablaze with indignation. "Good God!" +he exclaimed. "What, authorize in a free republic, by law, too, by your +first act, the exertion of a dangerous royal prerogative in your Chief +Magistrate!" Gerry, in remarks whose oblique criticism upon arrangements +at the President's house was perfectly well understood, dwelt upon the +possibility that the President might be guided by some other criterion +than discharge of duty as the law directs. "Perhaps the officer is not +good natured enough; he makes an ungraceful bow, or does it left leg +foremost; this is unbecoming in a great officer at the President's levee. +Now, because he is so unfortunate as not to be so good a dancer as he is a +worthy officer, he must be removed." These rhetorical flourishes, which +are significant of the undercurrent of sentiment, hardly do justice to the +general quality of the debate which was marked by legal acuteness on both +sides. Madison pressed home the sensible argument that the President could +not be held to responsibility unless he could control his subordinates. +"And if it should happen that the officers connect themselves with the +Senate, they may mutually support each other, and for want of efficacy +reduce the power of the President to a mere vapor; in which case, his +responsibility would be annihilated and the expectation of it unjust." + +The debate lasted for several days, but Madison won by a vote of 34 to 20 +in committee, in favor of retaining the clause. On second thought, +however, and probably after consultation with the little group of +constructive statesmen who stood behind the scenes, he decided that it +might be dangerous to allow the President's power of removal to rest upon +a legislative grant that might be revoked. When the report from the +committee of the whole was taken up in the House, a few days later, Benson +of New York proposed that the disputed clause should be omitted and the +language of the bill should be worded so as to imply that the power of +removal was in the President. Madison accepted the suggestion, and the +matter was thus settled. The point was covered by providing that the chief +clerk of the Department should take charge "whenever the principal officer +shall be removed from office by the President." The clause got through the +Senate by the casting vote of the Vice-President, and a similar provision +was inserted, without further contest, in all the acts creating the +executive departments. It is rather striking evidence of the Utopian +expectations which could then be indulged that Daniel Carroll of Maryland +was persistent in urging that the existence of the office should be +limited to a few years, "under a hope that a time would come when the +United States would be disengaged from the necessity of supporting a +Secretary of Foreign Affairs." Although Gerry and others expressed +sympathy with the motion it was voted down without a division. + +When the bill establishing the Treasury Department was taken up, Page of +Virginia made a violent attack upon the clause authorizing the Secretary +to "digest and report plans." He denounced it as "an attempt to create an +undue influence" in the House. "Nor would the mischief stop here; it would +establish a precedent which might be extended until we admitted all the +Ministers of the government on the floor, to explain and support the plans +they have digested and reported; thus laying the foundation for an +aristocracy or a detestable monarchy." As a matter of fact, a precedent in +favor of access to Congress already existed. The old Superintendent of +Finance and the Board which succeeded him had the power now proposed for +the Secretary of the Treasury. Livermore of New Hampshire, who had been a +member of the Continental Congress, admitted this fact, but held that such +power was not dangerous at that time since Congress then possessed both +legislative and executive authority. They could abolish his plans and his +office together, if they thought proper; "but we are restrained by a +Senate and by the negative of the President," Gerry declared his assent to +the views expressed by Page. "If the doctrine of having prime and great +ministers of state was once well established, he did not doubt but that we +should soon see them distinguished by a green or red ribbon, or other +insignia of court favor and patronage." + +The strongest argument in favor of retaining the clause referred to was +made by Fisher Ames, who had begun to display the powers of clear +statement and of convincing argument that soon established his supremacy +in debate. He brought the debate at once to its proper bearings by +pointing out that there were really only two matters to be considered: +whether the proposed arrangement was useful, and whether it could be +safely guarded from abuse. "The Secretary is presumed to acquire the best +knowledge of the subject of finance of any member of the community. Now, +if this House is to act on the best knowledge of circumstances, it seems +to follow logically that the House must obtain the evidence from that +officer: the best way of doing this will be publicly from the officer +himself, by making it his duty to furnish us with it." In one of those +eloquent passages which brighten the records of debate whenever Ames spoke +at any length, he pictured the difficulties that had to be surmounted. "If +we consider the present situation of our finances, owing to a variety of +causes, we shall no doubt perceive a great, although unavoidable confusion +throughout the whole scene; it presents to the imagination a deep, dark, +and dreary chaos; impossible to be reduced to order without the mind of +the architect is clear and capacious, and his power commensurate to the +occasion." He asked, "What improper influence could a plan reported openly +and officially have on the mind of any member, more than if the scheme and +information were given privately at the Secretary's office?" Merely to +call for information would not be advantageous to the House. "It will be +no mark of inattention or neglect, if he take time to consider the +questions you propound; but if you make it his duty to furnish you plans +... and he neglect to perform it, his conduct or capacity is virtually +impeached. This will be furnishing an additional check." + +Sedgwick of Massachusetts made a strong speech to the same effect. "Make +your officer responsible," he said with prophetic vision, "and the +presumption is, that plans and information are properly digested; but if +he can secrete himself behind the curtain, he might create a noxious +influence, and not be answerable for the information he gives." + +The weight of the argument was heavily on the side of the supporters of +the clause, and it looked as though the group of objectors would again be +beaten. But now a curious thing happened. Fitzsimmons remarked that, if he +understood the objection made to the clause, "it was a jealousy arising +from the power given the Secretary to report plans of revenue to the +House." He suggested that "harmony might be restored by changing the word +'report' into 'prepare'." Fitzsimmons was esteemed by the House because of +his zealous support of the War of Independence and also because he stood +high as a successful Philadelphia merchant, but he did not, however, rank +as a leader. Early in the session Ames described him as a man who "is +supposed to understand trade, and he assumes some weight in such matters. +He is plausible, though not over civil; is artful, has a glaring eye, a +down look, speaks low, and with apparent candor and coolness." He was +hardly the man to guide the House on a matter pertaining to the +organization of public authority. + +While the removal issue was before the House, Madison had been prominent +in debate, and had spoken with great power and earnestness; but up to this +time he had said nothing on the issue now pending. He now remarked that he +did not believe that the danger apprehended by some really existed, but +twice in his speech he admitted that "there is a small possibility, +though it is but small, that an officer may derive a weight from this +circumstance, and have some degree of influence upon the deliberations of +the legislature." In its practical effect the speech favored the +compromise which Fitzsimmons had just proposed; in fact, the only +opposition to the change of phrasing now came from a few extremists who +still clamored for the omission of the entire clause. The decisive effect +of Madison's intervention was a natural consequence of the leadership he +had held in the movement for the new Constitution and of his standing +as the representative of the new Administration, of his possessing +Washington's confidence and acting as his adviser. Washington, then being +without a cabinet, had turned to Madison for help in discharging the +duties of his office, and at Washington's written request Madison had +drafted for him his replies to the addresses of the House and the Senate +at the opening of the session. It was a matter of course in such +circumstances that the House accepted Fitzsimmons' amendment,--"by a great +majority," according to the record,--and thus the Secretary of the +Treasury was shut out of the House and was condemned to work in the lobby. + +The consequences of this decision have been so vast that it is worth while +making an inquiry into motive, although the materials upon which judgment +must rest are scant. No one can read the record of this discussion without +noting that Madison's approval of the original clause was lukewarm as +compared with the ardor he had shown when the question was whether +Washington should be allowed to remove his subordinates. This contrast +suggests that Madison's behavior was affected by fear of Hamilton's +influence. Would it be prudent for him to give Hamilton the advantage of +being able to appear in person before the House, and probably to supplant +Madison himself as the spokesman of the Administration? Divergence between +the two men had already begun in details. At the time the vote on the +powers of the Secretary of the Treasury was taken, the tariff bill and the +tonnage bill were still pending, and Hamilton's influence operated against +Madison's views on some points. Moreover, the question of the permanent +residence of the federal government was coming forward and was apparently +overshadowing everything else in the minds of members. Ames several +times in his correspondence at this period remarks upon Madison's +timidity, which was due to his concern about Virginia State politics. Any +arrangement that might enable Hamilton to cross swords with an opponent on +the floor of the House could not be attractive to Madison, who was a lucid +reasoner but not an impressive speaker. Hamilton was both of these, and he +possessed an intellectual brilliancy which Madison lacked. Ames, who +respected Madison's abilities and who regarded him as the leading member +of the House, wrote that "he speaks low, his person is little and +ordinary; he speaks decently as to manner, and no more; his language is +very pure, perspicuous, and to the point." Why Fitzsimmons should be +opposed to the appearance of the Secretary in person in the House, as had +been Robert Morris's practice when he was Superintendent of Finance, is +plain enough. Maclay's diary has many references to Fitzsimmons's +negotiations with members on tariff rates. It was not to the advantage of +private diplomacy to allow the Secretary to shape and define issues on the +floor of the House. But Fitzsimmons could not have had his way about the +matter without Madison's help. + +Gibbon remarks that the greatest of theological controversies which racked +the Roman Empire and affected the peace of millions turned on the question +whether a certain word should be spelled with one diphthong or another. A +like disproportion between the vastness of results and the minuteness of +verbal distinction is exhibited in this decision by the House. The change +of "report" into "prepare" threw up a ridge in the field of constitutional +development that has affected the trend of American politics ever since. +This is the explanation of a problem of comparative politics that has +often excited much wondering notice: why it is that alone among modern +representative assemblies the American House of Representatives tends to +decline in prestige and authority. The original expectation was that the +House of Representatives would take a dominant position like that of the +House of Commons, but its degradation began so soon that Fisher Ames noted +it as early as 1797. Writing to Hamilton he observed: + +"The heads of departments are chief clerks. Instead of being the ministry, +the organs of the executive power, and imparting a kind of momentum to the +operation of the laws, they are precluded even from communicating with the +House by reports.... Committees already are the Ministers and while the +House indulges a jealousy of encroachment in its functions, which are +properly deliberative, it does not perceive that these are impaired and +nullified by the monopoly as well as the perversion of information by +these committees." + +Justice Story, who entered Congress in 1808 as a Jeffersonian Republican, +noted the process of degradation, and in his _Commentaries_ he pointed out +the cause: "The Executive is compelled to resort to secret and unseen +influences, to private interviews and private arrangements to accomplish +its own appropriate purposes, instead of proposing and sustaining its own +duties and measures by a bold and manly appeal to the nation in the face +of its representatives." + +The last of the organic acts of the session was the one establishing the +judiciary. The student will be disappointed if he examines the record to +note whether there was any vision of the ascendancy which the judiciary +was to obtain in the development of the American constitutional system. +The debates were almost wholly about the possibilities of conflict between +the state and the federal courts. Although Maclay's diary gives a +one-sided and distorted account of the proceedings in the Senate, the +course of the debate is clear. Ellsworth of Connecticut had principal +charge of the bill. At the outset Lee and Grayson of Virginia made an +ineffectual effort to confine the original jurisdiction of the federal +courts to cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, and argued that +jurisdiction over other cases involving federal law might be conferred +upon state courts. This was a point on which there had been some +difference of opinion between Hamilton and Madison. The former held that +it was within the competency of Congress, when instituting tribunals +inferior to the Supreme Court, to adopt the state courts for that purpose. +Madison held that nothing less than a system of federal courts quite +distinct from the state courts would satisfy the requirements of the +Constitution. When the bill was taken up in the House, there was a long +debate over this matter. The costly duplication of judicial establishments +that has ever since existed in the United States is certainly not +necessary to a federal system, but is an American peculiarity. The +advocates of a unified system were hampered by the fact that this view was +pressed by some in a spirit of hostility to the Constitution. The decisive +argument was the untrustworthiness of the state courts. Madison urged this +fact with great force and pointed out that in some of the States the +courts "are so dependent on the state legislatures, that to make the +federal laws dependent on them, would throw us back into all the +embarrassments which characterized our former situation." Such was the low +repute of the state legislatures that the only way in which this argument +could be met was to argue that "Congress shall have power, in its fullest +extent, to correct, reverse, or affirm, any decree of a state court." This +high assertion of federal authority was made by Jackson of Georgia in the +course of a long legal argument. The debate did not follow sectional +lines, and in general it was not unfairly described by Maclay as a +lawyer's wrangle. The bill was put into shape by the Senate, and reached +the House toward the close of the session when the struggle over the site +of the national capital was overshadowing everything else. It was so +generally believed that nothing important could be gained by attempts at +amendment that, after an airing of opinions, the House accepted the +measure just as it had come from the Senate. + + + +CHAPTER III + + +THE MASTER BUILDER + +The subject of national finance had long interested Hamilton. His ideas +had been matured by a diligent and minute study of English precedents, and +now that his opportunity had come he was ready to grasp it. Soon after he +took office, the House resolved that "an adequate provision for the +support of the public credit" should be made, and it directed the +Secretary of the Treasury "to prepare a plan for that purpose and to +report the same to the House at its next meeting." This was, in effect, a +postponement until the second session of the First Congress, which began +in January, 1790. In his opening address to Congress, Washington pointedly +referred to the public credit resolution which he had noted "with peculiar +pleasure." On the next day a letter from Hamilton was read in the House +stating that he had prepared his plan and was ready to report the same to +the House when they should be pleased to receive it. + +This announcement brought up anew the question in what manner the +Secretary should make his report. Gerry was on his feet at once with a +motion that it should be made in writing. Boudinot "hoped that the +Secretary of the Treasury might be permitted to make his report in person +in order to answer such inquiries as the members might be disposed to +make, for it was a justifiable surmise that gentlemen would not be able +clearly to comprehend so intricate a subject without oral illustration." +The allusion to the intricacy of the subject had the effect of turning +against the plan of oral communication some who had favored giving the +Secretary the same direct access to Congress that the Superintendent of +Finance had formerly enjoyed. Ames, for instance, now desired that the +Secretary's communications should be in writing since "in this shape they +would obtain a degree of permanency favorable to the responsibility of the +officer, while, at the same time, they would be less liable to be +misunderstood." Benson suggested that since the resolution of Congress had +directed the Secretary to make a report, it was left to his discretion to +"make it in the manner for which he is prepared." Gerry adroitly countered +by saying that the resolution provided for a report. That done, it would +be time enough "to give him the right to lay before them his explanations, +if he thinks explanations necessary." The debate was brief and one-sided; +the motion for receiving the report in writing was adopted without a +division. Five days later the written report was laid before the House, +but the Secretary was never accorded an opportunity to offer any personal +explanations. + +This masterly report, which is justly regarded as the corner-stone of +American public credit, excites the admiration of the reader by the +clearness of its analysis, the cogency of its argument, and the broad +range of its vision. The principles of action that it embodied, however, +were few and simple, chief among them being exact and punctual fulfillment +of contract. "States, like individuals, who observe their engagements, are +respected and trusted; while the reverse is the fate of those who pursue +an opposite conduct." To discharge the principal of the public debt was of +course impracticable; nor was it desirable, as the creditors would be well +pleased to leave it at interest. Incidentally the funding of the debt +would provide securities that would serve trade as a species of currency, +and would set in motion a long train of benefits that would extend +throughout the community. In the funding operation the debts contracted by +the States should be included. As to this Hamilton remarked: "The general +principle of it seems to be equitable, for it seems difficult to conceive +a good reason why the expenses for the particular defense of a part in a +common war should not be a common charge, as well as those incurred +professedly for the general defense. The defense of each part is that of +the whole; and unless the expenditures are brought into a common mass, the +tendency must be to add to the calamities suffered by being the most +exposed to the ravages of war and increase of burthens." + +Hamilton computed the amount of the foreign debt, principal and arrears, +at $11,710,378.62; the domestic debt, including that of the States, at +$42,414,085.94,--a total of over fifty-four millions with an annual +interest charge at existing rates amounting to $4,587,444.81,--a +staggering total for a nation whose revenue was then insufficient to meet +its current expenses. Nevertheless Hamilton refused to admit that "such a +provision would exceed the abilities of the country," but he was "clearly +of the opinion that to make it would require the extension of taxation to +a degree and to objects which the true interest of the public creditor +forbids." He therefore favored a composition, in arranging which there +would be strict adherence to the principle "that no change in the rights +of creditors ought to be attempted without their voluntary consent; and +that this consent ought to be voluntary in fact as well as in name." It +followed that "every proposal of a change ought to be in the shape of an +appeal to their interests; but not to their necessities." Hamilton then +went into details of a funding loan, in which various options were offered +to the creditors, including land grants in part payment, and conversion in +whole or in part into annuities, several sorts of which were offered. He +submitted estimates of how the various plans would work out in practice, +and he concluded that the annual revenue which would be required to enable +the government to meet its obligations under the scheme and also to +maintain its current service would amount to $2,239,163.09, a sum that +could be readily provided. + +There could not have been a more striking contrast than there was between +the humiliating conditions which actually existed and the grand results +which Hamilton designed and confidently expected. The ardent and hopeful +tone of his plan, conceived in apparently desperate circumstances, is very +marked. He declared: "It cannot but merit particular attention that among +ourselves the most enlightened friends of good government are those whose +expectations are the highest. To justify and preserve their confidence; to +promote the increasing respectability of the American name; to answer the +calls of justice; to restore landed property to its due value; to furnish +new resources both to agriculture and commerce; to cement more closely the +union of the States; to add to their security against foreign attack; to +establish public order on the basis of a liberal and upright policy--these +are the great and invaluable ends to be secured by a proper and adequate +provision at the present period for the support of public credit." + +All these great objects were indeed attained, but Hamilton's anticipation +of them was at the time regarded as either a pretext made to cajole +Congress or else merely an ebullition from his own sanguine nature not to +be taken too seriously by sensible people. Senator Maclay of Pennsylvania +regarded Hamilton's plans as wildly extravagant in their conception and +iniquitous in their practical effect. In his opinion, Hamilton had "a very +boyish, giddy manner, and Scotch-Irish people could well call him a +'skite.'" Jackson of Georgia exposed to the House the folly of Hamilton's +proposals by pointing out that a funded debt meant national decay. He +mentioned England as "a melancholy instance of the ruin attending such +engagements." To such a pitch had the "spirit of funding and borrowing +been carried in that country" that its national debt was now "a burthen +which the most sanguine mind can never contemplate they will ever be +relieved from." France also was "considerably enfeebled and languishes +under a heavy load of debt." He argued that by funding the debt in America +"the same effect must be produced that has taken place in other nations; +it must either bring on national bankruptcy, or annihilate her existence +as an independent empire." + +Such dismal prognostications on the very eve of the Napoleonic era, with +its tremendous revelations of national power, were quite common at that +time. The long rambling debate that took place in the House when +Hamilton's report was taken up for consideration abounds with similar +instances of shortsightedness. Many members did not scruple to advise +repudiation, in whole or in part. Livermore of New Hampshire admitted that +the foreign debt should be provided for, since it was "lent to the United +States in real coin, by disinterested persons, not concerned or benefited +by the revolution," but that the domestic debt was "for depreciated paper, +or services done at exorbitant rates, or for goods or provisions supplied +at more than their real worth, by those who received all the benefits +arising from our change of condition." True, Congress had pledged its +faith to the redemption of issues at their face value, "but this was done +on a principle of policy, in order to prevent the rapid depreciation which +was taking place." He argued that "money lent in this depreciated and +depreciating state can hardly be said to be lent from a spirit of +patriotism; it was a mere speculation in public securities." + +The distinction between the foreign debt and the domestic was seized by +many members as providing a just basis for discrimination. Page of +Virginia observed that "our citizens were deeply interested, and, I +believe, if they were never to get a farthing for what is owing to them +for their services, they would be well paid; they have gained what they +aimed at; they have secured their liberties and their laws; they will be +satisfied that this House has pledged itself to pay foreigners the +generous loans they advanced to us in the day of distress." In the course +of the debate the power to do was so often mentioned as implying the right +to do that Ames was moved to remark: "I have heard that in the East Indies +the stock of the labor and the property of the empire is the property of +the Prince; that it is held at his will and pleasure; but this is a +slavish doctrine, which I hope we are not prepared to adopt here." As a +matter of fact, there had already been extensive scaling of the debt, and +the note emissions had been pretty nearly wiped out. To save the public +credit from complete collapse, the Continental Congress had entered into +definite contracts under the most solemn pledges, and it was upon this +select class of securities that it was now proposed to start anew the +process of repudiation. But public opinion displayed itself so hostile to +such perfidy that the party of repudiation in Congress soon dwindled to +insignificance and the struggle finally settled upon two issues, +discrimination and assumption. + +Weeks of debate ensued, and the deepest impression made by a careful +perusal of the record is the inability of members to appreciate the +importance of the issues. Much of the tedious and pointless character of +their speeches may be ascribed to the lack of the personal presence of the +Secretary. There being nothing to focus the debate and exclude the +fictitious and irrelevant, it rambled in any direction a speaker's +fancy might suggest. Moreover, its quality was impaired because any +consideration of motive was of the nature of talking about a man behind +his back and this, everyone knows, is very different from saying things to +his face. Assertions and innuendos which would hardly have been hazarded +had Hamilton been present, or which, had they been made, would have been +forthwith met and refuted, were indulged in without restraint. Although +one of the reasons given for requiring a written report was that the House +would be the better informed, the debate does not indicate that the +arguments by which Hamilton had vindicated his proposals had really been +apprehended. + +The question whether or not any discrimination could be made between +original holders of the public securities and those who had acquired them +by purchase was considered at length by Hamilton in his report. The public +securities had been at such a heavy discount that now, if they were to be +met at face value, speculators would reap large profits. Hamilton put the +case of the opposition as strongly as possible. It might be urged that it +was unreasonable "to pay twenty shillings in the pound to one who had not +given more for it than three or four; and it is added that it would be +hard to aggravate the misfortune of the first owner, who, probably through +necessity, parted with, his property at so great a loss, by obliging him +to contribute to the profit of the person who had speculated on his +distresses." Nevertheless, Hamilton submitted considerations showing that +discrimination would be "equally unjust and impolitic, as highly injurious +even to the original holders of public securities, as ruinous to public +credit." It is unnecessary to repeat the lucid argument by which Hamilton +demonstrated the soundness of his position, for security of transfer is +now well understood to be an essential element of public credit; but the +special point of interest is that the debate simply ignored Hamilton's +argument and rambled along over the superficial aspects of the case, +dwelling upon the sorrows of those who had parted with their holdings, and +exhibiting their situation as the most important matter to be considered. + +Madison was most active in making that branch of the case the leading +issue, and in a series of elaborate speeches which cannot now be read +without regret, he urged that the present holders should be allowed only +the highest market price previously recorded, and that the residue should +go to the original holders. Boudinot at once pointed out that there was +nothing on record to show who might be an original bona fide holder. Great +quantities of the certificates of indebtedness had, as a mere matter of +convenience, been issued to government clerks who afterwards distributed +them among those who furnished supplies to the government or who performed +services entitling them to pay. He mentioned that he himself appeared on +the record as original holder in cases wherein he had really acted in +behalf of his neighbors to relieve them of the trouble of personal +appearance. Madison's proposition would therefore invest him with a legal +title to property which really belonged to others. But this and other +evidence of the real effect of Madison's proposal failed to move him, +further than to cause him to declare that "all that he wished was that the +claims of the original holders, not less than those of the actual holders, +should be fairly examined and justly decided," Finally Benson of New York +gave him a shrewd home thrust that plainly embarrassed him. He put the +question whether, if he had purchased a certificate from Madison, and the +Treasury withheld part of the amount for Madison as the original holder, +Madison would keep the money? "I ask," said Benson, "whether he would take +advantage of the law against me, and refuse to give me authority to take +it up in his name?" Madison evaded the query by saying that everything +would depend upon the circumstances of any particular case, and that +circumstances were conceivable in which the most tender conscience need +not refrain from taking the benefit of what the government had determined. + +The debate on Madison's discrimination amendment lasted from the eleventh +to the twenty-second day of February--Washington's birthday. The House did +honor to the day when it rejected Madison's motion by the crushing vote of +36 to 13. With that, his pretensions to the leadership of the House quite +disappeared. + +The assumption of state debts was the subject of a debate in committee of +the whole which lasted from the twenty-third of February to the second of +March. New factional lines now revealed a supposed diversity of interest +of the several States. The false notions of finance then current were +illustrated by an argument that was in continual use, either on the floor +or in the lobby. Members would figure how much their States would have to +pay as their share of the debt that would be assumed, and on that basis +would reach conclusions as to how their States stood to win or lose by the +transaction. By this reckoning, of course, the great gainer would appear +to be the State upon whom the chances of war had piled the largest debt. +This calculation made Burke of South Carolina, usually an opponent of +anything coming from Hamilton, a strong advocate of assumption. He told +the House that "if the present question was lost, he was almost certain it +would end in her bankruptcy, for she [South Carolina] was no more able to +grapple with her enormous debt than a boy of twelve years of age is able +to grapple with a giant." Livermore, representing a State never within the +actual field of military operations, at once replied: "I conceive that the +debt of South Carolina, or Massachusetts, or of an individual, has nothing +to do with our deliberations. If they have involved themselves in debt, it +is their misfortune, and they must extricate themselves as well as they +can." On a later occasion Stone of Maryland, another State that lay +outside the track of war, gave the leading war-debt States an admonition +of the kind that adds insult to injury, saying "however inconvenient it +may be to Massachusetts or South Carolina to make a bold exertion, and +nobly bear the burthens of their present debt, I believe in the end it +would be found to conduce greatly to their advantage." Burke made a +crushing rejoinder. "Was Maryland like South Carolina constantly grappling +with the enemy during the whole war? There is not a road in the State but +has witnessed the ravages of war; plantations were destroyed, and the +skeletons of houses, to this day, point out to the traveler the route of +the British army; her citizens were exposed to every violence, their +capital taken, and their country almost overrun by the enemy; men, women, +and children murdered by the Indians and Tories; all the personal property +consumed, and now is it to be wondered at that she is not able to make +exertions equal with other States, who have been generally in an +undisturbed condition?" + +The argument pressed by the advocates of assumption was that the state +debts contracted during the Revolutionary War were for the common defense, +and that, unless these were assumed by the general government, the +adoption of the new Constitution would do injury by withdrawing revenue +resources which the States had formerly possessed. This position at the +present day seems reasonable enough, but it is certain that at that time +people worked themselves into a genuine rage over the matter and were able +to persuade themselves into a sincere belief that it was outrageous the +unfortunate States should expect the others to bear their troubles, and +that Hamilton was a great rogue for proposing such a scheme. Writing in +his private diary, Maclay characterized the plan as "a monument of +political absurdity," and he was in the habit of referring to Hamilton's +supporters as his "gladiators" and as a "corrupt squadron." + +On the whole the records make painful reading. The prevailing tone of +public life was one of dull and narrow provincialism, at times thickening +into stupidity, at times sharpening into spite, although ordinarily made +respectable by a serious attitude to life and by a stolid fortitude in +facing whatever the distracted times might present. It was the influence +of a few great men that made America a nation. If one is not subject to +the spirit of ancestor worship that has long ruled American history, one +is bound to say that--apart from some forceful pamphleteering of transient +purpose--the voluminous political literature of the formative period +displays much pedantic erudition but has little that goes really deep. The +_Federalist_, the artillery of a hard fought battle, is a striking +exception. So, too, is the series of reports by Hamilton. But his plans +could not prevail by force of reason against the general spirit of selfish +particularism. Although on March 2 a motion adverse to assumption in +committee of the whole was defeated by a vote of 28 to 22, it was then +known that a majority could not be procured for enactment, and on April 12 +the assumption bill was defeated outright in the House, 31 to 29. Maclay, +who went over to the House from the Senate to witness the event, gloated +over the defeat in his diary: + +"Sedgwick, from Boston, pronounced a funeral oration over it. He was +called to order; some confusion ensued; he took his hat and went out. When +he returned, his visage bore the visible marks of weeping. Fitzsimmons +reddened like scarlet; his eyes were brimful. Clymer's color, always pale, +now merged to a deadly white; his lips quivered, and his nether jaw shook +with convulsive motions; his head, neck, and breast contracted with +gesticulations resembling those of a turkey or goose nearly strangled in +the act of deglutition. Benson bungled like a shoemaker who has lost his +end.... Wadsworth hid his grief under the rim of a round hat. Boudinot's +wrinkles rose in ridges and the angles of his mouth were depressed and +assumed a curve resembling a horse's shoe." The defeat did not discourage +Hamilton. He had successfully handled a more difficult situation in +getting New York to ratify the Constitution, and, resorting now to the +same means he had then employed, he used pressure of interest to move +those who could not be stirred by reason. The intense concern felt by +members in the choice of the site of the national capital supplied him +with the leverage which he brought to bear on the situation. Most of the +members were more stirred by that question than by any other before +Congress. It was a prominent topic in Madison's correspondence from the +time the Constitution was adopted. Maclay's diary abounds with references +to the subject. Some of his bitterest sentences are penned about the +conduct of those who preferred some other site to that on the Susquehanna +River which he knew to be the best because he lived there himself. +Bargaining among the members as to the selection had been going on almost +from the first. As early as April 26, 1789, before Washington had been +installed in his office, Maclay mentions a meeting "to concert some +measures for the removal of Congress." Thereafter notices of pending deals +appear frequently in his diary. After the defeat of the assumption bill, +the diary notes the activity of Hamilton in this matter. An entry of June +14, 1790, ascribes to Robert Morris the statement that "Hamilton said he +wanted one vote in the Senate and five in the House of Representatives; +that he was willing and would agree to place the permanent residence of +Congress at Germantown or Falls of the Delaware (Trenton), if he would +procure him those votes." Although definite knowledge is unattainable, one +gets the impression, in following the devious course of these intrigues, +that had Pennsylvania interests been united they could have decided the +site of the national capital; but the delegation was divided over the +relative merits of the Delaware and the Susquehanna as well as on +the question of assumption. Hamilton's efforts in this quarter were +ineffectual, and the winning combination was finally arranged elsewhere +and otherwise by the aid of Jefferson. + +Thomas Jefferson was at this time forty-seven years old, and owing both to +seniority and to the distinguished positions he had held, he ranked as the +most illustrious member of the Administration. His correspondence at this +period shows that he was fully aware of the importance of the crisis, and +he did not overrate it when he wrote to James Monroe, June 20, 1790, that, +unless the measures of the Administration were successful, "our credit +will burst and vanish, and the States separate to take care everyone of +itself." In this letter Jefferson outlined the compromise that was +actually adopted by Congress. The strongest opposition to the assumption +bill had come from Virginia, although Maryland, Georgia, and New Hampshire +also opposed it, and the Middle States were divided. Jefferson was able to +get enough Southern votes to carry assumption in return for enough votes +from Hamilton's adherents to carry the Potomac site. An agreement was +reached at a dinner given by Jefferson to which he invited Hamilton and +Madison. According to this arrangement, the capital was to remain in +Philadelphia for ten years and after that to be on the Potomac River in a +district ten miles square to be selected by the President. The residence +act was approved July 16, 1790; the funding and assumption measures, now +combined in one bill, became law on August 4. + +After Jefferson turned against the Administration, his participation in +the passage of the assumption bill was such an awkward circumstance that +he discredited his own intelligence by professing that he "was most +ignorantly and innocently made to hold the candle" to Hamilton's "game." +In reality the public service Jefferson then performed was the most useful +in all his long and fruitful career. But for this action, the Declaration +of Independence, to the drafting of which he owes his greatest fame, might +now be figuring among the historical documents of lost causes, like +similar elaborate statements of principle made during the Commonwealth +period in England. Had the national forces failed at the critical period +of financial organization, and the States, bankrupt by the revolutionary +struggle, been left in the lurch, the republic would have followed the +usual course of disintegration displayed by federations from the time of +the Greek amphictyonies down to that of the Holy Roman Empire. + +The charge was made soon after Hamilton's victory that it was largely due +to the influence of speculators. The advance in the market value of +securities produced by Hamilton's measures certainly gave an opportunity +to speculators of which they availed themselves with the unscrupulous +activity characteristic of the sordid tribe. Jefferson has left an account +of "the base scramble." "Couriers and relay horses by land, and swift +sailing pilot boats by sea, were flying in all directions. Active partners +and agents were associated and employed in every state, town, and country +neighborhood, and this paper was bought up at five shillings, and even as +low as two shillings in the pound, before the holder knew that Congress +had already provided for its assumption at par. Immense sums were thus +filched from the poor and ignorant, and fortunes accumulated by those who +had themselves been poor enough before." + +This account is highly colored. The struggle was too close, and the issue +was long too doubtful, to admit of speculative preparations extending to +every "town and country neighborhood." If speculation took place on such a +large scale, it must have been also taking risks on a large scale, for +assumption was not assured until Jefferson himself put his shoulder to the +wheel. The lack of means for prompt diffusion of intelligence naturally +provided large opportunity for speculation by those in a position to +keep well-informed, and undoubtedly large profits were made; but the +circumstances were such that it seems most probable that profits were less +than market opportunities would have allowed had not the issue been so +long in doubt. Nevertheless there was much speculative activity, and the +charge was soon made that it extended into Congress.[Footnote: This charge +was put forth by John Taylor in pamphlets printed in 1793 and 1794, in +which he reviewed the financial policy of the Administration and gave a +list of Congressmen who had invested in the public funds. The facts on +which this charge rests have been collected and examined by Professor +Beard in his _Economic Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy_. His analysis +shows that out of sixty-four members of the House, twenty-nine were +security holders, and of these twenty-one voted for and eight voted +against assumption. But the facts disclosed do not sustain his theory that +the issue was essentially a conflict between capitalism and agrarianism. +The assumption bill was lifted to its place on the statute book through +the leverage exerted by Hamilton and Jefferson, with Washington's prestige +as their fulcrum. The characters of these three men resist schemes of +classification according to economic interest. The principal value of +analysis of the economic elements of the struggle is to protect from +undervaluation the motives that actuated the opposition to Hamilton's +measures. The historian has the advantage of a perspective denied to +participants in events, and this fact is apt to turn unduly to the +discredit of lost causes.] + +The passage of assumption was the turning point. Other important measures +followed, but none of them met with difficulties which the Administration +could not overcome by ordinary methods of persuasion and appeal. A +national bank was authorized by an act approved on February 25, 1791. +Hamilton's famous report on manufactures, a masterly analysis of the +sources of national wealth and of the means of improving them, was sent to +Congress on December 5, 1791. Upon his recommendation Congress established +the mint, the only point which excited controversy being Hamilton's +proposal that the coins should be stamped with the head of the President +in whose administration they were issued. This suggestion was rejected on +the ground that it smacked too much of the practice of monarchies. The +queer totemistic designs of American coinage are a consequence of this +decision. + +The formation of national government by voluntary agreement is a unique +event. The explanation of this peculiar result in the case of America is +the unifying influence of Hamilton's measures. They interested in the +support of the government economic forces strong enough to counteract the +separatist tendencies that had always before broken up states unless +they were held together by sheer might of power in their rulers. The +means employed have been cited as evidence in support of the economic +interpretation of history now in fashion. Government, it is true, like +every other form of life, must meet the fundamental needs of subsistence +and defense, but this truism supplies no explanation of the particular +mode of doing so that may be adopted. Those needs account for motion but +not for direction. Human will, discernment, and purpose enter and +complicate the situation in a way that makes theories of determinism +appear absurd. No one has ever contended that Hamilton was prompted by an +economic motive in giving up his law practice to accept public office. He +did so against the remonstrances of his friends, whose predictions that +what he would get out of it for himself would be calumny, persecution, and +loss of fortune, were all fully verified; but he possessed a nature which +found its happiness in bringing high ideals to grand fulfillment, and in +applying his powers to that object he let everything else go. Hamilton's +career is one of the greatest of those facts that baffle attempts to +reduce history to an exhibition of the play of economic forces. + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +ALARUMS AND EXCURSIONS + +The Shakespearian stage direction which heads this chapter appropriately +describes the course of administrative experience while Washington was +trying to get from Congress the means of sustaining the responsibilities +with which he was charged by his office. Events did not stand still +because for a time anything like national government had ceased. Before +Washington left Mount Vernon he had been disquieted by reports of Indian +troubles in the West, and of intrigues by Great Britain--which still +retained posts that according to the treaty of peace belonged to the +United States,--and by Spain which held the lower Mississippi. Washington +applied himself to these matters as soon as he was well in office, but he +was much hindered in his arrangements by apathy or indifference in +Congress. He noted in his diary for May 1, 1790, communications made to +him of a disposition among members of Congress "to pay little attention to +the Western country because they were of the opinion it would soon shake +off its dependence on this, and, in the meantime would be burdensome to +it." From a letter of Gen. Rufus Putnam, one of the organizers of the Ohio +company, it appears that in July, 1789, Ames of Massachusetts put these +queries to him: "Can we retain the western country with the government of +the United States? And if we can, what use will it be to them?" Putnam +wrote a labored article to the effect that it was both feasible and +desirable to hold the West, but the character of his arguments shows that +there was then a poor prospect of success. At that time no one could have +anticipated the Napoleonic wars which ended all European competition for +the possession of the Mississippi valley, and, as it were, tossed that +region into the hands of the United States. There was strong opposition in +Congress to pursuing any course that would require maintenance of an army +or navy. Some held that it was a great mistake to have a war department, +and that there would be time enough to create one in case war should +actually arrive. + +In a message to the Senate, August 7, 1789, Washington had urged the +importance of "some uniform and effective system for the militia of the +United States," saying that he was "particularly anxious" it should +receive early attention. On January 18, 1790, General Knox submitted to +Congress a plan to which there are frequent references in Washington's +diary, showing the special interest he took in the subject. The report +laid down principles which have long since been embraced by European +nations, but which have just recently been recognized by the United +States. It asserts: "That it is the indispensable duty of every nation to +establish all necessary institutions for its protection and defense; that +it is a capital security to a free state for the great body of the people +to possess a competent knowledge of the military art; that every man of +the proper age and ability of body is firmly bound by the social compact +to perform, personally, his proportion of military duty for the defense of +the State; that all men of the legal military age should be armed, +enrolled, and held responsible for different degrees of military service." +In furtherance of these principles a scheme was submitted providing for +military service by the citizens of the United States beginning at +eighteen years of age and terminating at sixty. The response of Congress +was the Act of April 30, 1790, authorizing a military establishment "to +the number of one thousand two hundred and sixteen non-commissioned +officers, privates, and musicians," with permission to the President to +call State Militia into service if need be, "in protecting the inhabitants +of the frontiers." Washington, in noting in his diary his approval of the +act, observed that it was not "adequate to the exigencies of the +government and the protection it is intended to afford." + +The Indian troubles in the Southwest were made particularly serious by the +ability of the head-chief of the Creek nation, Alexander McGillivray, the +authentic facts of whose career might seem too wildly improbable even for +the uses of melodrama. His grandmother was a full-blooded Creek of high +standing in the nation. She had a daughter by Captain Marchand, a French +officer. This daughter, who is described as a bewitching beauty, was taken +to wife by Lachland McGillivray, a Scotchman engaged in the Indian trade. +A son was born who, at the age of ten, was sent by his father to +Charleston to be educated, where he remained nearly seven years receiving +instruction both in English and Latin. This son, Alexander, was intended +by his father for civilized life, and when he was seventeen he was placed +with a business house in Savannah. During the Revolutionary War the father +took the Tory side and his property was confiscated. The son took refuge +with his Indian kinsfolk, and acquired in their councils an ascendancy +which also extended to the Seminole tribe. His position and influence made +his favor an important object with all powers having American interests. +During the war the British conferred upon him the rank and pay of a +colonel. In 1784, as the representative of the Creek and Seminole nations, +he formed a treaty of alliance with Spain, by the terms of which he became +a Spanish commissary with the rank and pay of a colonel. + +Against the State of Georgia, the Creek nation had grievances which +McGillivray was able to voice with a vigor and an eloquence that compelled +attention. It was the old story, so often repeated in American history, of +encroachments upon Indian territory. Attempts at negotiation had been made +by the old government, and these were now renewed by Washington with no +better result. McGillivray met the commissioners, but left on finding that +they had no intention of restoring the Indian lands that had been taken. A +formidable Indian war seemed imminent, but Washington, whose own frontier +experience made him well versed in Indian affairs, judged correctly that +the way to handle the situation was to induce McGillivray to come to New +York, though, as he noted in his diary, the matter must be so managed that +the "government might not appear to be an agent in it, or suffer in its +dignity if the attempt to get him here should not succeed." With his +habitual caution, Washington considered the point whether he could send +out an agent without consulting the Senate on the appointment, and he +instructed General Knox "to take the opinion of the Chief Justice of the +United States and the Secretary of the Treasury." The assurances obtained +were such that Washington selected an experienced frontier commander, +Colonel Marinus Willett of New York, and impressed upon him the importance +of bringing the Indian chiefs to New York, pointing out "the arguments +justifiable for him to use to effect this, with such lures as respected +McGillivray personally, and might be held out to them." + +Colonel Willett was altogether successful, though the inducements he +offered were probably aided by McGillivray's desire to visit New York and +meet General Washington. Other chiefs accompanied him, and on their way +they received many official attentions. An incident which occurred at +Guilford Court House, North Carolina, displays McGillivray's character in +a kindly light. A woman whose husband had been killed by Creek Indians and +who with her children had been made captive, visited McGillivray to thank +him for effecting their release, and it was disclosed that he had since +that time been contributing to the support of the family. At New York, the +recently organized Tammany Society turned out in costumes supposed to +represent Indian attire and escorted the visiting chiefs to Federal Hall. +Eventually Washington himself went to Federal Hall in his coach of state +and in all the trappings of official dignity, to sign the treaty concluded +with the Indians. The treaty, which laid down the pattern subsequently +followed by the government in its dealings with the Indians, recognized +the claims of the Creek nation to part of the territory it claimed, and +gave compensation for the part it relinquished by an annuity of fifteen +hundred dollars for the tribe, and an annuity of one hundred dollars for +each of the principal chiefs. + +For his part in the transaction McGillivray was commissioned an agent of +the United States with the rank of brigadier-general, a position which he +sustained with dignity. He was six feet tall, spare in frame, erect in +carriage. His eyes were large, dark, and piercing; his forehead, wider at +the top than just above the eyes, was so high and broad as to be almost +bulging. When he was a British colonel, he wore the uniform of that rank; +when in the Spanish service, he wore the military dress of that country; +and after Washington appointed him a brigadier-general he sometimes wore +the uniform of the American army, but never in the presence of Spaniards. +In different parts of his dominions he had good houses where he practised +generous hospitality. His influence was shaken by his various political +alliances, and before he died in 1793 he had lost much of his authority. + +In the course of these negotiations Washington had an experience with the +Senate which thereafter affected his official behavior. The debates of the +constitutional convention indicated an expectation that the Senate would +act as a privy council to the President; and Washington--intent above all +things on doing his duty--tried to treat it as such. In company with +General Knox he went to the Senate chamber, prepared to explain his +negotiations with the Indian chiefs, but he forthwith experienced the +truth of the proverb that although you may lead a horse to water you +cannot make him drink. In his diary for August 22, 1789, Maclay gave a +characteristic account of the scene. Washington presided, taking the +Vice-President's chair. "He rose and told us bluntly that he had called on +us for our advice and consent to some propositions respecting the treaty +to be held with the Southern Indians. Said he had brought General Knox +with him who was well acquainted with the business." A statement was read +giving a schedule of the propositions on which the advice of the Senate +was asked. Maclay relates that he called for the reading of the treaties +and other documents referred to in the statement. "I cast an eye at the +President of the United States. I saw he wore an aspect of stern +displeasure." There was a manifest reluctance of the Senate to proceed +with the matter in the President's presence, and finally a motion was made +to refer the business to a committee of five. A sharp debate followed in +which "the President of the United States started up in a violent fret. +'This defeats every purpose of my coming here' were the first words that +he said. He then went on to say that he had brought his Secretary of War +with him to give any necessary information; that the Secretary knew all +about the business, and yet he was delayed and could not go on with the +matter." The situation evidently became strained. Maclay relates: "A pause +for some time ensued. We waited for him to withdraw. He did so with a +discontented air." + +The privy council function of the Senate was thus in effect abolished by +its own action. Thereafter the President had practically no choice save to +conclude matters subject to subsequent ratification by the Senate. It soon +became the practice of the Senate to restrict the President's power of +appointment by conditioning it upon the approval of the Senators from the +State in which an appointment was made. The clause providing for +the advice and consent of the Senate was among the changes made in +the original draft to conciliate the small States, but it was not +supposed that the practical effect would be to allow Senators to dictate +appointments. It was observed in the _Federalist_ that "there will be no +exertion of choice on the part of Senators." Nevertheless there was some +uneasiness on the point. In a letter of May 31, 1789, Ames remarked that +"the meddling of the Senate in appointments is one of the least defensible +parts of the Constitution," and with prophetic insight he foretold that +"the number of the Senators, the secrecy of their doings, would shelter +them, and a corrupt connection between those who appoint to office and the +officers themselves would be created." + +Washington had to submit to senatorial dictation almost at the outset of +his administration, the Senate refusing to confirm his nomination of +Benjamin Fishbourn for the place of naval officer at Savannah. The only +details to be had about this affair are those given in a special message +of August 6, 1789, from which it appears that Washington was not notified +of the grounds of the Senate's objection. He defended his selection on the +ground that Fishbourn had a meritorious record as an army officer, had +held distinguished positions in the state government of Georgia which +testified public confidence, and moreover was actually holding, by virtue +of state appointment, an office similar to that to which Washington +desired to appoint him. The appointment was, in fact, no more than the +transfer to the federal service of an official of approved administrative +experience, and was of such manifest propriety that it seems most likely +that the rejection was due to local political intrigue using the Georgia +Senators as its tool. The office went to Lachlan McIntosh, who was a +prominent Georgia politician. Over ten years before he had killed in a +duel Button Gwinnett, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. +Gwinnett was the challenger and McIntosh was badly wounded in the duel, +but the affair caused a feud that long disturbed Georgia politics, and +through the agency of the Senate it was able to reach and annoy the +President of the United States. + +At the time when Washington was inaugurated both North Carolina and Rhode +Island were outside the Union. The national government was a new and +doubtful enterprise, remote from and unfamiliar to the mass of the people. +To turn their thoughts toward the new Administration it seemed to be good +policy for Washington to make tours. The notes made by Washington in his +diary indicate that the project was his own notion, but both Hamilton and +Knox cordially approved it and Madison "saw no impropriety" in it. +Therefore, shortly after the recess of the first session of Congress, +Washington started on a trip through the Northern States, pointedly +avoiding Rhode Island, then a foreign country. It was during this tour +that a question of etiquette occurred about which there was a great stir +at the time. John Hancock, then Governor of Massachusetts, did not call +upon Washington but wrote inviting Washington to stay at his house, and +when this invitation was declined, he wrote again inviting the President +to dinner _en famille_. Washington again declined, and this time the +failure of the Governor to pay his respects to the President of the United +States was the talk of the town. Some of Hancock's aides now called with +excuses on the score of his illness. Washington noted in his diary, "I +informed them in explicit terms that I should not see the Governor unless +it was at my own lodgings." This incident occurred on Saturday evening, +and the effect was such that Governor Hancock called in person on Sunday. +The affair was the subject of much comment not to Governor Hancock's +advantage. Washington's church-going habits on this trip afford no small +evidence of the patient consideration which he paid to every point of +duty. In New York, he attended Episcopal church service regularly once +every Sunday. On his northern tour he went to the Episcopal church in the +morning, and then showed his respect for the dominant religious system of +New England by attending the Congregational church in the afternoon. His +northern tour lasted from October 15 to November 13, 1789, and was +attended by popular manifestations that must have promoted the spread of +national sentiment. On November 21, 1789, North Carolina came into the +Union, and Rhode Island followed on May 29, 1790. Washington started on a +tour of the Southern States on March 21,1791, in which he covered more +than seventeen hundred miles in sixty-six days, and was received with +grand demonstrations at all the towns he visited. + +While he was making these tours, which in the days before the railroad and +the telegraph were practically the only efficacious means of establishing +the new government in the thoughts and feelings of the people, he was much +concerned about frontier troubles, and with good reason, as he well knew +the deficiency of the means that Congress had allowed. The tiny army of +the United States was under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Josiah +Harmar, with the brevet rank of general. In October, 1790, Harmar led his +troops, nearly four-fifths of which were new levies of militia, against +the Indians who had been disturbing the western frontier. The expedition +was a succession of blunders and failures which were due more to the rude +and undisciplined character of the material that Harmar had to work with +than to his personal incapacity. Harmar did succeed in destroying five +Indian villages with their stores of corn, but their inhabitants had +warning enough to escape and were able to take prompt vengeance. A +detachment of troops was ambushed and badly cut up. The design had been to +push on to the upper course of the Wabash, but so many horses had been +stolen by the Indians that the expedition was crippled. As a result, +Harmar marched his troops back again, professing to believe that +punishment had been inflicted upon the Indians that would be a severe +lesson to them. What really happened was that the Indians were encouraged +to think that they were more than a match for any army which the settlers +could send against them, and before long news came of the destruction of +settlements and the massacre of their inhabitants. "Unless," wrote Rufus +Putnam to Washington, "Government speedily sends a body of troops for our +protection, we are a ruined people." + +Washington did what he could. He sent to Congress Putnam's letter and +other frontier communications, but Congress, which was stubbornly opposed +to creating a national army, replied, when the need was demonstrated, that +the militia of the several States were available. The Government was +without means of protecting the Indians against abuse and injustice or of +protecting the settlers against the savage retaliations that naturally +followed. The dilemma was stated with sharp distinctness in correspondence +which passed between Washington and Hamilton in April, 1791. Washington +wrote that it was a hopeless undertaking to keep peace on the frontier +"whilst land-jobbing and the disorderly conduct of our borderers are +suffered with impunity; and while the States individually are omitting +no occasion to intermeddle in matters which belong to the general +Government." Hamilton in reply went to the root of the matter. "Our system +is such as still to leave the public peace of the Union at the mercy of +each state government." He proceeded to give a concrete instance: "For +example, a party comes from a county of Virginia into Pennsylvania, and +wantonly murders some friendly Indians. The national Government, instead +of having power to apprehend the murderers and bring them to justice, is +obliged to make a representation to that of Pennsylvania; that of +Pennsylvania, again, is to make a requisition of that of Virginia. And +whether the murderers shall be brought to justice at all must depend upon +the particular policy, and energy, and good disposition of two state +governments, and the efficacy of the provisions of their respective laws. +And security of other States and the money of all are at the discretion of +one. These things require a remedy; but when that will come, God knows." + +Toward the close of its last session, the First Congress was induced to +pass an act "for raising and adding another regiment to the military +establishment of the United States and for making further provision for +the protection of the frontiers." The further provision authorized the +President to employ "troops enlisted under the denomination of levies" for +a term not exceeding six months and in number not exceeding two thousand. +The law thus made it compulsory that the troops should move while still +raw and untrained. Congress had fixed the pay of the privates at three +dollars a month, from which ninety cents were deducted, and it had been +necessary to scrape the streets and even the prisons of the seaboard +cities for men willing to enlist upon such terms. Washington gave the +command to General Arthur St. Clair, whose military experience should have +made him a capable commander, but he was then in bad health and unable to +handle the situation under the conditions imposed upon him. General +Harmar, enlightened by his own experience, predicted that such an army +would certainly be defeated. + +The campaign was intended as an expedition to chastise the Indians so that +they would be deterred from molesting the settlers, but it resulted in a +disaster that greatly encouraged Indian depredations. As the army +approached the Indian towns, a body of the militia deserted, and it was +reported to St. Clair that they intended to plunder the supplies. He sent +one of his regular regiments after them, thus reducing his available force +to about fourteen hundred men. On November 3, 1791, this force camped on +the eastern fork of Wabash. Before daybreak the next morning the Indians +made a sudden attack, taking the troops by surprise and throwing them into +disorder. It was the story of Braddock's defeat over again. The troops +were surrounded by foes that they could not see and could not reach. +Indian marksmen picked off the gunners until the artillery was silenced; +then the Indians rushed in and seized the guns. In the combat there were +both conspicuous exploits of valor and disgraceful scenes of cowardice. In +that dark hour St. Clair showed undaunted courage. He was in the front of +the fight, and several times he headed charges. He seemed to have a +charmed life, for although eight bullets pierced his clothes, one +cutting away a lock of the thick gray hair that flowed from under his +three-cornered hat, he escaped without a wound. Finally defeat became a +rout which St. Clair was powerless to check. Pushed aside in the rush of +fugitives, he was left in a position of great peril. If the Indian pursuit +had been persistent, few might have escaped, but the Indians stopped to +plunder the camp. Nevertheless six hundred and thirty men were killed and +over two hundred and eighty wounded, with small loss to the Indians. + +Washington's reception of the news illustrates both his iron composure and +the gusts of passion under which it sometimes gave way. The details are +unquestionably authentic, as they were communicated by Washington's +secretary who witnessed the scene. Washington was having a dinner party +when an officer arrived at the door and sent word that he was the bearer +of dispatches from the Western army. The secretary went out to him, but +the officer said his instructions were to deliver the dispatches to the +President in person. Washington then went to the officer and received the +terrible news. He returned to the table as though nothing had happened, +and everything went on as usual. After dinner there was a reception in +Mrs. Washington's drawing-room and the President, as was his custom, spoke +courteously to every lady in the room. By ten o'clock all the visitors had +gone and Washington began to pace the floor at first without any change of +manner, but soon he began to show emotional excitement and he broke out +suddenly: "It's all over! St. Clair is defeated--routed,--the officers +nearly all killed--the men by wholesale,--the rout complete,--too +shocking to think of,--and a surprise into the bargain!" + +When near the door in his agitated march about the room, he stopped and +burst forth, "Yes, here on this very spot I took leave of him; I wished +him success and honor; 'You have your instructions,' I said, 'from the +Secretary of War; I had a strict eye to them, and will add one word-- +Beware of a surprise! You know how the Indians fight us!' He went off with +that as my last solemn warning thrown into his ears. And yet, to suffer +that army to be cut to pieces--hacked, butchered, tomahawked--by a +surprise! O God, O God, he's worse than a murderer! How can he answer it +to his country! The blood of the slain is upon him--the curse of the +widows and orphans--the curse of Heaven!" + +The secretary relates that this torrent of passion burst forth in +appalling tones. The President's frame shook. "More than once he threw his +hands up as he hurled imprecations upon St. Clair." But at length he got +his feelings under control, and after a pause he remarked, "I will hear +him without prejudice. He shall have full justice." St. Clair was, indeed, +treated with marked leniency. A committee of the House reported that the +failure of the expedition could not "be imputed to his conduct, either at +any time before or during the action." St. Clair was continued in his +position as Governor of the Northwest Territory and remained there until +1802. + +Notwithstanding the dire results of relying on casual levies, Congress was +still stubbornly opposed to creating an effective force under national +control, and in this attitude to some extent reflected even frontier +sentiment. Ames in a letter of January 13, 1792, wrote that "even the +views of the western people, whose defense has been undertaken by +government, have been unfriendly to the Secretary of War and to the +popularity of the Government. They wish to be hired as volunteers, at +two-thirds of a dollar a day to fight the Indians. They are averse to the +regulars." By the Act of March 5, 1792, Congress authorized three +additional regiments, with the proviso, however, that they "shall be +discharged as soon as the United States shall be at peace with the Indian +tribes." This legislation, nevertheless, was a great practical improvement +on the previous act. General Wayne, who now took command, was fortunately +circumstanced in that he was under no pressure to move against the +Indians. Public opinion favored a return to negotiation, so that he had +time to get his troops under good discipline. He did not move the main +body of his troops until the summer of 1794, and on August 20, he +inflicted a smashing defeat on the Indians, at a place known as the Fallen +Timbers, followed up the victory by punitive expeditions to the Indian +towns, and burned their houses and crops. The campaign was a complete +success. The Indians were so humbled by their losses that they sued for +peace, and negotiations began which were concluded in the summer of 1795 +by the treaty of Greenville, under which the Northwestern tribes ceded an +extensive territory to the United States. + +It was notorious that the trouble which the American authorities had +experienced with the Indians had been largely due to the activity of +British agents. In his report Wayne noted that the destruction effected by +his troops included "the houses, stores, and property of Colonel McKee, +the British agent, and principal stimulator of the war now existing +between the United States and the savages." A sharp correspondence took +place between Wayne and Major William Campbell, commanding a British post +on the Miami. Campbell protested against the approach of Wayne's army, "no +war existing between Great Britain and America." Wayne assented to this +statement, and then asked what he meant "by taking post far within the +well known and acknowledged limits of the United States." Campbell +rejoined that he had acted under orders and as to his right, that was a +matter which were best left to "the ambassadors of our different nations." +Campbell refused to obey Wayne's demand to withdraw, and Wayne ignored +Campbell's threat to fire if he were approached too close. Wayne reported +that the only notice he took of this threat was "by immediately setting +fire to and destroying everything within view of the fort, and even under +the muzzles of the guns." "Had Mr. Campbell carried his threats into +execution," added Wayne, "it is more than probable he would have +experienced a storm." No collision actually took place at that time but +there was created a situation which, unless it were removed by diplomacy, +must have eventually brought on war. + + + +CHAPTER V + + +TRIBUTE TO THE ALGERINES + +At the time when Washington took office, the captains and crews of two +American vessels, which had been seized by Algerine Corsairs in 1785, +still remained in captivity. The Continental Congress had made some +efforts in their behalf which were contemptuously received. The Dey of +Algiers did not wish any treaty with the United States; but he did want +$59,496.00 for the twenty-one captives whom he then held. Farther than +that negotiation had not progressed. Agents of the United States were +advised that, if such a high amount were paid, the Corsairs would pursue +American vessels in preference to those of any other nation, and that the +shrewd thing would be to pretend indifference to the fate of the captives. +This advice was acted upon even to the extent of cutting off the supplies +which had been forwarded to the captives through the Spanish consul at +Algiers. The summary method which was pursued was that of dishonoring +bills drawn by him to cover his expenditures. + +Jefferson, who while Minister to France had been closely connected with +these proceedings, was called upon by Congress for a report upon them, not +long after he took office as Secretary of State. This report, December 28, +1790, set forth the fact that the Mediterranean trade, which had employed +from eighty to one hundred ships with about twelve hundred seamen, had +been almost destroyed. In the interest of the negotiations, it had been +necessary "to suffer the captives and their friends to believe for a +while, that no attention was paid to them, no notice taken of their +letters," and they were "still under this impression." Jefferson contented +himself with submitting the facts in the case, remarking that "upon the +whole it rests with Congress to decide between war, tribute, and ransom. +If war, they will consider how far our own resources shall be called +forth, and how far they will enable the Executive to engage, in the forms +of the Constitution, the cooperation of other Powers. If tribute or +ransom, it will rest with them to limit and provide the amount; and +with the Executive, observing the same constitutional forms, to make +arrangements for employing it to the best advantage." + +The problem which Jefferson thus put before Congress was a singularly +difficult one. Among the captives was Captain Richard O'Brien, whose ship, +the _Dauphin_ of Philadelphia, was taken July 30, 1785. He had a ready pen +and, apparently, had unrestricted access to the mails. His letters were +those of a shrewd observer and depicted a situation that bristled with +perplexity. The Algerines had about a dozen vessels, their armament +ranging from ten to thirty-six guns, but of these vessels only two +belonged to the Government, the others being private ventures. Though they +preyed on merchantmen, they avoided engagements, and did not come out at +all if there were vessels cruising for them. A blockade was effective only +while it lasted. Whenever it was raised, out came the Corsairs again. An +occasional bombardment of their port did not cow them and had no permanent +effect. A French official described it as being "like breaking glass +windows with guineas." The Algerines made treaties with some Powers in +consideration of tribute but refused peace to others on any terms; as they +did not desire to shut out all opportunity for their time-honored sport of +piracy. + +Congress was slow to take action of any kind. In January, 1791, Maclay +noted that a committee had decided that the Mediterranean trade could not +be preserved without an armed force to protect it, and that a navy should +be established as soon as the Treasury was in a position to bear the +expense. Meanwhile the President began fresh negotiations, which were +attended by singular fatality. Thomas Barclay, who had some diplomatic +experience, was commissioned to go to the Emperor of Morocco. When Barclay +reached Gibraltar, he was taken ill, and, after being removed to Lisbon, +he died. Admiral John Paul Jones was then appointed special commissioner +to arrange for the ransom of the captives. As he had then left the Russian +service and was living in Paris, it was supposed that his services would +be available, but he died before the commission could reach him. The delay +caused by these events was made so much worse by the slow transmission of +intelligence that two years elapsed before a fresh start was made by +placing the conduct of matters in the hands of Colonel David Humphreys, +then Minister to Portugal. Humphreys had gone as far as Gibraltar on his +mission when he learned that a truce had been suddenly arranged between +Portugal and Algiers. This was alarming news, since it meant that the +Algerines could now pass into the Atlantic from which they had been +excluded by Portuguese war-vessels stationed in the strait of Gibraltar. +"I have not slept since the receipt of the news of this the hellish plot," +wrote Edward Church, the United States consul at Lisbon. Church was +energetic in spreading the intelligence, which fortunately reached some +American shipmasters in time to save them. In October, 1793, as thirteen +American vessels were in the port of Lisbon afraid to venture out, Church +pleaded their case so vigorously that the Portuguese government agreed to +give them an armed convoy. Nevertheless the Algerines found plenty of game +among American ships then at sea, for they captured ten vessels and added +one hundred and five more Americans to the stock of slaves in Algiers. +"They are in a distressed and naked situation," wrote Captain O'Brien, who +had himself then been eight years in captivity. + +Humphreys made arrangements by which they received clothing and a money +allowance ranging from twelve cents a day for a seaman up to eight dollars +a month for a captain. Nothing, however, could be done in the way of peace +negotiations. One of Humphreys' agents reported that the Dey could not +make peace even if he really wanted to do so. "He declared to me that his +interest does not permit him to accept your offers, Sir, even were you to +lavish millions upon him, 'because,' said he, 'if I were to make peace +with everybody, what should I do with my Corsairs? What should I do with +my soldiers? They would take off my head, for want of other prizes.'" + +This was an honest disclosure of the situation. Humphreys wrote Jefferson +that "no choice is left for the United States but to prepare a naval force +for the protection of their trade." Captain O'Brien wrote, "By all means +urge Congress to fit out some remarkably fast sailing cruisers, well +appointed and manned." In January, 1794, accordingly, a committee of the +House brought in a resolution for building four ships of 44 guns and two +of 20 guns each. The debate began on February 6, and for some time was +altogether one-sided, with one speaker after another opposing the creation +of a navy. Madison, as was now his habit, had doubts as to the propriety +of the measure. He fancied that peace "might be purchased for less +money than this armament would cost." Clark of New Jersey had "an +objection to the establishment of a fleet, because, when once it had been +commenced, there would be no end to it." He had "a scheme which he judged +would be less expensive and more effectual. This was to hire the +Portuguese to cruise against the Algerines." Baldwin of Georgia thought +that "bribery alone could purchase security from the Algerines." Nicholas +of Virginia "feared that we were not a match for the Algerines." + +Smith of Maryland and Fitzsimmons of Pennsylvania championed the +resolution, and Fisher Ames made some remarks on Madison's lack of spirit +that caused Madison to define his position. He proposed as a substitute +for the pending measure that money should "be employed in such a manner as +should be found most effectual for obtaining a peace with the Regency of +Algiers; and failing of this, that the sum should be applied to the end of +obtaining protection from some of the European Powers." This motion warmed +up the debate. Giles of Virginia came to Madison's support in a style that +was not helpful. He "considered navies altogether as very foolish things. +An immense quantity of property was spread on the water for no purpose +whatever, which might have been employed by land to the best purpose." The +suggestion that the United States should be a hermit nation was an +indiscreet exposure of the logical significance of Madison's plan, and it +perhaps turned the scale in favor of employing force. + +The bill came up in the House for final passage on March 10, 1794. Its +opponents now sparred for time, but a motion to recommit in order to give +opportunity for further consideration was defeated by 48 to 41. Giles made +a final effort, by a long and elaborate address, in which he argued that +the effect of fitting out a navy would be to involve the United States in +war with all the European Powers. Moreover, a navy would be dangerous to +American liberty. "A navy is the most expensive of all means of defense, +and the tyranny of governments consists in the expensiveness of their +machinery." He pointed to the results of British naval policy. "The +government is not yet destroyed, but the people are oppressed, liberty is +banished." The French monarchy had been ruined by its navy. He was +"astonished, with these fatal examples before our eyes, that there should +be gentlemen who would wish to enter upon this fashionable system of +politics." In discussing the expense of maintaining a navy, he expressed +his fear that it would eventually bring back the miseries of feudalism. + +William Smith of South Carolina made a reply in which he defined the issue +as being between defense and tribute; but Giles had the last word. He +wanted to know whether it was maintained that the frigates it was proposed +to build would "boldly march upon land and break the chains of the +prisoners?" He begged Congress not to do what "would irritate the +barbarians and furnish additional misery to the unfortunate prisoners." In +this closing struggle over the bill Giles fought single-handed. When he +had quite finished, the bill was passed by 50 yeas to 39 nays, a result +which showed a decided gain in strength from the discussion. + +The debates in the Senate have not been preserved, but the Senate was so +evenly divided that it took the casting vote of the Vice-President to pass +the bill, which became law March 27, 1794. In order to get it passed at +all, a proviso had been tacked on that, if peace terms could be arranged, +"no farther proceeding be had under this Act." In September, 1795, a +treaty of peace with Algiers was finally concluded, after negotiations had +been facilitated by a contingent fee of $18,000 paid to "Bacri the Jew, +who has as much art in this sort of management as any man we ever knew," +the American agents reported. It was a keen bargain, as Bacri had to +propitiate court officials at his own risk, and had to look for both +reimbursement and personal profit, too, out of the lump sum he was to +receive in event of his success. It can hardly be doubted that he had the +situation securely in hand before making the bargain. The money paid in +Algiers for the ransom of the captives, for tribute and for presents to +officials amounted to $642,500.00. But in addition the United States +agreed to build a frigate for the Algerine navy and also supply naval +stores, which with incidental expenses brought the total cost of the peace +treaty up to $992,463.25. Moreover, the United States agreed to pay an +annual tribute of 12,000 sequins,--about $27,500. + +By the terms of the navy act, the United States had to stop building +vessels for its own protection. Of those which had been authorized, the +frigates _Constitution, United States_, and _Constellation_ were under way +and were eventually completed. The timber, with material that had been +collected for the other vessels, was sold, except what was needed for the +frigate which was to be presented to the Algerines, and which was to be +built at Portsmouth, N.H. The whole affair was a melancholy business that +must have occasioned Washington deep chagrin. In his address to Congress, +December 7, 1796, announcing the success of the negotiations for effecting +the release of the captives, he observed that "to secure respect to a +neutral flag requires a naval force, organized and ready to vindicate it +from insult or aggression." + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +FRENCH DESIGNS ON AMERICA + +A few months before France declared war upon England, February 1, 1793, +Edmond Genet was appointed French Minister to the United States. He landed +at Charleston, April 8, and at once began activities so authoritative as +to amount to an erection of French sovereignty in the United States. The +subsequent failure of his efforts and the abrupt ending of his diplomatic +career have so reacted upon his reputation that associations of boastful +arrogance and reckless incompetency cling to his name. This estimate holds +him too lightly and underrates the peril to which the United States was +then exposed. Genet was no casual rhetorician raised to important office +by caprice of events, but a trained diplomatist of hereditary aptitude and +of long experience. His father was chief of the bureau of correspondence +in the Department of Foreign Affairs for the French monarchy, and it was +as an interpreter attached to that bureau that the son began his career in +1775. While still a youth, he gained literary distinction by his +translations of historical works from Swedish into French. Genet was +successively attached to the French Embassies at Berlin and Vienna, and in +1781 he succeeded his father in the Department of Foreign Affairs. In +1788, he was Secretary of the French Embassy at St. Petersburg, where his +zeal for French Revolutionary principles so irritated the Empress +Catherine that she characterized him as "a furious demagogue," and in 1792 +he was forced to leave Russia. In the same year he was named Ambassador to +Holland, and thence was soon transferred to the United States. + +It is obvious that a man of such experience could not be ignorant of +diplomatic forms and of international proprieties of behavior. If he +pursued a course that has since seemed to be a marvel of truculence, the +explanation should be sought in the circumstances of his mission more than +in the nature of his personality. When the matter is considered from this +standpoint, not only does one find that Genet's proceedings become +consistent and intelligible, but one becomes deeply impressed with the +magnitude of the peril then confronting the United States. Nothing less +than American independence was at stake. + +It should be borne in mind that France, in aiding America against England, +had been pursuing her own ends. In August, 1787, the French government +advised its American representative that it had observed with indifference +the movements going on in the United States and would view the break-up of +the Confederation without regret. "We have never pretended to make of +America a useful ally; we have had no other object than to deprive Great +Britain of that vast continent." But, now that war with England had broken +out again, it was worth while making an effort to convert America into a +useful ally. Jefferson, while Minister to Paris, had been sympathetic with +the Revolutionary movement. In 1789, the English Ambassador reported to +his government that Jefferson was much consulted by the leaders of the +Third Estate. On the other hand, Gouverneur Morris, who was then living in +Paris, sympathized frankly with the King. Nevertheless he was chosen to +succeed Jefferson as the American Minister. In notifying him of the +appointment, Washington let him know that there had been objections. "It +was urged that in France you were considered as a favorer of the +aristocracy, and unfriendly to its Revolution." Washington's reminder that +it was his business to promote the interest of his own country did not +have any apparent effect on Morris's behavior. He became the personal +agent of Louis XVI, and he not only received and disbursed large sums on +the King's account, but he also entered into plans for the King's flight +from Paris. During the Reign of Terror which began in 1792, he behaved +with an energy and an intrepidity honorable to him as a man; in general, +however, his course tended to embroil and not to guard American interests. + +In the face of the European coalition against revolutionary France, the +principle of action was that announced by Danton,--"to dare, and to dare, +and without end to dare." Genet therefore went on his mission to America +keyed to measures which were audacious but which can hardly be described +as reckless. By plunging heavily he might make a big winning; if he +failed, he was hardly worse off than if he had not made the attempt. To +draw the United States into the war as the ally of France was only one +part of his mission. He was also planning to reëstablish the +French colonial empire, the loss of which was still an unhealed wound. +Canada, Louisiana, and the Floridas were all in his mind. In Louisiana, +France regarded conditions as being so favorable that Genet was instructed +to make special efforts in that quarter. Spain, which had entered the +coalition against republican France, held the lower Mississippi. Spain was +therefore the common enemy of France and of the American settlements west +of the mountains. Ought not then those two republican interests to work +together to expel Spain and to seize Louisiana? Moreover, there was a +belief, not without grounds, that the older States which formed the +American union were indifferent to the needs and interests of the country +west of the Alleghenies and would be more relieved than afflicted if it +should take its destinies into its own hands. Such considerations animated +a group of Americans in Paris, among whose prominent members were Thomas +Paine, the pamphleteer, Joel Barlow, the poet, and Dr. James O'Fallon, a +Revolutionary soldier now interested in Western land speculation. All were +then ardent sympathizers with the French Revolution, and they entered +heartily into the design of stirring up the Western country against Spain. +The project attracted some frontier leaders, among them George Rogers +Clark, famous for his successful campaigns against the hostile Indians and +the British during the Revolutionary War. He was to lead a force of +Western riflemen against the Spanish posts in Louisiana, and Genet brought +with him blank brevets of officers up to the grade of captain for bestowal +on the Indian chiefs who would cooperate. The expenses of the expedition +were to be met by collections which Genet expected to make from the +treasury of the United States on account of sums due to France. + +The project of using the United States as a French base could claim legal +rights under the treaties of 1778 between France and the United States. +There were two treaties, both concluded on the same day. One, entitled a +treaty of amity and commerce, was a mutual conveyance of privileges; it +provided that the ships of war of each country should defend the vessels +of the other country against all attacks that might occur while they were +in company. Besides this right of convoy, each country had the right to +use the ports of the other, either for ships of war or for privateers and +their prizes, "nor shall such prizes be arrested or seized when they come +to and enter the ports of either party; nor shall the searchers or other +officers of those places search the same, or make any examination +concerning the lawfulness of such prizes, but they may hoist sail at any +time, and depart." All vessels of either country had the right to take +refuge in the ports of the other, whether from stress of weather or +pursuit of enemies, "and they shall be permitted to refresh and provide +themselves at reasonable rates, with victuals and all things needful for +the sustenance of their persons or reparation of their ships, and +conveniency of their voyage; and they shall no ways be detained or +hindered from returning out of the said ports or roads, but may remove and +depart when and whither they please, without any let or hindrance." It was +expressly provided that such hospitality should not be extended to vessels +of an enemy of either country. The accompanying instrument, entitled a +treaty of alliance, was a mutual guarantee of territorial possessions, +"forever against all other powers." These broad rights and privileges were +supplemented by the convention of 1788 on consular functions, which +facilitated the organization of a consular jurisdiction competent to deal +with cases arising from the treaties. There was still due to France on +loans contracted during the Revolution a remainder of about $2,300,000 +payable by instalments, subject to the proviso that "Congress and the +United States" had "the liberty of freeing themselves by anticipated +payments should the state of their finances admit." It was planned to get +the United States to reciprocate the past favors of France by favoring her +now, if not by direct payments of money, at least by acceptances which +Genet could use in purchasing supplies. The fact that whatever in the way +of money or accommodations was obtained in the United States would be +used in business in that country was counted upon to facilitate the +transaction. + +These facts form the background against which Genet's activities should be +viewed. He came with deliberate intent to rush the situation, and armed +with all needful powers for that purpose, so far as the French government +could confer them. According to a dispatch from Morris to the State +Department, Genet "took with him three hundred blank commissions which he +is to distribute to such as will fit out cruisers in our ports to prey on +the British commerce." + +At Charleston, Genet received an enthusiastic reception. The Revolutionary +commander, General Moultrie, who was then governor of South Carolina, +entered so cordially into Genet's plans that in his first dispatch home, +Genet was able to say to his government that Moultrie had permitted him to +arm privateers and had assisted the various branches of his mission in +every possible way. Such was Genet's energy that within five days after +his arrival he had opened a recruiting station at which American seamen +were taken into the French service; he had commissioned American vessels +as French privateers; and he had turned the French consul's office into an +admiralty court for which business was provided by the prizes that were +being brought in. + +After seeing under way all matters that he could attend to in Charleston, +Genet moved on to Philadelphia, and received on his way thither such +greetings as to give to his journey the character of a triumphal progress. +Meanwhile, _L'Ambuscade_, the French frigate which had brought Genet to +Charleston, was proceeding to Philadelphia, taking prizes on her way and +sending them to American ports. In Delaware Bay she captured the _Grange_, +an English merchantman lying there at anchor, and took this vessel +with her to Philadelphia as a prize. As Genet neared Philadelphia on +May 16, _L'Ambuscade_ gave notice by firing three guns, at which signal a +procession was formed to meet Genet at Gray's Ferry and escort him to his +lodgings. He found awaiting him a letter from George Rogers Clark, which +gave an account of his plans for the invasion of Louisiana and the capture +of New Orleans, and which announced his readiness to start if he were +assisted by some frigates and provided with three thousand pounds sterling +to meet expenses. Genet received reports from other agents or friendly +correspondents in the Spanish territory, and so active was he in +forwarding the objects of his mission that on June 19 he was able to write +to his government, "I am provisioning the West Indies, I excite the +Canadians to break the British yoke, I arm the Kentukois and prepare a +naval expedition which will facilitate their descent on New Orleans." + +These claims were well founded. Genet did, in fact, make an effective +start, and had he been able to command funds he might have opened a great +chapter of history. George Rogers Clark was the ablest and most successful +commander that the frontier had yet produced, and such was the weakness of +the Spanish defenses that had his expedition been actually launched as +planned, the conquest of Louisiana might indeed have been accomplished. It +was not any defect in Genet's arrangements that frustrated his plans, but +his inability to raise money and the uncertainty of his position as the +agent of a government which was undergoing rapid revolutionary change. + +News that the French Republic had declared war against Great Britain +reached the United States early in April, 1793. Washington, who was then +at Mount Vernon, wrote to Jefferson that "it behooves the Government of +this country to use every means in its power to prevent the citizens +thereof from embroiling us with either of those Powers, by endeavoring to +maintain a strict neutrality," and he requested that the Secretary should +"give the subject mature consideration, that such measures as shall be +deemed most likely to effect this desirable purpose may be adopted without +delay." On arriving at Philadelphia a few days later, Washington was met +by a distracted Cabinet. The great difficulty was the conflict of +obligations. The United States had a treaty of alliance with France; it +had a treaty of peace with Great Britain. The situation had become such +that it could not sustain both relations at the same time. If the United +States remained neutral, it would have to deny to France privileges +conferred by the treaty which had been negotiated when both countries were +at war with Great Britain. How far was that treaty now binding? It had +been made with "the Most Christian king," whose head had been cut off. Did +not his engagements fall with his head? That was the very position taken +by the government of the French Republic, which had asserted the right to +decide what treaties of the old monarchy should be retained and what +rejected. As an incident of the present case, the question was to be +decided whether the ambassador of the French Republic should be received. + +Such were the issues that Washington's Administration had to face, at a +time when the whole country was thrilling with enthusiasm in behalf of the +French Republic. Chief Justice Marshall left on record his opinion that +this feeling "was almost universal," and that "a great majority of the +American people deemed it criminal to remain unconcerned spectators of a +conflict between their ancient enemy and republican France." + +Washington acted with his customary deliberation. On April 18, 1793, he +submitted to the members of his Cabinet thirteen questions. Jefferson, who +held that the French treaty was still operative, noted that the questions +reached him in Washington's own handwriting, "yet it was palpable from +the style, their ingenious tissue and suite, that they were not the +President's, that they were raised upon a prepared chain of argument, in +short, that the language was Hamilton's and the doubts his alone." In +Jefferson's opinion they were designed to lead "to a declaration of the +Executive that our treaty with France is void." Jefferson was right as to +Hamilton's authorship. At a time when Jefferson had no advice to give save +that it would be well to consider whether Congress ought not to be +summoned, Hamilton had ready a set of interrogatories which subjected the +whole situation to close analysis. The critical questions were these: + +"Shall a proclamation issue for the purpose of preventing interferences of +the citizens of the United States in the war between France and Great +Britain, &c.? Shall it contain a declaration of neutrality or not? What +shall it contain? + +"Are the United States obliged, by good faith, to consider the treaties +heretofore made with France as applying to the present situation of the +parties? May they either renounce them, or hold them suspended till the +government of France shall be established?" + +To the interrogatories framed by Hamilton, Washington added one which +presented the point raised by Jefferson--"Is it necessary or advisable to +call together the two Houses of Congress, with a view to the present +posture of European affairs? If it is, what shall be the particular object +of such a call?" + +The Cabinet met on April 19. On the question of a proclamation of +neutrality Jefferson argued that such a proclamation would be equivalent +to a declaration that the United States would not take part in the war, +and that this matter did not lie within the power of the Executive, since +it was the province of Congress to declare war. Congress ought therefore +to be called to consider the question. Hamilton, who held that it was both +the right and the duty of the President to proclaim neutrality, was +strongly opposed to summoning Congress. In a brief record of the +proceedings he remarked that "whether this advice proceeded from a secret +wish to involve us in a war, or from a constitutional timidity, certain it +is such a step would have been fatal to the peace and tranquillity of +America." The matter was finally compromised by an unanimous agreement +that a proclamation should be issued "forbidding our citizens taking any +part in any hostilities on the seas with or against any of the belligerent +powers; and warning them against carrying to any such powers any of those +articles deemed contraband, according to the modern usage of nations; and +enjoining them from all acts and proceedings inconsistent with the duties +of a friendly nation toward those at war." Jefferson's scruples having +been appeased by avoiding the use of the term "neutrality," it was now +unanimously decided that Congress should not be called. It was further +decided that the French Minister should be received. Jefferson and +Randolph, however, were of opinion that he should be received without +conditions, while Hamilton, supported by Knox, held that the Minister +ought to be apprised of the intention to reserve the question whether the +treaties were still operative, "lest silence on that point should occasion +misconstruction." The even division of the Cabinet on this point was in +practical effect a victory for Jefferson. The Cabinet was unable to reach +any decision in the matter of treaty obligations. Jefferson held that +they were still operative; Hamilton, that they were "temporarily and +provisionally suspended." Knox sided with Hamilton, and Randolph, although +he at first sided with Jefferson, was so shaken in his opinion by +Hamilton's argument that he asked further time for consideration. +Eventually written opinions were submitted by Hamilton, Jefferson, and +Randolph, confirming the views they had previously expressed, and, as Knox +concurred with Hamilton, the Cabinet was still evenly divided on that +fundamental question. + +The proclamation, on the lines upon which all had agreed, was draughted by +Randolph who showed it to Jefferson in order to assure him that "there was +no such word as neutrality in it." Jefferson, whose own account this is, +did not mention that he raised any objection to the wording of the +proclamation at the time, though a few months later he referred to it in +his private correspondence as a piece of "pusillanimity," because it +omitted any expression of the affection of America for France. The +proclamation was issued on April 22, two weeks after the arrival of Genet +at Charleston. The procedure that had been adopted at Jefferson's instance +avoided none of the difficulties that a declaration of neutrality would +have encountered but rather increased them by putting the Government in a +false position. The mere omission of the term did not prevent it from +being known as a neutrality proclamation. It was at once so designated and +has always been so considered. Jefferson himself, in advising the American +foreign representatives of the policy of the Government, said that it +would be "a fair neutrality"; and, in writing to Madison a few days after +the proclamation had been issued, he remarked, "I fear a fair neutrality +will prove a disagreeable pill to our friends, though necessary to keep us +out of the calamities of war." + +By its terms, however, the proclamation was simply an admonition to +American citizens to keep out of the war, with notice that, if they got +into trouble by engaging in contraband trade, they would not receive the +protection of the United States, and would be liable to prosecution for +the commission of acts of a nature to "violate the law of nations." It is +manifest that the question whether or not the French treaty was still in +operation was of great practical importance. If it was still in force, the +treaty formed part of the law of the land, and American citizens might +plead immunity for acts done in pursuance of its provisions. Hamilton was +for suspending the treaty since a situation had arisen which made its +provisions inconsistent with a policy of neutrality. His main contention +was that the obligations imposed by the treaty of '78 were no longer +binding on the United States, since they contemplated only defensive war. +By her declaration of war France had taken the offensive, thereby +relieving the United States of her reciprocal obligations. Jefferson held +that the treaty was still operative, for even if its provisions apparently +required the United States to engage in the war, it did not follow that +such action would be an actual consequence. The possibility was "not yet +certain enough to authorize us in sound morality to declare, at this +moment, the treaties null." + +Meanwhile Genet was left in a position in which he had a perfect right to +claim all privileges conferred on France by the treaty. The result was a +curious chapter of diplomatic correspondence. Genet took an attitude of +indignant remonstrance at the duplicity of the American position. Did not +the United States have a treaty with France? By what authority then did +the Administration interfere with him in the enjoyment of his rights as +the representative of France, and interfere with American citizens in +their dealings with him? He shrewdly refrained from any attempt to defend +the capture of the _Grange_ by _L'Ambuscade_ in Delaware Bay. "The learned +conclusions of the Attorney-General of the United States, and the +declarations of the American Government, have been on this subject the +rule of my conduct. I have caused the prize to be given up." But he stood +firm on rights secured by the treaty. "As long as the States, assembled in +Congress, shall not have determined that this solemn engagement should not +be performed, no one has the right to shackle our operations, and to annul +their effect, by hindering those of our marines who may be in the American +ports, to take advantage of the commissions which the French Government +has charged me to give to them, authorizing them to defend themselves, and +fulfill, if they find an opportunity, all the duties of citizens against +the enemies of the State." + +This was using an argument borrowed from Jefferson's abundant stock of +constitutional limitations. Genet was, of course, advised of the +dissensions in the Cabinet. He was on such confidential terms with +Jefferson that he talked freely about the projected raid on Louisiana. +Jefferson noted in his diary that "he communicated these things to me, not +as Secretary of State, but as Mr. Jefferson." Jefferson told Genet that he +"did not care what insurrections should be excited in Louisiana," but that +"enticing officers and soldiers from Kentucky to go against Spain was +really putting a halter about their necks, for that they would assuredly +be hung if they commenced hostilities against a nation at peace with the +United States." So great is the force of legal pedantry that Jefferson was +unable to agree that the President should proclaim neutrality in clear and +positive terms; but that same pedantry was effectively employed in +covering the legal flaws of Jefferson's position in his notes to Genet. He +attenuated the treaty obligations by strict construction and also by +reservations founded on the general principles of international law. "By +our treaties with several of the belligerent Powers," he told Genet, "we +have established a style of peace with them. But without appealing to +treaties, we are at peace with them all by the law of nature: for, by +nature's law, man is at peace with man." Hence the propriety of forbidding +acts within American jurisdiction that would cause disturbance of this +peace, a point on which he quoted copiously from Vattel. Genet manifested +some irritation at being referred to treatises on international law when +he was resting his case on a treaty the validity of which Jefferson +acknowledged. "Let us not lower ourselves," he wrote, "to the level +of ancient politics by diplomatic subtleties. Let us be frank in +our overtures, in our declarations, as our two nations are in their +affections, and, by this plain and sincere conduct, arrive at the object +by the shortest way." + +Logically Jefferson's position was that of maintaining the validity of the +treaty while opposing the fulfillment of its obligations. At the same time +he had to carry on a correspondence with Hammond, the British Minister, +who was making complaints of the use of American ports for French +depredations on British commerce, and to him Jefferson pleaded entire +willingness to discharge in good faith the obligations of a neutral Power. +It may seem as if Jefferson was attempting the impossible feat of trying +to ride at one time two horses going in opposite directions, but such was +his dexterity that in appearance he was largely successful. Meanwhile he +contrived to throw on Hamilton and his adherents the blame for the +feebleness and inconsistency of national policy. In letters to his +Congressional lieutenants, Monroe in the Senate and Madison in the House, +he lamented "the anglophobia, secret antigallomany" that have "decided the +complexion of our dispositions." He spoke scornfully of Randolph, whom he +regarded as so irresolute that the votes in the Cabinet were "generally +two and a half against one and a half," by which he meant that Hamilton +and Knox stood together against Jefferson, while Randolph divided his +influence between the two actions. + +So inflamed was the state of public opinion that a rising against the +Government seemed possible. In a letter written twenty years later, John +Adams described "the terrorism excited by Genet, in 1793, when ten +thousand people in the streets of Philadelphia, day after day, threatened +to drag Washington out of his house, and effect a revolution in the +Government, or compel it to declare war in favor of the French Revolution +and against England." Adams related that he "judged it prudent and +necessary to order chests of arms from the War Office" to be brought into +his house to defend it from attack, and he had it from "the coolest +and firmest minds" that nothing but the outbreak of yellow fever in +Philadelphia that summer "could have saved the United States from a fatal +revolution of government." On the other hand, letters written by Hamilton +during the time of all this excitement show that he thought little of it, +although he more than anyone else was its target. In May, 1793, he wrote +that the number of persons who went to meet Genet "would be stated high at +a hundred," and he did not believe that a tenth part of the city +participated in the meetings and addresses of Genet's sympathizers. "A +crowd will always draw a crowd, whatever be the purpose. Curiosity will +supply the place, of attachment to, or interest in, the object." +Washington's own letters at this period show no trace of concern about his +personal safety though he smarted under the attacks on his motives. An +entry of August 2, 1793, in Jefferson's private diary, forming the volume +since known as "The Anas," relates that at a cabinet meeting Knox +exhibited a print entitled the funeral of George W----n, in which the +President was placed on a guillotine. "The President was much inflamed; +got into one of those passions when he cannot command himself; ran much on +the personal abuse which had been bestowed upon him; defied any man on +earth to produce one single act of his since he had been in the Government +which was not done from the purest motives; that he had never repented but +once the having slipped the moment of resigning his office, and that was +every moment since; that by God he had rather be in his grave than in his +present situation; that he had rather be on his farm than to be made +emperor of the world; and that they were charging him with wanting to be +king; that that rascal Freneau sent him three of his papers every day, as +if he thought he would become the distributor of his papers; that he could +see in this nothing but an impudent design to insult him." + +Freneau was one of Jefferson's subordinates in the State Department, +combining with his duties there the editorship of a newspaper engaged in +spreading the calumny that the Administration was leaning toward +monarchy through the influence of Hamilton and his friends, who despised +republicanism, hated France, and loved England. This journalistic campaign +went on under the protection of Jefferson to the disturbance of an +administration of which Jefferson himself formed a part. This circumstance +has given trouble to Jefferson's biographers, and it is now somewhat +difficult to make those allowances to which Jefferson is entitled from the +candid historian. Such behavior at the present day would be regarded as +treacherous, for it is now a settled doctrine that it is the duty of a +member of the President's Cabinet to give unreserved support to his +policy, or to resign. But at that period, neither in England nor in the +United States, did this view of cabinet solidarity prevail. It was not +considered against the rules of the game for a cabinet official to use any +opportunities within reach for promoting his aims or to boast such +behavior as patriotic zeal. Jefferson, who wanted to resign and stayed on +only at Washington's earnest desire, certainly rendered a service to the +Administration, which was then so unpopular that Jefferson's connection +with it was a political asset of great value. + +Hamilton also made use of the services of journalism. When on June +29,1793, publication began of a series of eight articles signed +"Pacificus," it was well known that Hamilton was the author. The acute +analysis and cogent reasoning of these articles have given them classic +rank as an exposition of national rights and duties. Upon minds open to +reason their effect was marked. Jefferson wrote to Madison, "For God's +sake, my dear Sir, take up your pen, select the most striking heresies, +and cut him to pieces in the face of the public." Madison did take up his +pen, but he laid it down again without attempting to controvert Hamilton's +argument. The five articles which Madison wrote over the signature +"Helvidius" do not proceed farther into the subject than a preliminary +examination of executive authority, in which he laid down principles of +strict construction of the Constitution which have never been adopted in +practice and which are now interesting only as specimens of dialectic +subtlety. + +Although as an electioneering tactician Jefferson had superior ability, +neither he nor any of his associates was a match for Hamilton in debate. +As the issues were discussed, the Jeffersonians lost ground, and for this +they put the blame on Genet. By July 7, Jefferson was writing to Madison +that Genet "renders my position immensely difficult," and thereafter in +the correspondence of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, Genet figures as a +rash man whose indiscretions embarrassed his friends and impeded his own +objects. This view has to a large extent passed over into history, but +when it is considered that Genet did not come to America for Jefferson's +comfort but to accomplish certain things for his own government, it must +be owned that he had considerable success. Although his means were small, +he managed to engage in the French service an active American fleet +including such vessels as _Le Cassius, L'Ami de le Point à Petre, L'Amour +de la Liberté, La Vengeance, La Montagne, Le Vainqueur de la Bastille, La +Carmagnole, L'Espérance, Le Citoyen Genet, Sans Pareil_, and _Le +Petit Démocrate._ The last-mentioned vessel was originally an English +merchantman, the brig _Little Sarah_, brought into Philadelphia harbor as +a French prize. When it was learned that this vessel had been armed and +equipped for service as a French man-of-war, Governor Mifflin of +Pennsylvania gave orders that the vessel should be detained. Genet +threatened forcible resistance, and a clash might have occurred, had +Jefferson not intervened. He went to Genet's house on Sunday to persuade +him not to move the vessel until the President could decide the case. +Genet refused to give any promise, but remarked that the vessel would +probably not be ready to depart for several days. Jefferson thereupon +exerted himself successfully to prevent the taking of any steps to detain +the vessel. + +Washington, harassed and confused by the dissensions of his Cabinet, now +desired that the advice of the justices of the Supreme Court be taken. +Hamilton was opposed to a proceeding which involved prejudgment by the +Court on questions which might come before it in due course of law, and +which seemed to him also to be an avoidance of the proper responsibility +of the executive. Nevertheless he took part in preparing the case, and of +the twenty-nine questions submitted to the Supreme Court, Hamilton framed +twenty-one, Jefferson seven, and Washington himself the last. Jefferson +notified Genet of this consultation as an additional reason for patience, +"the object of it being to obtain the best advice possible on the sense of +the laws and treaties respecting the several cases. I am persuaded you +will think the delay well compensated." Genet did not think so, and _Le +Petit Démocrate_ put to sea in defiance of American authority. + +The justices declined to answer the questions, and the Administration had +to face its responsibilities on its own judgment of its rights and duties. +At least one member of the Administration had clear and positive ideas on +that subject. Hamilton, who in his "Pacificus" letters had given a +masterly exposition of international obligations, now took up the +particular issues raised by Genet's claims, which at that time were +receiving ardent championship. Freneau's _National Gazette_ held that +Genet had really acted "too tamely," had been "too accommodating for the +peace of the United States." Hamilton now replied by a series of articles +in the _Daily Advertiser_ over the signature "No Jacobin," in which +Genet's behavior was reviewed. After five articles had appeared in rapid +succession, the series was abruptly terminated because Hamilton was taken +down by the yellow fever. + +The journalistic war was almost in the nature of a duel between the State +and the Treasury Departments. Genet must have been amused. Lack of funds +hindered his activities more than anything else. Jefferson had advised +Washington that, "if the instalments falling due in this year could be +advanced without incurring more danger," it would be well to make the +payments, as he "thought it very material to keep alive the friendly +sentiments of France." But this was a matter which pertained to Hamilton's +own department, and in that field his advice controlled Washington. Genet +could do nothing in this direction, and before the affair of _Le Petit +Démocrate_ he had ceased to expect financial aid. + +Jefferson was now so angry and indignant that he no longer opposed the +suggestions that had been made in cabinet meetings that Genet should be +dismissed, and the note on that subject which he drafted for transmission +to the French Government is an able document. The French Government, with +ample reason, conditioned the recall of Genet upon the recall of Morris, +who was succeeded by James Monroe. Meanwhile Genet's situation had become +perilous through revolution at home. On October 16, 1793, his Government +issued an order for his arrest. The United States now became his asylum. +He acquired citizenship, married a daughter of Governor Clinton of New +York, and settled down to a useful and respected career as a country +gentleman devoted to the improvement of agriculture. He died at his home, +Schodak, New York, in 1834, after having founded an American family. + +At the time when Genet, favored by the exasperated state of Western +sentiment over the navigation of the lower Mississippi, was promoting an +attack upon the Spanish posts, the Administration had already been engaged +for a long time in efforts to secure "full enjoyment of that navigation," +as well as a settlement of the southwestern boundary. In December, 1791, +Washington nominated William Carmichael, chargé d'affaires in Spain, and +William Short, then chargé d'affaires in France, commissioners to make a +treaty. Their efforts proved unsuccessful, and in 1794 the Spanish +commissioner in the United States gave notice that they were not +acceptable personally, and that it "was hoped that some other person would +be appointed, with full powers, to settle this treaty, and graced with +such a character as became the royalty to which he was accredited." +Washington then nominated Thomas Pinckney, at that time minister in +London, as minister plenipotentiary in Spain. When Pinckney arrived on the +scene he was met with the dilatory methods then characteristic of Spanish +diplomacy, and finally he had to bring matters to an issue by demanding +his passports. His determination so impressed the Spanish Government that +it finally consented to a treaty, October 27, 1795, which fixed the +southern boundary of the United States and opened the Mississippi River to +navigation. The boundary line was to run east along the thirty-first +parallel of latitude from the Mississippi to the Appalachicola, thence +along the latter river to its junction with the Flint, thence to the +headwaters of the St. Mary's, and along its course to the Atlantic Ocean. +The free navigation of the Mississippi was coupled with the privilege of +depositing merchandise at New Orleans "without paying any other duty than +a fair price for the hire of the stores." This privilege was to be +continued after three years, or "an equivalent establishment" on the banks +of the Mississippi was to be assigned to citizens of the United States--a +provision which was not free from ambiguities and which furnished fresh +material for controversy a few years later. + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +A SETTLEMENT WITH ENGLAND + +According to Jefferson, the President originally took the same view of the +French treaty that he did. Jefferson relates that on April 18, 1793, +Washington spoke of having "never had a doubt of the validity of the +French treaty," and he notes that in the cabinet disputes Washington was +inclined to his views. As the embarrassments of the Administration +thickened, the President, it is true, leaned more and more toward +Hamilton, but this inclination was due more to necessity than to personal +partiality. The explanation stands out in Jefferson's own account of +events. Hamilton was clear, positive, and decided as to what to do and how +to do it. Jefferson was active in finding objections but not in finding +ways and means of action. This contrast became sharper as time went on, +and, as Washington was in a position where he had to do something, he was +forced to rely on Hamilton more and more. Jefferson held that it +would be inexpedient for the general government to assume the duty of +fortifying the harbors, and that there was no constitutional authority for +establishing a military academy. On November 28, 1793, there was a +prolonged wrangle over these issues at a cabinet meeting, which the +President ended by saying that he would recommend the military academy to +Congress, and "let them decide for themselves whether the Constitution +authorized it or not." This was the last of the quarrelsome cabinet +sessions recorded by Jefferson. He vacated the office of Secretary of +State, December 31, 1793, and thereafter the ascendancy of Hamilton in the +Cabinet was indisputed. + +An immediate effect of the change was to give new vigor to efforts at +reaching a settlement with Great Britain. The old troubles over her +retention of the western posts still continued, and in addition to them +came new difficulties arising from war measures. On January 30, 1793, +Thomas Pinckney, then American minister to Great Britain, wrote that war +was about to begin, "and although our claim to a free intercourse is +founded in reason and our national right, yet, as we have no armed +neutrality the members whereof this people have to fear, they may stop our +vessels bound to French ports with provisions." What was feared soon +happened. By the French decree of 1793, the French colonies were opened to +American trade and West Indian commerce flourished. This was now afflicted +by contraband regulations laid down by Great Britain, under which many +American vessels were seized for carrying cargoes to or from French ports. +Although Genet's activities and the extent to which they were indulged by +the United States did not tend to promote friendly relations with Great +Britain, yet it does not appear that the British policy was inspired by +resentment. The regulations as defined by instructions issued on June 8, +1793, made liable to detention all vessels carrying "corn, flour, or meal" +to French ports, with the proviso that the cargoes might be purchased on +behalf of the British government and the ships might then be released with +a due allowance for freight, or they might be allowed to dispose of their +cargoes in the ports of any country in amity with Great Britain. +Vessels attempting to enter a blockaded port were liable to seizure and +condemnation, save that the ships of Denmark and Sweden might be seized +only if they should persist in trying to enter after once having been +turned back. + +Conciliatory explanations were made by Hammond, the British minister, in +notifying our State Department. He pointed out that only corn and flour +were contraband, that the regulations did not extend to other provisions, +and that they secured "to the proprietors, supposing them neutral, a full +indemnification for any loss they may possibly sustain." The special +privilege extended to Denmark and Sweden was attributed to treaty +requirements and therefore could not be regarded as invidious. In reply +Jefferson at home and Pinckney abroad argued in behalf of the United +States for the principle that free ships make free goods, but Great +Britain would not hearken to a doctrine that struck at the efficacy of her +sea power. + +Washington besought Congress to support the efforts of the Administration +by making, for the defense of American interests, such provision as would +inspire respect. In his address of December 3, 1793, he observed: "There +is a rank due to the United States among nations which will be withheld, +if not absolutely lost, by the reputation of weakness. If we desire to +avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, +one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be +known that we are at all times ready for war." The answer of Congress was +the grudging consent to some naval preparations already recounted. + +After the passage of the navy bill Sedgwick of Massachusetts endeavored to +interest the House in the general subject of military preparation. On +March 12, 1794, he introduced resolutions for raising fifteen additional +regiments for two years, the term to be extended for three years in case +of the outbreak of war. In advocating this measure he spoke of the sorry +experience of the country in depending upon militia. Their "want of +discipline occasions them to commit a great waste on the property of their +fellow citizens, besides a waste of public property." As long as we depend +upon militia, "European nations will not consider us as able to retaliate +and assert our rights." Nothing came of this sensible proposal, but +Sedgwick made an auxiliary suggestion which Congress did adopt. He urged +that the sailing of vessels from the ports of the United States be +prohibited. An embargo would hold over foreign nations the threat that, +unless they behaved themselves, their supplies from the United States +might be cut off. Such embargo was voted for a month from March 26, 1794, +which was subsequently extended for another month, and the President was +authorized to lay, regulate, and revoke embargoes during the recess of +Congress. Congress regarded the embargo policy as a cheap way out of a +difficult situation, but this method was really not only far more costly +to the nation than would have been the straightforward course of arming +for defense, but at the same time accomplished nothing. Dayton of New +Jersey proposed to supplement the embargo by the sequestration of all +debts due from citizens of the United States to British subjects. Clark of +New Jersey outdid his colleague by proposing to prohibit all commercial +intercourse between the United States and Great Britain until such time +as that country should surrender the western posts and should make +restitution for all losses sustained by American citizens. + +Violent speeches were made on these proposals at the very time when the +House was refusing to support either an army or a navy. Sedgwick +introduced some good sense into a debate that was alternating between +blatant vaporing and legal pedantry, by pointing out that, under the +Constitution, the President of the United States ought to be allowed +to have some say about the matter. It was the function of the President +to treat with foreign powers, and yet the House was now considering action +which was in effect "prescribing the terms of treaty, and restraining +the constitutional power from treating on any other terms." This argument +was used effectively by a number of speakers. It turned the main +position taken by the advocates of non-intercourse, which was that the +real objection came from the bondholders who feared that the ensuing +loss of revenue might prevent them from getting their interest. Such +imputations of sordid motive became fruitless when the issue was raised of +the constitutional authority of the President, but the advocates of +non-intercourse met this new point of view by pointing out that the +Constitution gave Congress the right to regulate commerce. The feeling +against Great Britain was so great that the House was bent on indulging +it, and on April 25, 1794, the non-intercourse bill was passed by a vote +of 58 to 34. The Senate was so evenly divided that, on the motion to pass +the bill to its third reading, there was a tie vote, and Vice-President +Adams, who was called upon for a casting vote, gave it against the bill. +About a month later in the House another attempt was made to carry the +policy of non-intercourse by a joint resolution, but by this time a +reaction in favor of the Administration had set in and the resolution +received only 24 yeas to 46 nays, James Madison being among those who +stuck to the proposal to the last. + +While the House was abandoning itself to reckless mischief-making, +Washington was striving to arrange matters by negotiation. The +perplexities of his situation were great and varied. As a military man +he knew that American jurisdiction was precarious so long as Great +Britain held the interior. The matter had been the subject of prolix +correspondence between Jefferson and Hammond, but the American demands +that Great Britain should surrender the frontier posts in accordance with +the treaty of peace had been met by demands that America, in accordance +with that same treaty, should first satisfy various claims of British +subjects for restitution, indemnity, and relief. The regular diplomatic +machinery stuck fast at this point, both at home and abroad. In one of his +gossipy, confidential letters Fisher Ames remarked that Hammond was a most +"petulant, impudent" man, habitually railing against the conduct of our +government "with a gabble that his feelings render doubly unintelligible." +But Pinckney, our representative in England, was equally undiplomatic. He +was "sour and also Gallican"; although calm in manner, "he had prejudices, +and unless a man has a mind above them, he can do little service there." + +Washington decided that it would be wise to send a special envoy to deal +with all the points at issue. He thought first of Hamilton, but was warned +that the Senate would not ratify such an appointment. Hamilton recommended +John Jay as "the only man in whose qualifications for success there would +be thorough confidence." Jay was then chief-justice, but the crisis was so +dangerous as to justify Washington in calling him even from that important +post. He had matchless qualifications for the mission. He had been +minister to Spain, 1778-1782; he had been one of the commissioners who had +negotiated the treaty of peace of 1783; he had been Secretary of Foreign +Affairs, 1784-1789; so that he had had an experience which familiarized +him with every detail of the questions at issue. As a negotiator he had +always gained marked success by acting upon his own principle that "a +little good-natured wisdom often does more in politics than much slippery +craft." Jay showed fine patriotism in accepting the appointment. He +remarked to his friends that no man could frame a treaty with Great +Britain without making himself unpopular and odious and he accepted the +mission under "a conviction that to refuse it would be to desert my duty +for the sake of my ease and domestic concerns and comforts." + +Jay was nominated as envoy extraordinary on April 16, 1794, and, after +three days of violent debate, the appointment was confirmed by the +Senate. The event did not moderate the rage of the House for immediate +action. Some members urged that it was indelicate for the House to be +passing reprisals at a time when the Executive was attempting friendly +negotiations; but the reply was made that, if there was any indelicacy, it +was on the part of the Executive, inasmuch as the House proceedings had +been already begun when the President decided to nominate an envoy +extraordinary. While Congress was fuming and wrangling, Jay was proceeding +with his difficult task. He sailed on May 12, and on June 8 landed +in England where he was hospitably received. Despite these personal +attentions, the differences to be adjusted were so numerous and +complicated that on the surface the situation looked almost hopeless. +Conditions, however, were really more favorable than they appeared to be. +A change, latent but influential, had taken place in the mental attitude +of the governing class in England. There had been a notion that American +independence would not last long and that the country would eventually be +restored to the British Crown. The drift of events was rather in that +direction until Hamilton's measures gave the ascendancy to the forces +making for American national development. The practical statesmanship of +Great Britain perhaps saw more clearly the significance of what was taking +place than did that of America itself, and it was prepared to reckon with +this new condition. Moreover, the European commotion resulting from the +French Revolution had brought to the front a new set of interests and +anxieties, for the free handling of which a settlement of differences with +the United States might be advantageous. The effect of such considerations +was at least to render the situation more manageable than might have been +expected, and Jay improved his opportunities with admirable tact. + +In pursuance of his principle of bringing "good-natured wisdom" to bear, +Jay suggested to Lord Grenville, the British Secretary for Foreign +Affairs, that they should dispense with written communications, and merely +meet and converse informally "until there should appear a probability +of coming to some amicable mutual understanding." Even after such +understanding should be put into writing, it was not to be regarded as +official or binding, but simply as an exchange of private memoranda. So +strictly was this informal method adhered to that the regular force of +secretaries and copyists had nothing to do with the proceedings until the +treaty was almost ready for signing. Jay had been instructed to demand +compensation for some three thousand slaves who had followed the British +troops when they departed, but Lord Grenville stood firm on the principle +that the slave, once under the British flag, became a free man, the +property rights of the former owner thereupon becoming extinct and not +forming a subject for compensation. Jay, who really held the same opinion, +had to yield the point. It was agreed that the western posts should be +evacuated by June 1, 1796, an arrangement which would allow the British +government to retain them about two years longer. That government had +already justified its retention of these posts by averring that the United +States had not complied with the articles of the peace treaty relating to +British debts. Jay was not in a position to argue the point with any +force, for when he was Secretary of Foreign Affairs he had advised +Congress that these articles "have been constantly violated on our part by +legislative acts, then and still existing and operating"; and that Great +Britain was therefore not to blame for retaining the posts. The British +government was undoubtedly cognizant of this report, and Jay could not +make any effective opposition to a proviso which in effect said to the +United States, "before surrendering the posts we will wait and see whether +you intend to fulfill your agreements." The root of the trouble--an evil +often felt and still experienced in the United States--was defective +sovereignty, an inability of the whole to control the behavior of its +parts. Jay could not deny that the peace treaty had been violated by state +legislation, and only by the humiliating means of an avowal of its +impotence could he exonerate the national government from the imputation +of bad faith. The matter was disposed of by provision for a joint +commission to decide upon all cases in which it was alleged that +unlawful impediments had been placed in the way of collection of debts due +British subjects, and by the United States undertaking payment of the +awards. A similar commission was to pass upon American claims for British +violation of neutral rights. This arrangement was a concession whose +practical value was eventually shown by the fact that as a result American +merchants received some millions of dollars. + +Jay displayed marked adroitness as a negotiator in dealing with the issues +growing out of past differences, but he made an extraordinary slip in +providing for commercial relations between the two countries. In their +general tenor the articles displayed broad liberality. Between all British +dominions in Europe and the territories of the United States there was to +be "a reciprocal and perfect liberty of commerce and navigation." American +vessels were to "be admitted and hospitably received" in the ports of East +India, and, although participation in the coasting trade was prohibited, +it was provided that this restriction should not prevent ships going from +one port of discharge to another. The East Indian trade was not, however, +so important as the nearer West Indian trade, and with respect to the +latter the treaty provisions were narrow and exacting. American vessels +were limited to seventy tons burden, and it was provided that "the United +States will prohibit and restrain the carrying away of molasses, sugar, +coffee, or cotton in American vessels, either for his Majesty's Islands or +the United States, to any part of the world except the United States, +reasonable sea-stores excepted." Jay, in a letter to Washington, excused +his acceptance of this restraint on the ground that "the commercial part +of the treaty may be terminated at the expiration of two years after the +war, and in the meantime a state of things more auspicious to negotiation +will probably arise, especially if the next session of Congress should not +interpose fresh obstacles." + +The treaty was silent on the subject of impressment, but Jay's failure on +that point was just what was to have been expected in view of the +unwillingness of the United States to defend its commerce. Impressment was +not abandoned until many years afterwards, and then not through treaty +stipulation but because the United States had a navy and could resist +aggression on the seas. In its treatment of the subject of contraband, the +treaty took positions in accord with the international law then received, +but in one respect it made a distinct advance. Provision was made that war +between the two countries should never become the pretext for confiscation +of debts or annulment of contracts. This position involves the noble +principle that war should never supersede justice but should be the +servant of justice. Great practical advantage was experienced from it in +the War of 1812, when the United States was a creditor nation. + +On the whole, Jay's diplomacy was as enlightened as it was shrewd, but at +the time it exposed him to furious denunciation which he disdained to +notice. "I had read the history of Greece," he wrote to a friend, "and was +apprised of the politics and proceedings of more recent date." The +philosophic composure which he drew from his knowledge of history enabled +him to behave with calm dignity while he was being burned in effigy, and +while mob orators were heaping insult and calumny on his name. After a +struggle that shook the Government, the treaty was ratified by the Senate +on June 24, 1795, with the exception of the article about the West Indian +trade, an omission to which Great Britain made no objection. The treaty +was extremely unpopular, chiefly because unreasonable expectations of its +provisions had been entertained. People had yet to learn that national +independence has its defects as well as its advantages, and that the +traditional intimacy between the West Indies and America was now on a +footing of privilege and not of right. The great benefits conferred by the +treaty were therefore not appreciated, and so violent was the fury its +terms excited that it was perhaps fortunate that Jay did not resume his +seat on the Supreme Bench. Before his return from England and before the +details of the treaty had been made public, he had been elected governor +of New York, and to accept this office he resigned the chief-justiceship. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +PARTY VIOLENCE + +When, in July, 1793, Jefferson notified the President of his wish to +resign from the Cabinet, Hamilton's resignation had already been before +the President for several weeks. Ever since the removal of Congress to +Philadelphia, Hamilton's circumstances had become less and less able to +endure the strain of maintaining his official position on a salary of +$3500 a year. He had fully experienced the truth of the warnings he had +received that, if he gave himself to the public service, he might spend +his time and substance without receiving gratitude for his efforts or +credit for his motives. His vocation for statesmanship, however, was too +genuine and his courage too high for such results to dishearten him. He +had now accomplished what he had set out to do in securing the adoption of +the measures which established the new government, and he no longer +regarded his administrative position as essential to the success of his +policy. Meanwhile the need had become urgent that he should resume the +practice of his profession to provide for his family. It was not in his +nature, however, to leave the front when a battle was coming on, and, +although he gave early notice of his intention so that Washington should +have ample time to look about for his successor, the resignation was not +to become effective until Congress had met and shown its temper. According +to Jefferson, Washington once remarked to him that he supposed Hamilton +"had fixed on the latter part of next session to give an opportunity to +Congress to examine into his conduct." Although Hamilton had made up his +mind to retire, he intended to march out with flying colors, as became the +victor on a hard-fought field. So far, he had met and beaten all enemies +who had dared to assail his honor; he meant to beat them again if they +renewed the attack, and he had word that one encounter was coming more +formidable than any before. + +Hamilton's success in carrying his measures through Congress, by sheer +dexterity of management when numbers were against him, added intense +bitterness to the natural chagrin felt by the defeated faction. Men like +Jefferson and Madison were subject to traditions of behavior that required +them to maintain a certain style of public decorum no matter how they +might rage in private. But new men with new manners were coming on the +scene, and among them the opposition to Hamilton had found a new leader-- +William Branch Giles of Virginia. He was a Princeton graduate of the class +of 1781, had studied for the bar, and had been admitted to practice in +1786. To the full legal equipment of the period he added an energy and an +audacity that speedily brought him legal and political distinction. He was +active and outspoken in advocating the adoption of the new Constitution, +at a time when popular sentiment in Virginia was strongly inclined to be +adverse. He had no hesitation about undertaking unpopular causes, and +hence British debt cases became a marked feature of his practice. Virginia +State law had suspended the recovery of debts due British subjects until +reparation had been made for the loss of negro slaves taken away by the +British during the war, and until the western posts had been surrendered. +But the peace treaty of 1783 stipulated that creditors on neither side +should meet with lawful impediment in the recovery of debts, and by the +new Constitution treaties had become part of the law of the land. On the +basis of a national jurisdiction in conflict with the Virginia statutes, +Giles acted so energetically, that he himself related that by 1792 he had +been employed in at least one hundred British debt cases, and was "as +successful in collecting monies under judgments as is usually the case +with citizens." + +Comprehension of the true nature of the struggle in which Giles became +conspicuous must start with the fact that the Constitution was reluctantly +accepted and with great uneasiness as to possible consequences. In the +Virginia convention of 1788, it was declared that the new Constitution was +essentially a scheme of the military men to subject the people to their +rule. This argument was not so much met as avoided by the declaration that +there could be no tyranny while Washington lived. The rejoinder was +obvious: what if he should not be able to withstand military influence? +What if, in spite of him, the government should be given a dangerous +character that would develop after he passed away? Jefferson had felt +misgivings on this score from the first, and Madison experienced them as +soon as differences on practical measures arose between himself and +Hamilton. Jefferson and Madison wanted the government to be made +respectable but not strong. Hamilton saw what they could not see--and +indeed what few at that time could see--that a government cannot be made +respectable without being made strong. + +Washington was probably without any clear views of his own on +constitutional questions, and what evidence there is on this point +supports Jefferson's claim that Washington was more disposed to confide in +him and in Madison than in Hamilton. When Jefferson relinquished the State +Department, Washington proposed to give Madison the post, but was told he +would not think of taking it. Washington then transferred Randolph to the +position because he could not get anybody else of suitable capacity. +Whatever Washington's personal inclinations may have been, he was in a +position in which he had to act. Hamilton was the only one whom he could +find to show him the way, and thus circumstances more and more compelled +Washington to accept Hamilton's guidance, while at the same time it seemed +increasingly clear to the opposition that it was above all things +necessary to crush Hamilton. This state of sentiment must be kept in mind +in order to make intelligible the rabid violence of the party warfare +which had long been going on against Hamilton, and which--now that +Jefferson had left the Cabinet--was soon to be extended to Washington +himself. + +When Giles went to the front in this war, both Jefferson and Madison were +busy behind the firing line supplying munitions. Giles was elected in 1790 +to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Theodorick Bland, and took his +seat in the third session of the First Congress. The assumption bill had +been passed, but that was only the first of the series of financial +measures proposed by Hamilton, and Giles followed Madison's lead in +unsuccessful resistance to the excise and to the national bank. Giles was +re-elected to the Second Congress, which opened on October 24, 1791. In +the course of this session he became the leader of the opposition, not by +supplanting Madison but through willingness to take responsibilities from +which Madison, like Jefferson, shrank, because he, too, preferred activity +behind the scenes. This situation has often occurred in parliamentary +history--a zealous party champion scouting the scruples and restraints +that hampered the official leadership, and assuming an independent line of +attack with the covert favor and assistance of that leadership. In the +effort to crush Hamilton a series of raids was led by Giles, whose +appetite for fighting could never be extinguished no matter how severe +might be his defeat. + +After much preliminary skirmishing which put heavy tasks on Hamilton in +the way of getting up reports and documents, a grand attack was made on +January 23, 1793. A series of resolutions, in drafting which Madison and +Jefferson took part, was presented, calling for minute particulars of all +loans, names of all persons to whom payments had been made, statements of +semi-monthly balances between the Treasury and the Bank, and an account of +the sinking fund and of unexpended appropriations,--all from the beginning +of the government until the end of 1792. The resolution required Hamilton +to complete and state all the accounts of the Treasury Department up to a +period only a little over three weeks before the resolutions were +presented, and to give a detailed transcript of particulars. But +the Treasury accounts were in such perfect order, and so great was +Hamilton's capacity for work, that the information called for was promptly +transmitted in reports dated February 4, February 13, and February 14. At +the same time Hamilton hit back by observing that the resolutions "were +not moved without a pretty copious display of the reasons on which they +were founded," which "were of a nature to excite attention, to beget +alarm, to inspire doubts." + +Giles was soon able to renew the attack. Jefferson and Madison helped him +to prepare a series of nine resolutions which were presented on February +27. They specifically charged Hamilton with violation of law, neglect of +duty, transgression of the proper limits of his authority, and indecorum +in his attitude towards the House. The series ended with a resolution that +a copy should be transmitted to the President. The proceeding was a sort +of impeachment, framed with the purpose not of bringing Hamilton to trial +but of forcing him out of the Cabinet. The charges against him were purely +technical and were actuated by malevolence. Hamilton, though not allowed +to come into the House to defend himself, nevertheless participated in the +debate indirectly by writing the speech delivered by William Smith and +credited to him in the Annals of Congress. It was so generally felt in +Congress that the resolutions were founded on nothing more substantial +than spite that Giles could not hold his forces together, and as the +debate proceeded the number of his adherents dwindled. The House began +voting at a night session on March 1st. After the third resolution had +been defeated by a vote of 40 to 12, an attempt was made to withdraw the +others, but such action was refused, and one by one the remaining +resolutions were defeated by increasing numbers until only seven voted +with Giles at the last, among them James Madison. It was a signal triumph +for Hamilton. But his enemies were not disposed to accept the decision as +final, and Jefferson thought it might be revised at the next session. + +It was not until the Second Congress that the old factions finally +disappeared and the formation of national parties began. The issue +over the adoption of the Constitution had produced Federalists and +Anti-Federalists, but with its adoption Anti-Federalism as such became a +thing of the past. Opposition to the Government had to betake itself to +the political platform provided by the successful introduction of the new +system of government, and was obliged to distinguish itself from official +Federalism by attacking not the Constitution but the way in which the +Constitution was being construed and applied. The suspicion, jealousy, and +dislike with which the new government was regarded, in many quarters were +reflected from the beginning in the behavior of Congress. There was from +the first a disposition to find fault and to antagonize, and as time went +on this disposition was aggravated by the great scope allowed to +misunderstanding and calumny from the lack of direct contact between +Congress and the Administration. In founding a new party, Jefferson only +organized forces that were demanding leadership. He consolidated the +existing opposition, and gave it the name "Republican Party," implying +that its purpose was to resist the rise of monarchy and the growth of +royal prerogative in the system of government which was introduced by the +adoption of the Constitution. It is clear enough now that the implication +was mere calumny; the notion that Washington was either aiming at monarchy +or was conniving at it through ignorance was a grotesque travesty of the +shameful situation that actually existed; but fictions, pretenses, +slanders, and calumnies that would never have been allowed utterance if +the Administration and Congress had stood face to face now had opportunity +to spread and infect public opinion. Hence the tone of extreme rage that +dishonors the political contention of the period and the malice that +stains the correspondence of the faction chiefs. + +Although a distinct party opposition appeared and assumed a name during +the Second Congress, it disavowed as yet any opposition to Washington +and represented its actual attempts to thwart the measures of the +Administration as efforts to counteract Washington's evil advisers. The +old constitutional tradition that the king can do no wrong, which still +lingered in American politics, tended to an analogous elevation of the +presidential office above the field of party strife, while leaving the +President's Cabinet advisers fully exposed to it, just as in the case of +the ministers of the Crown in England. Allowance must be made for the +effect of this tradition when judgment is passed on the political +activities of the period. Considered with regard to present standards of +political behavior, the course of Jefferson in fomenting opposition to the +Administration of which he was a part wears the appearance of despicable +intrigue. There was nothing mean or low about it, however, in the opinion +of himself and his friends, and even his enemies would have allowed it to +be within the rules of the game. Jefferson did his best to defeat in +Congress measures adopted by Washington on the advice of Hamilton, and he +also did his best to undermine Washington's confidence in Hamilton. In his +personal dealings with Washington, Jefferson had every advantage, for he +had Washington's ear and could, more readily than Hamilton, direct the +currents of unconscious influence that produce the will to believe. But +Jefferson's animosity kept tempting him to overplay his hand in a way that +was fatal in the face of an antagonist so keen and so dexterous as +Hamilton. + +In a letter of May 23, 1792, Jefferson presented to Washington an +elaborate indictment of Hamilton's policy as a justification of his own +behavior in organizing an opposition party in Congress. He charged +Hamilton with subverting the character of the Government by his financial +measures, the logical consequence of which would be "a change from the +present republican form of government to that of a monarchy." Hence the +need for organizing "the Republican party who wish to preserve the +government in its present form." Washington thought over the matter, and-- +according to Jefferson--reopened the subject in a personal interview on +July 10. Being now fully apprised of Jefferson's case, Washington himself +prepared a brief of it, divided into numbered sections, and applied to +Hamilton for a statement of his ideas upon the "enumerated discontents," +framed so "that those ideas may be applied to the correspondent numbers." +The proceeding is a fine instance of the care which Washington exercised +in forming his opinions. Of course, as soon as charges of corruption and +misdemeanor were reduced to exact statement the matter was put just where +Hamilton wanted to get it, and in the grasp of his powerful hands its +trashy character was promptly displayed. It is needless to go into +details, now that public loans, the funding of floating indebtedness in +excess of current income, and the maintenance of a national banking system +to supply machinery of credit, are such well recognized functions that the +wonder is how any statesman could have ever thought otherwise. Jefferson's +arguments, when read with the prepossessions of the present day, are so +apt to leave an impression of absurdity that they constitute a troublesome +episode for his biographers. + +Jefferson's maneuvering utterly failed to injure Hamilton in Washington's +esteem, but it did have the effect of so thoroughly disgusting +Washington with public life that at one time he was determined to +refuse a reelection, and even went so far as to ask Madison to prepare a +valedictory address for him. He consented to serve another term most +reluctantly, and not until he had been besought to do so by the leaders on +both sides. Jefferson was as urgent as was Hamilton. While Washington was +still wavering, he received a strong letter from Edmund Randolph that +doubtless touched his soldierly pride. The letter closed with this sharp +argument: + +"You suffered yourself to yield when the voice of your country summoned +you to the Administration. Should a civil war arise, you cannot stay at +home. And how much easier will it be to disperse the factions, which are +rushing to this catastrophe, than to subdue them after they shall appear +in arms? It is the fixed opinion of the world, that you surrender nothing +incomplete." + +An appeal of this character was the most effective that could possibly be +addressed to Washington, but in consenting he grumbled over the hardship +of having to keep in active service at his time of life after already +having served for so long a time. He complained that his hearing was +getting bad and that "perhaps his other faculties might fall off and he +not be sensible of it." + +Acquiescence in Washington's candidacy made it practically impossible for +the Republican party to manifest its true strength. The compliment of +Republican support was awarded to Governor Clinton of New York, who +together with Washington received all the electoral votes of Virginia, +New York, North Carolina, and Georgia. A stray electoral vote from +Pennsylvania brought Clinton's total up to 50, whereas John Adams received +77 votes which re-elected him as vice-president. Jefferson received only +four electoral votes, all from Kentucky, but his poor showing in this +election was wholly due to the intricacy of the electoral system, and his +party meanwhile developed so much strength that when the Third Congress +met on December 2, 1793, the Republicans were strong enough to elect the +speaker. + +Undeterred by this circumstance, Hamilton forced the fighting. The +Jeffersonians had been excusing the defeat they had received in attacking +Hamilton in the previous Congress on the ground that the House had acted +without allowing sufficient time for due examination of the evidence. This +plea supplied to Hamilton an occasion for prompt action. Exactly two weeks +after the meeting of Congress he addressed a letter to the Speaker, in +which he declared: "Unwilling to leave the matter on such a footing, I +have concluded to request of the House of Representatives, as I now do, +that a new inquiry may be, without delay, instituted in some mode, most +effectual for an accurate and thorough investigation; and I will add, that +the more comprehensive it is, the more agreeable it will be to me." + +Giles promptly took up the challenge, and moved the appointment of a +committee to examine the state of the Treasury Department in all its +particulars. Pending action by the House, a new complication was +introduced, which, though meant as a blow at Hamilton, resulted in a +signal triumph for him. His enemies got hold of a discharged clerk of the +Treasury Department by means of whom they now tried to counteract the +effect of Hamilton's challenge. Two days after Hamilton's letter to the +Speaker, a memorial from Andrew G. Fraunces was laid before the House +making charges which amounted to this: that there was a combination +between Hamilton and other officers of the Treasury Department to evade +payment of warrants so that they could be bought up for speculative +purposes. Hamilton's request for an investigation was allowed to lie on +the table, but the memorial from Fraunces was referred to a select +committee of which Giles was a member. This circumstance turned out to be +much to Hamilton's advantage. Giles was an erect, bold, manly foe; he +could not stomach the sort of testimony upon which depended the charges +against Hamilton's personal integrity, and he concurred in a report on +Hamilton finding that the evidence was "fully sufficient to justify his +conduct; and that in the whole course of this transaction the Secretary +and other officers of the Treasury have acted a meritorious part towards +the public." + +Giles, while exonerating Hamilton of the charge of dishonesty, did not +desist from pressing his motion for further investigation of the Treasury +Department. But he admitted that imputations upon the Secretary's +integrity had been quite removed, and he now urged that "the primary +object of the resolution is to ascertain the boundaries of discretion and +authority between the Legislature and the Treasury Department." In thus +shifting his ground he presented a new issue in which the House--and +indeed Giles's own party associates--took little interest. The fact was +that the attack on Hamilton had failed, that the purpose of showing +him to be unworthy of Washington's confidence had been abandoned as +impracticable, and that all that remained was a proposal that the House +should again engage in a laborious investigation of the desirability of +attempting a new delimitation of the functions of the Treasury Department +and of Congress. But this, of course, did not concern Hamilton. He had +acted under existing laws and with responsibilities which were defined by +them. If Congress saw fit to make new laws, the consequences would fall +upon his successor in office, not upon him since he was about to retire. +If Congress made fetters for the Secretary, it might even be that some +member of Giles's own party would have to wear them. Thus, however Giles's +latest proposal might be viewed, it was not attractive. Moreover, it was +presented at a time when the House had much more urgent matters to +consider. The country was wild with excitement over the retaliating orders +and decrees of Great Britain and France, which subjected American +interests to injury from both sides. Giles and Page appear to have been +the only speakers on the resolution when it was taken up for consideration +on February 24, 1794, and both disclaimed any intention of reflecting +upon Hamilton. The resolution received decent interment by reference to a +committee, with no one objecting. The practical conclusion of the matter +was that Hamilton had beaten his enemies once more and beaten them +thoroughly. + +Before resigning his office, Hamilton added still another great +achievement to his record of illustrious service in establishing public +authority. The violent agitation against the excise act promoted by the +Jeffersonians naturally tended to forcible resistance. One of the counts +of Jefferson's indictment of Hamilton's policy which had been presented to +Washington was that the excise law was "of odious character ... committing +the authority of the Government in parts where resistance is most probable +and coercion least practicable." The parts thus referred to were the +mountains of western Pennsylvania. The popular discontent which arose +there from the imposition of taxes upon their principal staple--distilled +spirits--naturally coalesced with the agitation carried on against +Washington's neutrality policy. At a meeting of delegates from the +election districts of Allegheny county held at Pittsburgh, resolutions +were adopted attributing the policy of the Government "to the pernicious +influence of stockholders." This was an echo of Jefferson's views. But the +resolutions went on to declare: "Our minds feel this with so much +indignancy, that we are almost ready to wish for a state of revolution and +the guillotine of France, for a short space, in order to inflict +punishment on the miscreants that enervate and disgrace our Government." +This was an echo of the talk in the political clubs that had been formed +throughout the country. The original model was apparently the Jacobin club +of Paris. The Philadelphia club with which the movement started, soon +after Genet's arrival, adopted the Jacobin style of utterance. It declared +its object to be the preservation of a freedom whose existence was menaced +by a "European confederacy transcendent in power and unparalleled in +iniquity," and also by "the pride of wealth and arrogance of power" +displayed in the United States. Writing to Governor Lee of Virginia, +Washington said that he considered "this insurrection as the first +formidable fruit of the Democratic Societies." + +Hamilton moved warily, doing whatever lay in his power to smooth the +practical working of the system in the hope of "attaining the object of +the laws by means short of force." But such was the inflamed state of +feeling in western Pennsylvania that no course was acceptable short of +abandonment by the Government of efforts to enforce the internal revenue +laws. During 1793, there were several outrageous attacks on agents of the +Government, and the execution of warrants for the arrest of rioters was +refused by local authority. People who showed a disposition to side with +the Government had their barns burned. A revenue inspector was tarred and +feathered, and was run out of the district. The patience with which the +Government endured insults to its authority encouraged the mob spirit. On +July 16, 1794, the house of Inspector Neville was attacked by a mob, and, +when he appealed to the local authorities for protection, he was notified +that there was such a general combination of the people that the laws +could not be executed. Neville, a revolutionary veteran of tried valor, +was able to obtain the help of an officer and eleven soldiers from Fort +Pitt, but the mob was too numerous and too well-armed to be withstood by +so weak a force. After a skirmish in which the mob fired the buildings and +the place became untenable, the troops had to surrender. Soon after this +affair, a convention of delegates from the four western counties of +Pennsylvania was called to meet on August 14 to concert measures for +united action. Organized insurrection had, in fact, begun. + +"The Government," said Washington, "could no longer remain a passive +spectator of the contempt with which the laws were treated." But when he +called for Cabinet opinions, the old variance at once showed itself. +Randolph thought that calm consideration of the situation "banishes every +idea of calling the militia into immediate action." He pointed out that +the disaffected region had more than fifteen thousand white males above +the age of sixteen, and that sympathy with the insurgents was active in +"several counties in Virginia having a strong militia." There was also the +risk that the insurgents might seek British aid, in which case a severance +of the Union might result. Randolph also enlarged upon the expense that +would attend military operations and questioned whether the funds could be +obtained. He advised a proclamation and the appointment of commissioners +to treat with the insurgents. Should such means fail, and should it appear +that the judiciary authority was withstood, then at last military force +might be employed. + +Hamilton held that "a competent force of militia should be called forth +and employed to suppress the insurrection, and support the civil +authority." It appeared to him that "the very existence of the Government +demands this course." He urged that the force employed ought "to be an +imposing one, such, if practicable, as will deter from opposition, save +the effusion of the blood of the citizens, and serve the object to be +accomplished." He proposed a force of twelve thousand men, of whom three +thousand were to be cavalry, and he advised that, in addition to the +Pennsylvania militia, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia should each +contribute a quota. + +All the members of the Cabinet except Randolph concurred in Hamilton's +opinion. The practical execution of the measures was entrusted to +Hamilton, who acted with great sagacity. Some appearance of timidity and +inertia in Pennsylvania state authority was indirectly but effectually +counteracted by measures which showed that the military expedition would +move even if Pennsylvania held back. Although some troops were to gather +at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, others were to meet at Cumberland Fort, +Virginia. The business was so shrewdly managed that Pennsylvania state +authority fell obediently into line, and the insurgents were so cowed by +the determined action of the Government that they submitted without a +struggle. Washington thought that this event would react upon the clubs +and "effectuate their annihilation sooner than it might otherwise have +happened." A general collapse among them certainly followed, and they +disappeared from the political scene. + +It is in the nature of precaution that the more successful it is the less +necessary it appears to have been, and thus the complete success of +Hamilton's management furnished his enemies with a new argument against +him of which they afterwards made great use. The costly military +expedition that had no fighting to do was continually held up to public +ridicule. That the expense was trifling in comparison with the objects +achieved must deeply impress any one who examines the records of the +times. A mistake might have been fatal to the existence of the Government. +It has become so powerful and massive since that time, that we can hardly +realize what a rickety structure it then was, and how readily, in less +capable hands, it might have collapsed. + +Randolph, then Secretary of State, seems to have been in a panic. Fauchet, +the French minister at that time, reported to his government that Randolph +called upon him and with a grief-stricken countenance declared, "It is all +over; a civil war is about to ravage our unhappy country." He represented +to Fauchet that there were four men whose talents, influence, and energy +might save it. "But debtors of English merchants, they will be deprived of +their liberty if they take the smallest step." He wanted to know whether +Fauchet could lend "funds sufficient to shelter them from English +persecution." Fauchet's letter was captured by the British and made +public. Randolph's explanations did not clear up the obscurity that +surrounds the affair. His version was that the four men were flour +merchants who were being pressed by their creditors "and that the money +was wanted only for the purpose of paying them what was actually due to +them in virtue of existing contracts." Even on his own showing it was a +shady transaction, and he retired from Washington's Cabinet under a cloud. + +Washington always had difficulty about the composition of his Cabinet. A +capable man had been found to succeed Randolph as Attorney-General in the +person of William Bradford, an able Pennsylvania lawyer, but he died in +1795, and was succeeded by Charles Lee of Virginia. When Knox resigned in +1794, the vacancy was filled by transferring to the War Department +Timothy Pickering of Massachusetts, who had previously served as +Postmaster-General. When Hamilton retired, January, 1795, he was +succeeded by Oliver Wolcott of Connecticut, who had been Comptroller of +the Treasury. After Randolph had been discredited by the Fauchet +letter, the office of Secretary of State went a-begging. It was offered to +William Paterson of New Jersey, to Thomas Johnson of Maryland, to Charles +Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina, but all these men declined. +Washington got word that Patrick Henry, the old antagonist of the +Constitution, was showing Federalist leanings in opposition to Jefferson +and Madison, and Henry was then tendered the appointment, but he +too declined. Others were approached but all refused, and meanwhile +Pickering, though Secretary of War, also attended to the work of the State +Department. The matter was finally settled by permanently attaching +Pickering to the State Department, while the vacancy thus created at the +head of the War Department was filled by James McHenry, an appointment +which Washington himself described as "Hobson's choice." + +Hamilton, although out of the Cabinet, still remained a trusted adviser, +and he rendered splendid service at a dangerous crisis. In spite of the +fact that the Jay treaty had been ratified by the Senate in June, 1795, it +was an issue in the Fall elections that year. Jefferson held that the +treaty was an "execrable thing," an "infamous act, which is really nothing +more than a treaty of alliance between England and the Anglo-men of this +country against the Legislature and the people of the United States." +Giles, who had been in close consultation with Jefferson, moved with +characteristic energy to translate Jefferson's views into congressional +action. + +The Fourth Congress met on December 7, 1795, and although a Federalist, +Jonathan Dayton of New Jersey was elected Speaker, the Republicans +were strong enough to tone down the reply to the President's address +by substituting for an expression of "undiminished confidence" an +acknowledgment of "zealous and faithful services," which expressed +"approval of his course." On March 24, 1796, the House by a vote of 62 to +37 adopted a resolution calling upon the President to lay before it his +instructions to Jay, "together with the correspondence and the other +documents relative to said treaty." Advised by Hamilton and sustained by +his whole Cabinet, Washington replied on March 30, by declining to comply +because concurrence of the House was not necessary to give validity to the +treaty, and "because of the necessity of maintaining the boundaries fixed +by the Constitution between the different departments." The House retorted +by a resolution declaring its right to judge the merits of the case when +application was made for an appropriation to give effect to a treaty. +Debate on this issue, which is still an open one in our constitutional +system, began on April 14 and continued for sixteen days. Madison opposed +the execution of the treaty, but the principal speech was made by Giles, +whose argument covers twenty-eight columns in the _Annals_. As the +struggle proceeded, the Jeffersonians lost ground. It became evident that +weighty elements of public opinion were veering around to the support of +the treaty as the best arrangement attainable in the circumstances. The +balance of strength became so close that the scales were probably turned +by a speech of wonderful power and eloquence delivered by Fisher Ames. A +decision was reached on April 30, the test question being on declaring the +treaty "highly objectionable." Forty-eight votes were cast on each side +and the Speaker gave his decision for the negative. In the end, the House +stood 51 to 48 in favor of carrying the treaty into effect. Only four +votes for the treaty came from the section south of Mason and Dixon's +line. + +During the agitation over the Jay treaty the rage of party spirit turned +full against Washington himself. He was blackguarded and abused in every +possible way. He was accused of having shown incapacity while General and +of having embezzled public funds while President. He was nicknamed "the +Step-Father of his country." The imputation on his honor stung so keenly +that he declared "he would rather be in his grave than in the Presidency," +and in private correspondence he complained that he had been assailed "in +terms so exaggerated and indecent as could scarcely be applied to a Nero, +a notorious defaulter, or even to a common pickpocket." The only rejoinder +which his dignity permitted him to make is that contained in his Farewell +Address, dated September 17, 1796, in which he made a modest estimate of +his services and made a last affectionate appeal to the people whom he had +so faithfully served. + +The Farewell Address was not a communication to Congress. It was issued in +view of the approaching presidential election, to give public notice that +he declined "being considered among the number of those out of whom a +choice is to be made." The usual address to Congress was delivered by +Washington on December 7, 1796, shortly after the opening of the second +session of the Fourth Congress. The occasion was connected in the public +mind with his recent valedictory, and Congress was ready to vote a reply +of particularly cordial tenor. Giles stood to his guns to the last, +speaking and voting against complimentary resolutions. "He hoped gentlemen +would compliment the President privately, as individuals; at the same +time, he hoped such adulation would never pervade the House." He held that +"the Administration has been neither wise nor firm," and he acknowledged +that he was "one of those who do not think so much of the President as +some others do." On this issue Madison forsook him, and Giles was voted +down, 67 to 12. Among the eleven who stood by Giles was a new member who +made his first appearance that session--Andrew Jackson of Tennessee. In +later years, when Giles's opinions had been modified by experience and +reflection, he regretted his attitude towards Washington. It is due to +Giles to say that he did not stab in the dark. He had qualities of +character that under better constitutional arrangements would have +invigorated the functions of the House as an organ of control, but at that +time, with the separation that had been introduced between the House and +the Administration, his energy was mischievous and his intrepidity was a +misfortune to himself and to his party. + +Washington's term dragged to its close like so much slow torture. Others +might resign, but he had to stand at his post until the end, and it was a +happy day for him when he got his discharge. His elation was so manifest +that it was noticed by John Adams. Writing to his wife about the ceremony +the day after the inauguration, Adams remarked that Washington "seemed to +me to enjoy a triumph over me. Methought I heard him say, 'Ay! I am fairly +out, and you fairly in! See which of us will be the happiest.'" + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +THE PERSONAL RULE OF JOHN ADAMS + +The narrow majority by which John Adams was elected did not accurately +reflect the existing state of party strength. The electoral college +system, by its nature, was apt to distort the situation. Originally the +electors voted for two persons without designating their preference for +President. There was no inconvenience on that account while Washington was +a candidate, since he was the first choice of all the electors; but in +1796, with Washington out of the field, both parties were in the dilemma +that, if they voted solidly for two candidates, the vote of the electoral +college would not determine who should be President. To avert this +situation, the adherents of a presidential candidate would have to scatter +votes meant to have only vice-presidential significance. This explains the +wide distribution of votes that characterized the working of the system +until it was changed by the Twelfth Amendment adopted in 1804. + +In 1796, the electoral college gave votes to thirteen candidates. The +Federalist ticket was John Adams and Thomas Pinckney of South Carolina. +Hamilton urged equal support of both as the surest way to defeat +Jefferson; but eighteen Adams electors in New England withheld votes from +Pinckney to make sure that he should not slip in ahead of Adams. Had they +not done so, Pinckney would have been chosen President, a possibility +which Hamilton foresaw because of Pinckney's popularity in the South. New +York, New Jersey, and Delaware voted solidly for Adams and Pinckney as +Hamilton had recommended, but South Carolina voted solidly for both +Jefferson and Pinckney, and moreover Pinckney received scattering votes +elsewhere in the South. The action of the Adams electors in New England +defeated Pinckney, and gave Jefferson the vice-presidency, the vote for +the leading candidates being 71 for Adams, 68 for Jefferson, and 59 for +Pinckney. The tendency of such conditions to inspire political feuds and +to foster factional animosity is quite obvious. This situation must be +borne in mind, in order to make intelligible the course of Adams's +administration. + +Adams had an inheritance of trouble from the same source which had plagued +Washington's administration,--the efforts of revolutionary France to rule +the United States. In selecting Monroe to succeed Morris, Washington knew +that the former was as friendly to the French Revolution as Morris had +been opposed to it, and hence he hoped that Monroe would be able to impart +a more friendly feeling to the relations of the two countries. Monroe +arrived in Paris just after the fall of Robespierre. The Committee of +Public Safety then in possession of the executive authority hesitated to +receive him. Monroe wrote to the President of the National Convention then +sitting, and a decree was at once passed that the Minister of the United +States should "be introduced in the bosom of the Convention." Monroe +presented himself on August 15, 1794, and made a glowing address. He +descanted upon the trials by which America had won her independence and +declared that "France, our ally and friend, and who aided in the contest, +has now embarked in the same noble career." The address was received with +enthusiasm, the President of the Convention drew Monroe to his bosom in a +fraternal embrace; and it was decreed that "the flags of the United States +of America shall be joined to those of France, and displayed in the hall +of the sittings of the Convention, in sign of the union and eternal +fraternity of the two peoples." In compliance with this decree Monroe soon +after presented an American flag to the Convention. + +When the news of these proceedings reached the State Department, a sharp +note was sent to Monroe "to recommend caution lest we be obliged at some +time or other to explain away or disavow an excess of fervor, so as to +reduce it down to the cool system of neutrality." The French Government +regarded the Jay treaty as an affront and as a violation of our treaties +with France. Many American vessels were seized and confiscated with their +cargoes, and hundreds of American citizens were imprisoned. Washington +thought that Monroe was entirely too submissive to such proceedings; +therefore, on August 22, 1796, Monroe was recalled and soon after Charles +Cotesworth Pinckney was appointed in his stead. + +The representation of France in the United States had been as mutable as +her politics. Fauchet, who succeeded Genet, retired in June, 1795, and +was succeeded by Adet, who like his predecessors, carried on active +interference with American politics, and even attempted to affect the +presidential election by making public a note addressed to the Secretary +of State complaining of the behavior of the Administration. In Adams's +opinion this note had some adverse effect in Pennsylvania but no other +serious consequences, since it was generally resented. Meanwhile Pinckney +arrived in France in December, 1796, and the Directory refused to receive +him. He was not even permitted to remain in Paris; but honors were +showered upon Monroe as he took his leave. In March, 1797, Adet withdrew, +and diplomatic relations between the two countries were entirely +suspended. By a decree made two days before Adams took office, the +Directory proclaimed as pirates, to be treated without mercy, all +Americans found serving on board British vessels, and ordered the seizure +of all American vessels not provided with lists of their crews in proper +form. Though made under cover of the treaty of 1778, this latter provision +ran counter to its spirit and purpose. Captures of American ships began at +once. As Joel Barlow wrote, the decree of March 2, 1797, "was meant to be +little short of a declaration of war." + +The curious situation which ensued from the efforts made by Adams to deal +with this emergency cannot be understood without reference to his personal +peculiarities. He was vain, learned, and self-sufficient, and he had the +characteristic defect of pedantry: he overrated intelligence and he +underrated character. Hence he was inclined to resent Washington's +eminence as being due more to fortune than to merit, and he had for +Hamilton an active hatred compounded of wounded vanity and a sense of +positive injury. He knew that Hamilton thought slightingly of his +political capacity and had worked against his political advancement, and +he was too lacking in magnanimity to do justice to Hamilton's motives. His +state of mind was well known to the Republican leaders, who hoped to be +able to use him. Jefferson wrote to Madison suggesting that "it would be +worthy of consideration whether it would not be for the public good to +come to a good understanding with him as to his future elections." +Jefferson himself called on Adams and showed himself desirous of cordial +relations. Mrs. Adams responded by expressions of pleasure at the success +of Jefferson, between whom and her husband, she said, there had never been +"any public or private animosity." Such rejoicing over the defeat of the +Federalist candidate for Vice-President did not promote good feeling +between the President and the Federalist leaders. + +The morning before the inauguration, Adams called on Jefferson and +discussed with him the policy to be pursued toward France. The idea had +occurred to Adams that a good impression might be made by sending out a +mission of extraordinary weight and dignity, and he wanted to know whether +Jefferson himself would not be willing to head such a mission. Without +checking Adams's friendly overtures, Jefferson soon brought him to agree +that it would not be proper for the Vice-President to accept such a post. +Adams then proposed that Madison should go. On March 6, Jefferson reported +to Adams that Madison would not accept. Then for the first time, according +to Adams's own account, he consulted a member of his Cabinet, supposed to +be Wolcott although the name is not mentioned. + +Adams took over Washington's Cabinet as it was finally constituted after +the retirement of Jefferson and Hamilton and the virtual expulsion of +Randolph. The process of change had made it entirely Federalist in its +political complexion, and entirely devoted to Washington and Hamilton in +its personal sympathies. That Adams should have adopted it as his own +Cabinet has been generally regarded as a blunder, but it was a natural +step for him to take. To get as capable men to accept the portfolios as +those then holding them would have been difficult, so averse had prominent +men become to putting themselves in a position to be harried by Congress, +with no effective means of explaining and justifying their conduct. +Congress then had a prestige which it does not now possess, and its +utterances then received consideration not now accorded. Whenever +presidential electors were voted for directly by the people, the poll was +small compared with the vote for members of Congress. Moreover, there was +then a feeling that the Cabinet should be regarded as a bureaucracy, and +for a long period this conception tended to give remarkable permanence to +its composition. + +When the personal attachments of the Cabinet chiefs are considered, it is +easy to imagine the dismay and consternation produced by the dealings of +Adams with Jefferson. By the time Adams consulted the members of his +Cabinet, they had become suspicious of his motives and distrustful of his +character. Before long they were writing to Washington and Hamilton for +advice, and were endeavoring to manage Adams by concerted action. In this +course they had the cordial approval of leading Federalists, who would +write privately to members of the Cabinet and give counsel as to +procedure. Wolcott, a Federalist leader in Connecticut, warned his son, +the Secretary of the Treasury, that Adams was "a man of great vanity, +pretty capricious, of a very moderate share of prudence, and of far less +real abilities than he believes himself to possess," so that "it will +require a deal of address to render him the service which it will be +essential for him to receive." + +The policy to be pursued was still unsettled when news came of the +insulting rejection of Pinckney and the domineering attitude assumed by +France. On March 25, Adams issued a call for the meeting of Congress on +May 15, and then set about getting the advice of his Cabinet. He presented +a schedule of interrogatories to which he asked written answers. The +attitude of the Cabinet was at first hostile to Adams's favorite notion of +a special mission, but as Hamilton counseled deference to the President's +views, the Cabinet finally approved the project. Adams appointed John +Marshall of Virginia and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts to serve in +conjunction with Pinckney, who had taken refuge in Holland. + +Strong support for the Government in taking a firm stand against France +was manifested in both Houses of Congress. Hamilton aided Secretary +Wolcott in preparing a scheme of taxation by which the revenue could be +increased to provide for national defense. With the singular fatality that +characterized Federalist party behavior throughout Adams's Administration, +however, all the items proposed were abandoned except one for stamp taxes. +What had been offered as a scheme whose particulars were justifiable by +their relation to the whole was converted into a measure which was +traditionally obnoxious in itself, and was now made freshly odious by an +appearance of discrimination and partiality. The Federalists did improve +their opportunity in the way of general legislation: much needed laws were +passed to stop privateering, to protect the ports, and to increase the +naval armament; and Adams was placed in a much better position to maintain +neutrality than Washington had been. Fear of another outbreak of yellow +fever accelerated the work of Congress, and the extra session lasted only +a little over three weeks. + +Such was the slowness of communication in those days that, when Congress +reassembled at the regular session in November, no decisive news had +arrived of the fate of the special mission. Adams with proper prudence +thought it would be wise to consider what should be done in case of +failure. On January 24, 1798, he addressed to the members of his Cabinet a +letter requesting their views. No record is preserved of the replies of +the Secretaries of State and of the Treasury. Lee, the Attorney-General, +recommended a declaration of war. McHenry, the Secretary of War, offered a +series of seven propositions to be recommended to Congress: 1. Permission +to merchant ships to arm; 2. The construction of twenty sloops of war; 3. +The completion of frigates already authorized; 4. Grant to the President +of authority to provide ships of the line, not exceeding ten, "by such +means as he may judge best." 5. Suspension of the treaties with France; 6. +An army of sixteen thousand men, with provision for twenty thousand more +should occasion demand; 7. A loan and an adequate system of taxation. + +These recommendations are substantially identical with those made by +Hamilton in a letter to Pickering, and the presumption is strong that +McHenry's paper is a product of Hamilton's influence, and that it had the +concurrence of Pickering and Wolcott. The suggestion that the President +should be given discretionary authority in the matter of procuring ships +of the line contemplated the possibility of obtaining them by transfer +from England, not through formal alliance but as an incident of a +coöperation to be arranged by negotiation, whose objects would also +include aid in placing a loan and permission for American ships to join +British convoys. This feature of McHenry's recommendations could not be +curried out Pickering soon informed Hamilton that the old animosities were +still so active "in some breasts" that the plan of cooperation was +impracticable. + +Meanwhile the composite mission had accomplished nothing except to make +clear the actual character of French policy. When the envoys arrived in +France, the Directory had found in Napoleon Bonaparte an instrument of +power that was stunning Europe by its tremendous blows. That instrument +had not yet turned to the reorganization of France herself, and at the +time it served the rapacious designs of the Directory. Europe was looted +wherever the arms of France prevailed, and the levying of tribute both on +public and on private account was the order of the day. Talleyrand was the +Minister of Foreign Affairs, and he treated the envoys with a mixture of +menace and cajolery. It was a part of his tactics to sever the Republican +member, Gerry, from his Federalist colleagues. Gerry was weak enough to be +caught by Talleyrand's snare, and he was foolish enough to attribute the +remonstrances of his colleagues to vanity. "They were wounded," he wrote, +"by the manner in which they had been treated by the Government of France, +and the difference which had been used in respect to me." Gerry's conduct +served to weaken and delay the negotiations, but he eventually united with +his colleagues in a detailed report to the State Department, which was +transmitted to Congress by the President on April 3, 1798. In the original +the names of the French officials concerned were written at full length in +the Department cipher. In making a copy for Congress, Secretary Pickering +substituted for the names the terminal letters of the alphabet, and hence +the report has passed into history as the X.Y.Z. dispatches. + +The story, in brief, was that on arriving in Paris the envoys called on +Talleyrand, who said that he was busy at that very time on a report to the +Directory on American affairs, and in a few days would let them know how +matters stood. A few days later they received notice through Talleyrand's +secretary that the Directory was greatly exasperated by expressions used +in President Adams's address to Congress, that the envoys would probably +not be received until further conference, and that persons might +be appointed to treat with them. A few more days elapsed, and then +three persons presented themselves as coming from Talleyrand. They +were Hottinguer, Bellamy, and Hauteval, designated as X.Y.Z. in the +communication to Congress. They said that a friendly reception by the +Directory could not be obtained unless the United States would assist +France by a loan, and that "a sum of money was required for the pocket of +the Directory and Ministers, which would be at the disposal of M. +Talleyrand." This "douceur to the Directory," amounting to approximately +$240,000, was urged with great persistence as an indispensable condition +of friendly relations. The envoys temporized and pointed out that their +Government would have to be consulted on the matter of the loan. The +wariness of the envoys made Talleyrand's agents the more insistent about +getting the "douceur." At one of the interviews Hottinguer exclaimed:-- +"Gentlemen, you do not speak to the point; it is money; it is expected +that you will offer money." The envoys replied that on this point their +answer had already been given. "'No,' said he, 'you have not: what is your +answer?' We replied, 'It is no; no; not a sixpence.'" This part of the +envoys' report soon received legendary embellishment, and in innumerable +stump speeches it rang out as, "Not one cent for tribute; millions for +defense!" + +The publication of the X.Y.Z. dispatches sent rolling through the country +a wave of patriotic feeling before which the Republican leaders quailed +and which swept away many of their followers. Jefferson held that the +French Government ought not to be held responsible for "the turpitude of +swindlers," and he steadfastly opposed any action looking to the use of +force to maintain American rights. Some of the Republican members of +Congress, however, went over to the Federalist side, and Jefferson's party +was presently reduced to a feeble and dispirited minority. Loyal addresses +rained upon Adams. There appeared a new national song, _Hail Columbia_, +which was sung all over the land and which was established in lasting +popularity. Among its well-known lines is an exulting stanza beginning: + +"Behold the chief who now commands, +Once more to serve his country stands." + +This is an allusion to the fact that Washington had left his retirement to +take charge of the national forces. The envoys had been threatened that, +unless they submitted to the French demands, the American Republic might +share the fate of the Republic of Venice. The response of Congress +was to vote money to complete the frigates, the _United States_, the +_Constitution_, and the _Constellation_, work on which had been suspended +when the Algerine troubles subsided; and further, to authorize the +construction or purchase of twelve additional vessels. For the management +of this force, the Navy Department was created by the Act of April 30, +1798. By an Act of May 28, the President was authorized to raise a +military force of ten thousand men, the commander of which should have the +services of "a suitable number of major-generals." On July 7, the treaties +with France that had so long vexed the United States were abrogated. + +The operations of the Navy Department soon showed that American sailors +were quite able and willing to defend the nation if they were allowed the +opportunity. In December, 1798, the Navy Department worked out a plan of +operations in the enemy's waters. To repress the depredations of the +French privateers in the West Indies, a squadron commanded by Captain John +Barry was sent to cruise to the windward of St. Kitts as far south as +Barbados, and it made numerous captures. A squadron under Captain Thomas +Truxtun cruised in the vicinity of Porto Rico. The flagship was the +frigate _Constellation_, which on February 9, 1799, encountered the French +frigate, _L'Insurgente_, and made it strike its flag after an action +lasting only an hour and seventeen minutes. The French captain fought +well, but he was put at a disadvantage by losing his topmast at the +opening of the engagement, so that Captain Truxtun was able to take a +raking position. The American loss was only one killed and three wounded, +while _L'Insurgente_ had twenty-nine killed and forty-one wounded. On +February 1, 1800, the _Constellation_ fought the heavy French frigate +_Vengeance_ from about eight o'clock in the evening until after midnight, +when the _Vengeance_ lay completely silenced and apparently helpless. But +the rigging and spars of the _Constellation_ had been so badly cut up that +the mainmast fell, and before the wreck could be cleared away the +_Vengeance_ was able to make her escape. During the two years and a half +in which hostilities continued, the little navy of the United States +captured eighty-five armed French vessels, nearly all privateers. Only one +American war vessel was taken by the enemy, and that one had been +originally a captured French vessel. The value of the protection thus +extended to American trade is attested by the increase of exports from +$57,000,000 in 1797 to $78,665,528 in 1799. Revenue from imports increased +from $6,000,000 in 1797 to $9,080,932 in 1800. + +The creation of an army, however, was attended by personal disagreements +that eventually wrecked the Administration. Without waiting to hear from +Washington as to his views, Adams nominated him for the command and then +tried to overrule his arrangements. The notion that Washington could be +hustled into a false position was a strange blunder to be made by anyone +who knew him. He set forth his views and made his stipulations with his +customary precision, in letters to Secretary McHenry, who had been +instructed by Adams to obtain Washington's advice as to the list of +officers. Washington recommended as major-generals, Hamilton, C.C. +Pinckney, and Knox, in that order of rank. Adams made some demur to the +preference shown for Hamilton, but McHenry showed him Washington's letter +and argued the matter so persistently that Adams finally sent the +nominations to the Senate in the same order as Washington had requested. +Confirmation promptly followed, and a few days later Adams departed for +his home at Quincy, Massachusetts, without notice to his Cabinet. It soon +appeared that he was in the sulks. When McHenry wrote to him about +proceeding with the organization of the army, he replied that he was +willing provided Knox's precedence was acknowledged, and he added that the +five New England States would not patiently submit to the humiliation of +having Knox's claim disregarded. + +From August 4 to October 13, wrangling over this matter went on. The +members of the Cabinet were in a difficult position. It was their +understanding that Washington's stipulations had been accepted, but the +President now proposed a different arrangement. Pickering and McHenry +wrote to Washington explaining the situation in detail. News of the +differences between Adams and Washington of course soon got about and +caused a great buzz in political circles. Adams became angry over the +opposition he was meeting, and on August 29 he wrote to McHenry +that "there has been too much intrigue in this business, both with +General Washington and with me"; that it might as well be understood that +in any event he would have the last say, "and I shall then determine it +exactly as I should now, Knox, Pinckney, and Hamilton." Washington stood +firm and, on September 25, wrote to the President demanding "that he might +know at once and precisely what he had to expect." In reply Adams said +that he had signed the three commissions on the same day in the hope "that +an amicable adjustment or acquiescence might take place among the +gentlemen themselves." But should this hope be disappointed, "and +controversies shall arise, they will of course be submitted to you as +commander-in-chief." + +Adams, of course, knew quite well that such matters did not settle +themselves, but he seems to have imagined that all he had to do was to sit +tight and that matters would have to come his way. The tricky and +shuffling behavior to which he descended would be unbelievable of a man of +his standing were there not an authentic record made by himself. The +suspense finally became so intolerable that the Cabinet acted without +consulting the President any longer on the point. The Secretary of War +submitted to his colleagues all the correspondence in the case and asked +their advice. The Secretaries of State, of the Treasury, and of the Navy +made a joint reply declaring "the only inference which we can draw +from the facts before stated, is, that the President consents to the +arrangement of rank as proposed by General Washington," and that therefore +"the Secretary of War ought to transmit the commissions, and inform the +generals that in his opinion the rank is definitely settled according to +the original arrangement." This was done; but Knox declined an appointment +ranking him below Hamilton and Pinckney. Thus, Adams despite his +obstinacy, was completely baffled, and a bitter feud between him and his +Cabinet was added to the causes now at work to destroy the Federalist +party. + +The Federalist military measures were sound and judicious, and the +expense, although a subject of bitter denunciation, was really trivial +in comparison with the national value of the enhanced respect and +consideration obtained for American interests. But these measures were +followed by imprudent acts for regulating domestic politics. By the Act of +June 18,1798, the period of residence required before an alien could be +admitted to American citizenship was raised from five years to fourteen. +By the Act of June 25, 1798, the efficacy of which was limited to two +years, the President might send out of the country "such aliens as he +shall judge dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States, or +shall have reasonable grounds to suspect are concerned in any treasonable +or secret machinations against the government thereof." The state of +public opinion might then have sanctioned these measures had they stood +alone, but they were connected with another which proved to be the weight +that pulled them all down. By the Act of July 14, 1798, it was made a +crime to write or publish "any false, scandalous, and malicious" +statements about the President or either House of Congress, to bring them +"into contempt or disrepute," or to "stir up sedition within the United +States." + +There were plenty of precedents in English history for legislation of such +character. Robust examples of it were supplied in England at that very +time. There were also strong colonial precedents. According to Secretary +Wolcott, the sedition law was "merely a copy from a statute of Virginia in +October, 1776." But a revolutionary Whig measure aimed at Tories was a +very different thing in its practical aspect from the same measure used by +a national party against a constitutional opposition. Hamilton regarded +such legislation as impolitic, and, on hearing of the sedition bill, he +wrote a protesting letter, saying, "Let us not establish tyranny. Energy +is a very different thing from violence." + +But in general the Federalist leaders were so carried away by the +excitement of the times that they could not practice moderation. Their +zealotry was sustained by political theories which made no distinction +between partisanship and sedition. The constitutional function of +partisanship was discerned and stated by Burke in 1770, but his definition +of it, as a joint endeavor to promote the national interest upon some +particular principle, was scouted at the time and was not allowed until +long after. The prevailing idea in Washington's time, both in England and +America, was that partisanship was inherently pernicious and ought to be +suppressed. Washington's _Farewell Address_ warned the people "in the most +solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party." The +idea then was that government was wholly the affair of constituted +authority, and that it was improper for political activity to surpass the +appointed bounds. Newspaper criticism and partisan oratory were among the +things in Washington's mind when he censured all attempts "to direct, +control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the +constituted authorities." Hence judges thought it within their province to +denounce political agitators when charging a grand jury. Chief Justice +Ellsworth, in a charge delivered in Massachusetts, denounced "the French +system-mongers, from the quintumvirate at Paris to the Vice-President and +minority in Congress, as apostles of atheism and anarchy, bloodshed, and +plunder." In charges delivered in western Pennsylvania, Judge Addison +dealt with such subjects as Jealousy of Administration and Government, and +the Horrors of Revolution. Washington, then in private life, was so +pleased with the series that he sent a copy to friends for circulation. + +Convictions under the sedition law were few, but there were enough of them +to cause great alarm. A Jerseyman, who had expressed a wish that the wad +of a cannon, fired as a salute to the President, had hit him on the rear +bulge of his breeches, was fined $100. Matthew Lyon of Vermont, while +canvassing for reëlection to Congress, charged the President with +"unbounded thirst for ridiculous pomp, foolish adulation, and a selfish +avarice." This language cost him four months in jail and a fine of $1000. +But in general the law did not repress the tendencies at which it was +aimed but merely increased them. + +The Republicans, too weak to make an effective stand in Congress, tried to +interpose state authority. Jefferson drafted the Kentucky Resolutions, +adopted by the state legislature in November, 1798. They hold that the +Constitution is a compact to which the States are parties, and that "each +party has an equal right to judge for itself as well of infractions as of +the mode and measure of redress." The alien and sedition laws were +denounced, and steps were proposed by which protesting States "will concur +in declaring these Acts void and of no force, and will each take measures +of its own for providing that neither these Acts, nor any others of the +general Government, not plainly and intentionally authorized by the +Constitution, shall be exercised within their respective territories." The +Virginia Resolutions, adopted in December, 1798, were drafted by Madison. +They view "the powers of the federal Government as resulting from the +compact to which the States are parties," and declare that, if those +powers are exceeded, the States "have the right and are in duty bound to +interpose." This doctrine was a vial of woe to American politics until it +was cast down and shattered on the battlefield of civil war. It was +invented for a partisan purpose, and yet was entirely unnecessary for that +purpose. + +The Federalist party as then conducted was the exponent of a theory of +government that was everywhere decaying. The alien and sedition laws were +condemned and discarded by the forces of national politics, and state +action was as futile in effect as it was mischievous in principle. It +diverted the issue in a way that might have ultimately turned to the +advantage of the Federalist party, had it possessed the usual power of +adaptation to circumstances. After all, there was no reason inherent +in the nature of that party why it should not have perpetuated its +organization and repaired its fortunes by learning how to derive authority +from public opinion. The needed transformation of character would have +been no greater than has often been accomplished in party history. Indeed, +there is something abnormal in the complete prostration and eventual +extinction of the Federalist party; and the explanation is to be found in +the extraordinary character of Adams's administration. It gave such +prominence and energy to individual aims and interests that the party was +rent to pieces by them. + +In communicating the X.Y.Z. dispatches to Congress, Adams declared: "I +will never send another Minister to France without assurance that he will +be received, respected, and honored, as the representative of a great, +free, powerful, and independent nation." But on receiving an authentic +though roundabout intimation that a new mission would have a friendly +reception, he concluded to dispense with direct assurances, and, without +consulting his Cabinet, sent a message to the Senate on February 18, 1799, +nominating Murray, then American Minister to Holland, to be Minister to +France. This unexpected action stunned the Federalists and delighted the +Republicans as it endorsed the position they had always taken that war +talk was folly and that France was ready to be friendly if America would +treat her fairly. "Had the foulest heart and the ablest head in the +world," wrote Senator Sedgwick to Hamilton, "been permitted to select the +most embarrassing and ruinous measure, perhaps it would have been +precisely the one which has been adopted." Hamilton advised that +"the measure must go into effect with the additional idea of a commission +of three." The committee of the Senate to whom the nomination was referred +made a call upon Adams to inquire his reasons. According to Adams's own +account, they informed him that a commission would be more satisfactory to +the Senate and to the public. According to Secretary Pickering, Adams was +asked to withdraw the nomination and refused, but a few days later, on +hearing that the committee intended to report against confirmation, he +sent in a message nominating Chief Justice Ellsworth and Patrick Henry, +together with Murray, as envoys extraordinary. The Senate, much to Adams's +satisfaction, promptly confirmed the nominations, but this was because +Hamilton's influence had smoothed the way. Patrick Henry declined, and +Governor Davie of North Carolina was substituted. By the time this +mission reached France, Napoleon Bonaparte was in power and the envoys +were able to make an acceptable settlement of the questions at issue +between the two countries. The event came too late to be of service to +Adams in his campaign for reëlection, but it was intensely gratifying to +his self-esteem. + +Some feelers were put forth to ascertain whether Washington could not be +induced to be a candidate again, but the idea had hardly developed before +all hopes in that quarter were abruptly dashed by his death on December +14, 1799, from a badly treated attack of quinsy. Efforts to substitute +some other candidate for Adams proved unavailing, as New England still +clung to him on sectional grounds. News of these efforts of course reached +Adams and increased his bitterness against Hamilton, whom he regarded as +chiefly responsible for them. Adams had a deep spite against members of +his Cabinet for the way in which they had foiled him about Hamilton's +commission, but for his own convenience in routine matters he had retained +them, although debarring them from his confidence. In the spring of 1800 +he decided to rid himself of men whom he regarded as "Hamilton's spies." +The first to fall was McHenry, whose resignation was demanded on May 5, +1800, after an interview in which--according to McHenry--Adams reproached +him with having "biased General Washington to place Hamilton in his list +of major-generals before Knox." Pickering refused to resign, and he was +dismissed from office on May 12. John Marshall became the Secretary of +State, and Samuel Dexter of Massachusetts, Secretary of War. Wolcott +retained the Treasury portfolio until the end of the year, when he +resigned of his own motion. + +The events of the summer of 1800 completed the ruin of the Federalist +party. That Adams should have been so indifferent to the good will of his +party at a time when he was a candidate for reëlection is a remarkable +circumstance. A common report among the Federalists was that he was no +longer entirely sane. A more likely supposition was that he was influenced +by some of the Republican leaders and counted on their political support. +In biographies of Gerry it is claimed that he was able to accomplish +important results through his influence with Adams. At any rate, Adams +gave unrestrained expression to his feelings against Hamilton, and finally +Hamilton was aroused to action. On August 1, 1800, he wrote to Adams +demanding whether it was true that Adams had "asserted the existence of a +British faction in this country" of which Hamilton himself was said to be +a leader. Adams did not reply. Hamilton waited until October 1, and then +wrote again, affirming "that by whomsoever a charge of the kind mentioned +in my former letter, may, at any time, have been made or insinuated +against me, it is a base, wicked, and cruel calumny; destitute even of a +plausible pretext, to excuse the folly, or mask the depravity which must +have dictated it." + +Hamilton, always sensitive to imputations upon his honor, was not +satisfied to allow the matter to rest there. He wrote a detailed account +of his relations with Adams, involving an examination of Adams's public +conduct and character, which he privately circulated among leading +Federalists. It is an able paper, fully displaying Hamilton's power of +combining force of argument with dignity of language, but although +exhibiting Adams as unfit for his office it advised support of his +candidacy. Burr obtained a copy and made such use of parts of it that +Hamilton himself had to publish it in full. + +In this election the candidate associated with Adams by the Federalists +was Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina. Though one Adams +elector in Rhode Island cut Pinckney, he would still have been elected had +the electoral votes of his own State been cast for him as they had been +for Thomas Pinckney, four years before; but South Carolina now voted +solidly for both Republican candidates. The result of the election +was a tie between Jefferson and Burr, each receiving 73 votes, while Adams +received 65 and Pinckney 64. The election was thus thrown into the +House, where some of the Federalists entered into an intrigue to give Burr +the Presidency instead of Jefferson, but this scheme was defeated largely +through Hamilton's influence. He wrote: "If there be a man in this +world I ought to hate, it is Jefferson. With Burr I have always been +personally well. But the public good must be paramount to every private +consideration." + +The result of the election was a terrible blow to Adams. His vanity was so +hurt that he could not bear to be present at the installation of his +successor, and after working almost to the stroke of midnight signing +appointments to office for the defeated Federalists, he drove away from +Washington in the early morning before the inauguration ceremonies began. +Eventually he soothed his self-esteem by associating his own trials and +misfortunes with those endured by classical heroes. He wrote that +Washington, Hamilton, and Pinckney formed a triumvirate like that of +Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus, and "that Cicero was not sacrificed to the +vengeance of Antony more egregiously than John Adams was to the unbridled +and unbounded ambition of Alexander Hamilton in the American triumvirate." + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + +Abundant materials are available for the period covered by this work. +Chief among them are the Annals of Congress, the State Papers, and the +writings of statesmen to be found in any library index under their names. +The style maintained by Washington early became a subject of party +controversy and to this may be attributed a noticeable variation in +accounts given by different authors. For instance, Washington Irving, who +as a child witnessed the first inauguration parade, says in his _Life of +Washington_ that the President's coach "was drawn by a single pair of +horses." But the detailed account given in the _New York Packet_ of May 1, +1789, the day after the ceremony, says that "the President joined the +procession in his carriage and four." The following authorities may be +consulted on the point: + +B.J. Lossing, article in _The Independent_, vol. xli, April 25, 1889. + +Martha J. Lamb, article in _Magazine of American History_, vol. xx, +December, 1888. + +For details of official etiquette during Washington's administration, the +following may be consulted: + +GEORGE WASHINGTON, _Diary_, from 1789 to 1791. Edited by B.J. Lossing +(1860). + +WILLIAM MACLAY, _Journal_, 1789-1791 (1890). + +GEORGE W. P. CUSTIS, _Memoirs of Washington_ (1859). + +JAMES G. WILSON, _The Memorial History of New York_ (1893). + +ANNE HOLLINGSWORTH WHARTON, _Martha Washington_ (1897). + +Works of special importance for their documentary matter and for their +exhibition of the personal aspect of events are: + +J. C. HAMILTON, _History of the Republic of the United States_, 7 vols. +(1860). + +H. S. RANDALL, _Life of Thomas Jefferson_, 3 vols. (1858). + +GEORGE GIBBS, _Administrations of Washington and John Adams_, 2 vols. +(1846). + +Some economic aspects of the struggle over Hamilton's financial measures +are exhibited by: + +CHARLES A. BEARD, _Economic Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy_ (1915). + +New light has been cast upon Genet's mission, causing a great change in +estimates of his character and activities, by materials drawn from the +French archives by Professor F.J. Turner, and presented in the following +articles: + +"The Origin of Genet's Projected Attack on Louisiana and the Floridas," +_American Historical Review_, vol. iii. + +"The Policy of France toward the Mississippi Valley," _American Historical +Review_, vol. x. + +"The Diplomatic Contest for the Mississippi Valley," _Atlantic Monthly_, +vol. xciii. + +Further references will be found appended to the articles on _Washington, +Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, Jay_, and _John Adams_ in _The Encyclopaedia +Britannica_, 11th Edition. + + + +INDEX + + +Adams, John, favors making government impressive through ceremony, + attitude toward Genet affair, reelected Vice-president, elected + President, personal characteristics, relations with Jefferson, Cabinet, + defeat at election of 1800, + +Addison, Alexander, Judge, + +Algiers, relations with, treaty with, + +Alien and Sedition laws, + +Ames, Fisher, of Massachusetts, + + +Bacri, the Jew, + +Barclay, Thomas, + +Baldwin, Abraham, of Georgia, + +Barlow, Joel, + +Barry, John, Captain, + +Beard, C.A., _Economic Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy_, Benson, Egbert, + of New York, + +Boudinot, Elias, of New Jersey, + +Bradford, William, of Rhode Island, + +Burke, Edanus, of South Carolina, + +Burr, Aaron, + +Butler, Pierce, of South Carolina, + + +Cabinet, President's, a development after Washington's administration, + status of, + +Campbell, William, Major, + +Carmichael, William, + +Church, Edward, U. S. consul at Lisbon, + +Clark, Abraham, of New Jersey, + +Clark, George Rogers, + +Clinton, George, of New York, + +_Constellation_, The, ship, + +_Constitution_, The, ship, + +Constitutional amendments adopted, + + +_Daily Advertizer_, + +_Dauphin_, The, ship, + +Dayton, Jonathan, of New Jersey, + +Dexter, Samuel, of Massachusetts, + +District of Columbia, exact site to be selected by the President, + + +Ellsworth, Oliver, of Connecticut, + + +Federal Hall, + +_Federalist_, + +Federalist party, + +Finance, National, Tariff bill, debt of United States (1790), Assumption + bill, national bank established, mint established, + +Fishbourn, Benjamin, + +Fitzsimmons, Thomas, of Pennsylvania, + +France, relations with United States, treaties of 1778, representation in + United States, special mission to, treaties abrogated (1798), maritime + troubles with, second mission to, + +Fraunces, A.G., + +Freneau, Philip, editor of _National Gazette_, + + +Genet, Edmond, appointed French minister to United States; a trained + diplomatist, audacious mission, reception in United States, policy + toward Louisiana, argues for treaty rights, public opinion for, arrest + by French Government, success, United States becomes his asylum, + bibliography, + +Germantown, Proposal to place capital at, + +Gerry, Elbridge, of Massachusetts, + +Giles, W.B., of Virginia, + +_Grange_, The, ship, + +Grayson, William, of Virginia, + +Great Britain, lays down contraband regulations, retains Western posts in + America, treaty with (1795), + +Greenville, Treaty of (1795), + +Gwinnett, Button, + + +_Hail Columbia_, + +Hamilton, Alexander, personal appearance, aid in finance sought by + Washington, advises Washington as to deportment, appointed Secretary of + Treasury, rivalry between Madison and, opinion as to establishment of + courts, report to Congress (1790), stand on the question of security of + transfer, interest in site for national capital, report on manufactures, + appreciation of, author of interrogatories to the cabinet (1793), + opinion on French treaty obligations; stands against Jefferson, calmness + in regard to Genet affair, "Pacificus,", "No Jacobin,", resigns as + Secretary of Treasury (1793), party warfare against, requests a Treasury + investigation, opinion as to enforcing law, remains trusted adviser, + aids Wolcott in preparing scheme of taxation, appointed major-general, + relations with Adams, bibliography, + +Hammond, George, British minister to United States, + +Hancock, John, + +Harmar, Josiah, Lieutenant-Colonel, + +Hazard, Ebenezer, Postmaster-General, + +Henry, Patrick, + +Humphreys, David, Colonel, + + +Indian troubles in the West, + + +Jackson, Andrew, + +Jackson, James, of Georgia, + +Jay, John, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, appointed envoy extraordinary to + Great Britain (1794), mission to England, elected Governor of New York, + +Jay treaty, terms of, agitation over, French attitude toward, + +Jefferson, Thomas, appointed Secretary of State, attitude on question of + assumption of state debts, importance of public service, report on the + Algerine question, as minister to Paris, opinion on French treaty + obligations, "The Anas," disturbs the administration, resigns as + Secretary of State (1793), for the principle "free ships, free goods," + opponent of Hamilton, drafts Kentucky Resolutions (1798), elected + President, bibliography, + +Johnson, Thomas, of Maryland, + +Jones, John Paul, Admiral, + +Judiciary, Establishment of the, + + +Kentucky Resolutions, + +Knox, Henry, Secretary of War since 1785, Secretary of War and of the + Navy, submits plan for militia, supports Hamilton in question of treaty + obligations, recommended as major-general by Washington, question of + precedence of rank, declines appointment, + +_La Carmagnole_, ship, + +_L'Ambuscade_, ship, + +_L'Ami de la Point à Petre_, ship, + +_La Montagne_, ship, + +_L'Amour de la Liberté_, ship, + +_La Vengeance_, ship, + +_Le Cassius_, ship, + +_Le Citoyen Genet_, ship, + +Lee, Arthur, + +Lee, Charles, of Virginia, + +Lee, R.H., of Virginia, + +l'Enfant, P.C., + +_Le Petit Démocrate_, ship, + +_L'Espérance_, ship, + +_Le Vainqueur de Bastille_, ship, + +_Little Sarah_, ship, + +Livermore, Samuel, of New Hampshire, + +Livingston, Walter, + +Louisiana territory, + + +McGillivray, Alexander, Head chief of the Creeks, + +McHenry, James, of Maryland, + +McIntosh, Lachlan, + +Maclay, William, of Pennsylvania, Diary of, + +Madison, James, cooperates with Hamilton in government organization, + personal appearance, introduces scheme for raising revenue, upholds + President's power of removal, acts as advisor to Washington, opinion + as to system of federal courts, stand on question of security of + transfer, opinion on creation of a navy, "Helvidius," attitude toward + non-intercourse, drafts Virginia Resolutions (1798), + +Marshall, John, opinion on neutrality of United States (1793), appointed + commissioner to France, becomes Secretary of State, + +Military preparedness, Policy of, + +Monroe, James, + +Morris, Gouverneur, + +Morris, Robert, + +Moultrie, William, General, + +Murray, W.V., Minister to Holland, + + +Napoleon Bonaparte, + +_National Gazette_, + +Naval policy of the United States, + +Neutrality, Question of (1793), + +New York, desires to be capital of nation, Washington's home in, + +Nicholas, W.C., of Virginia, + +Non-intercourse bill, + +North Carolina admitted to the Union (1789), + + +O'Brien Richard, Captain, + +O'Fallon, James, Dr., + +Osgood, Samuel, Postmaster-General, + + +Page, John, of Virginia, + +Paine, Thomas, + +Paterson, William, of New Jersey, + +Philadelphia club, + +Pickering, Timothy of Massachusetts, + +Pinckney, C.C., + +Pinckney, Thomas, + +President of the United States, social position and duties, official + title, power of removal by, + +Putnam, Rufus, General, + + +Randolph, Edmund, appointed Attorney-General, opinion on question of + French treaty obligations, divides influence between factions in + cabinet, transferred to State Department, letter to Washington, + opinion as to enforcing law, applies to French minister for funds, + retires, + +Republican party, + +Residence act, + +Rhode Island admitted to the Union (1790), + + +St. Clair, Arthur, General, + +_Sans Pareil_, ship, + +Sedgwick, Theodore, of Massachusetts, + +Senate, privy council function of, + +Short, William, + +Smith, Samuel, of Maryland, + +Smith, William, of South Carolina, + +Spain, Treaty with (1795), + +Stone, M.J., of Maryland, + +Story, Joseph, Justice, + + +Talleyrand, + +Tariff, _see_ Finance. + +Taylor, John, + +Treasury Department, established by Congress, rights and duties of + Secretary defined, Secretary's report, + +Trenton, proposal to place capital at, + +Truxtun, Thomas, Captain, + +_United States_, The, ship + + +Virginia Resolutions + + +Wadsworth, Jeremiah, of Connecticut + +War Department, Opposition to + +Washington, George, reluctant to reassume public responsibilities, + installed as President (1789), personal characteristics; his + magnificence, his levees; first message to Congress; first cabinet, + message to Senate (1789), differences with the Senate, tours, + church-going habits, receives news of St. Clair's defeat, concern about + Genet affair, opinion as to validity of French treaty, dependence upon + Hamilton, address of Dec. 3, 1793, reëlected President, party spirit + against, Farewell Address (1796), death (1799), bibliography, + +Washington, Martha, arrival in New York, her entertainments + +Wayne, Anthony, General + +West Indies, trade with + +Whiskey insurrection, + +White, Alexander, of Virginia + +Willett, Marinus, Colonel + +Wolcott, Oliver, of Connecticut + + +"X.Y.Z." dispatches + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WASHINGTON AND HIS COLLEAGUES*** + + +******* This file should be named 11702-8.txt or 11702-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/7/0/11702 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS,' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's +eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + +https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000, +are filed in directories based on their release date. If you want to +download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular +search system you may utilize the following addresses and just +download by the etext year. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext06 + + (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, + 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90) + +EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are +filed in a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part +of the directory path. The path is based on the etext number (which is +identical to the filename). The path to the file is made up of single +digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename. For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** diff --git a/old/11702-8.zip b/old/11702-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7c40741 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11702-8.zip diff --git a/old/11702.txt b/old/11702.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1c98f99 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11702.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5036 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Washington and His Colleagues, by Henry Jones +Ford + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Washington and His Colleagues + +Author: Henry Jones Ford + +Release Date: March 24, 2004 [eBook #11702] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WASHINGTON AND HIS COLLEAGUES*** + + +E-text prepared by John R. Bilderback and Project Gutenberg Distributed +Proofreaders + + + +WASHINGTON AND HIS COLLEAGUES + +A CHRONICLE OF THE RISE AND FALL OF FEDERALISM + +BY HENRY JONES FORD + +NEW HAVEN: YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS + +1918 + + + +Textbook Edition + +The Chronicles of America Series + +Allen Johnson, Editor + +Gerhard R. Lomer and Charles W. Jefferys, Assistant Editors + + + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I. AN IMITATION COURT + + II. GREAT DECISIONS + + III. THE MASTER BUILDER + + IV. ALARUMS AND EXCURSIONS + + V. TRIBUTE TO THE ALGERINES + + VI. FRENCH DESIGNS ON AMERICA + + VII. A SETTLEMENT WITH ENGLAND + +VIII. PARTY VIOLENCE + + IX. THE PERSONAL RULE OF JOHN ADAMS + + BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + INDEX + + + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +AN IMITATION COURT + +Washington was glad to remain at Mount Vernon as long as possible after he +had consented to serve as President, enjoying the life of a country +gentleman, which was now much more suited to his taste than official +employment. He was weary of public duties and the heavy demands upon his +time which had left him with little leisure for his private life at home. +His correspondence during this period gives ample evidence of his extreme +reluctance to reassume public responsibilities. To bring the matter to its +true proportions, it must be remembered that to the view of the times the +new constitution was but the latest attempt to tinker the federal scheme, +and it was yet to be seen whether this endeavor would be any more +successful than previous efforts had been. As for the title of President, +it had already been borne by a number of congressional politicians and had +been rather tarnished by the behavior of some of them. Washington was not +at all eager to move in the matter before he had to, and he therefore +remained on his farm until Congress met, formally declared the result of +the election, and sent a committee to Mount Vernon to give him official +notice. It was not until April 30, 1789, that he was formally installed as +President. + +Madison and Hamilton were meanwhile going ahead with their plans. This +time was perhaps the happiest in their lives. They had stood together in +years of struggle to start the movement for a new constitution, to steer +it through the convention, and to force it on the States. Although the +fight had been a long and a hard one, and although they had not won all +that they had wanted, it was nevertheless a great satisfaction that they +had accomplished so much, and they were now applying themselves with great +zest to the organization of the new government. Madison was a member of +Congress; Hamilton lived near the place where Congress held its sittings +in New York and his house was a rendezvous for the federal leaders. +Thither Madison would often go to talk over plans and prospects. A lady +who lived near by has related how she often saw them walking and talking +together, stopping sometimes to have fun with a monkey skipping about in a +neighbor's yard. + +At that time Madison was thirty-eight; Hamilton was thirty-two. They were +little men, of the quick, dapper type. Madison was five feet six and a +quarter inches tall, slim and delicate in physique, with a pale student's +face lit up by bright hazel eyes. He was as plain as a Quaker in his style +of dress, and his hair, which was light in color, was brushed straight +back and gathered into a small queue, tied with a plain ribbon. Hamilton +was of about the same stature, but his figure had wiry strength. His +Scottish ancestry was manifest in his ruddy complexion and in the modeling +of his features. He was more elegant than Madison in his habitual attire. +He had a very erect, dignified bearing; his expression was rather severe +when his features were in repose, but he had a smile of flashing radiance +when he was pleased and interested, Washington, who stood over six feet +two inches in his buckled shoes, had to look down over his nose when he +met the young statesmen who had been the wheel horses of the federal +movement. + +Soon after Washington arrived in New York he sought Hamilton's aid in the +management of the national finances. There was the rock on which the +government of the Confederation had foundered. There the most skillful +pilotage was required if the new government was to make a safe voyage. +Washington's first thought had been to get Robert Morris to take charge +again of the department that he had formerly managed with conspicuous +ability, and while stopping in Philadelphia on his way to New York, he had +approached Morris on the subject. Morris, who was now engaged in grand +projects which were eventually to bring him to a debtor's prison, declined +the position but strongly recommended Hamilton. This suggestion proved +very acceptable to Washington, who was well aware of Hamilton's capacity. + +The thorny question of etiquette was the next matter to receive +Washington's attention. Personally he favored the easy hospitality to +which he was accustomed in Virginia, but he knew quite well that his own +taste ought not to be decisive. The forms that he might adopt would become +precedents, and hence action should be taken cautiously. Washington was a +methodical man. He had a well-balanced nature which was never disturbed by +timidity of any kind and rarely by anxiety. His anger was strong when it +was excited, but his ordinary disposition was one of massive equanimity. +He was not imaginative, but he took things as they came, and did what the +occasion demanded. In crises that did not admit of deliberation, his +instinctive courage guided his behavior, but such crises belong to +military experience, and in civil life careful deliberation was his rule. +It was his practice to read important documents pen in hand to note the +points. From one of his familiar letters to General Knox we learn that on +rising in the morning he would turn over in his mind the day's work and +would consider how to deal with it. His new circumstances soon apprised +him that the first thing to be settled was his deportment as President. +Under any form of government the man who is head of the state is forced, +as part of his public service, to submit to public exhibition and to be +exact in social observance; but, unless precautions are taken, engagements +will consume his time and strength. Writing to a friend about the +situation in which he found himself, Washington declared: "By the time I +had done breakfast, and thence till dinner, and afterwards till bed-time, +I could not get relieved from the ceremony of one visit, before I had to +attend to another. In a word, I had no leisure to read or answer the +dispatches that were pouring in upon me from all quarters." + +The radical treatment which the situation called for was aided by a +general feeling in Congress that arrangements should be made for the +President different from those under the Articles of Confederation. It had +been the practice for the President to keep open house. Of this custom +Washington remarked that it brought the office "in perfect contempt; for +the table was considered a public one, and every person, who could get +introduced, conceived that he had a right to be invited to it. This, +although the table was always crowded (and with mixed company, and the +President considered in no better light than as a _maitre d'hotel_), was +in its nature impracticable, and as many offenses given as if no table had +been kept." It was important to settle the matter before Mrs. Washington +joined him in New York. Inside of ten days from the time he took the oath +of office, he therefore drafted a set of nine queries, copies of which he +sent to Jay, Madison, Hamilton, and John Adams, with these sensible +remarks: + +"Many things, which appear of little importance in themselves and at the +beginning, may have great and durable consequences from their having been +established at the commencement of a new general government. It will be +much easier to commence the Administration upon a well-adjusted system, +built on tenable grounds, than to correct errors, or alter inconveniences, +after they shall have been confirmed by habit. The President, in all +matters of business and etiquette, can have no object but to demean +himself in his public character in such a manner as to maintain the +dignity of his office, without subjecting himself to the imputation of +superciliousness or unnecessary reserve. Under these impressions he asks +for your candid and undisguised opinion." + +Only the replies of Hamilton and Adams have been preserved. Hamilton +advised Washington that while "the dignity of the office should be +supported ... care will be necessary to avoid extensive disgust or +discontent.... The notions of equality are yet, in my opinion, too general +and strong to admit of such a distance being placed between the President +and other branches of the Government as might even be consistent with a +due proportion." Hamilton then sketched a plan for a weekly levee: "The +President to accept no invitations, and to give formal entertainments only +twice or four times a year, the anniversaries of important events of the +Revolution." In addition, "the President on levee days, either by himself +or some gentleman of his household, to give informal invitations to family +dinners ... not more than six or eight to be invited at a time, and the +matter to be confined essentially to members of the legislature and other +official characters. The President never to remain long at table." +Hamilton observed that his views did not correspond with those of other +advisers, but he urged the necessity of behaving so as "to remove the idea +of too immense inequality, which I fear would excite dissatisfaction and +cabal." + +This was sagacious advice, and Washington would have benefited by +conforming to it more closely than he did. The prevailing tenor of the +advice which he received is probably reflected in the communication from +Adams, who was in favor of making the government impressive through grand +ceremonial. "Chamberlains, aides-de-camp, secretaries, masters of +ceremonies, etc., will become necessary.... Neither dignity nor authority +can be supported in human minds, collected into nations or any great +numbers, without a splendor and majesty in some degree proportioned to +them." Adams held that in no case would it be "proper for the President to +make any formal public entertainment," but that this should be the +function of some minister of state, although "upon such occasions the +President, in his private character, might honor with his presence." The +President might invite to his house in small parties what official +characters or citizens of distinction he pleased, but this invitation +should always be given without formality. The President should hold levees +to receive "visits of compliment," and two days a week might not be too +many for this purpose. The idea running through Adams's advice was that in +his private character the President might live like any other private +gentleman of means, but that in his public functions he should adopt a +grand style. This advice, which Washington undoubtedly received from +others as well as Adams, influenced Washington's behavior, and the +consequences were exactly what Hamilton had predicted. According to +Jefferson's recollection, many years afterward, Washington told him that +General Knox and Colonel Humphreys drew up the regulations and that some +were proposed "so highly strained that he absolutely rejected them." +Jefferson further related that, when Washington was re-elected, Hamilton +took the position that the parade of the previous inauguration ought not +to be repeated, remarking that "there was too much ceremony for the +character of our government." + +It is a well-known characteristic of human nature to be touchy about such +matters as these. Popular feeling about Washington's procedure was +inflamed by reports of the grand titles which Congress was arranging to +bestow upon the President. That matter was, in fact, considered by the +Senate on the very day of Washington's arrival in New York and before any +steps could have been taken to ascertain his views. A joint committee of +the two houses reported against annexing "any style or title to the +respective styles or titles of office expressed in the Constitution." But +a group of Senators headed by John Adams was unwilling to let the matter +drop, and another Senate committee was appointed which recommended as a +proper style of address "His Highness, the President of the United States +of America, and Protector of their Liberties." While the Senate debated, +the House acted, addressing the President in reply to his inaugural +address simply as "The President of the United States." The Senate now had +practically no choice but to drop the matter, but in so doing adopted a +resolution that because of its desire that "a due respect for the majesty +of the people of the United States may not be hazarded by singularity," +the Senate was still of the opinion "that it would be proper to annex a +respectable title to the office." Thus it came about that the President of +the United States is distinguished by having no title. A governor may be +addressed as "Your Excellency," a judge as "Your Honor," but the chief +magistrate of the nation is simply "Mr. President." It was a relief to +Washington when the Senate discontinued its attempt to decorate him. He +wrote to a friend, "Happily this matter is now done with, I hope never to +be revived." + +Details of the social entanglements in which Washington was caught at the +outset of his administration are generally omitted by serious historians, +but whatever illustrates life and manners is not insignificant, and events +of this character had, moreover, a distinct bearing on the politics of the +times. The facts indicate that Washington's arrangements were somewhat +encumbered by the civic ambition of New York. That bustling town of 30,000 +population desired to be the capital of the nation, and, in the splendid +exertions which it made, it went rather too far. Federal Hall, designed as +a City Hall, was built in part for the accommodation of Congress, on +the site in Wall Street now in part occupied by the United States +Sub-Treasury. The plans were made by Major Pierre Charles l'Enfant, a +French engineer who had served with distinction in the Continental Army +but whose clearest title to fame is the work which he did in laying out +the city of Washington when it was made the national capital. Federal Hall +exceeded in dignified proportions and in artistic design any public +building then existing in America. The painted ceilings, the crimson +damask canopies and hangings, and the handsome furniture were considered +by many political agitators to be a great violation of republican +simplicity. The architect was first censured in the public press and then, +because of disputes, received no pay for his time and trouble, although, +had he accepted a grant of city lots offered by the town council he would +have received a compensation that would have turned out to be very +valuable. + +Federal Hall had been completed and presented to Congress before +Washington started for New York. The local arrangements for his reception +were upon a corresponding scale of magnificence, but with these Washington +had had nothing to do. The barge in which he was conveyed from the Jersey +shore to New York was fifty feet long, hung with red curtains and having +an awning of satin. It was rowed by thirteen oarsmen, in white with blue +ribbons. In the inauguration ceremonies Washington's coach was drawn by +four horses with gay trappings and hoofs blackened and polished. This +became his usual style. He seldom walked in the street, for he was so much +a public show that that might have been attended by annoying practical +inconvenience; but when he rode out with Mrs. Washington his carriage was +drawn by four--sometimes six--horses, with two outriders, in livery, with +powdered hair and cockades in their hats. When he rode on horseback, which +he often did for exercise, he was attended by outriders and accompanied by +one or more of the gentlemen of his household. Toward the end of the year +there arrived from England the state coach which he used in formal visits +to Congress and for other ceremonious events. It was a canary-colored +chariot, decorated with gilded nymphs and cupids, and emblazoned with the +Washington arms. His state was simplified when he went to church, which he +did regularly every Sunday; then his coach was drawn by two horses, with +two footmen behind, and was followed by a post-chaise carrying two +gentlemen of his household. Washington was fond of horses and was in the +habit of keeping a fine stable. The term "muslin horses" was commonly used +to denote the care taken in grooming. The head groom would test the work +of the stable-boys by applying a clean muslin handkerchief to the coats of +the animals, and, if any stain of dirt showed, there was trouble. The +night before the white horses which Washington used as President were to +be taken out, their coats were covered by a paste of whiting, and the +animals were swathed in wrappings. In the morning the paste was dry and +with rubbing gave a marble gloss to the horses' coats. The hoofs were then +blackened and polished, and even the animals' teeth were scoured. Such +arrangements, however, were not peculiar to Washington's stable. This was +the usual way in which grooming for "the quality" was done in that period. + +The first house occupied by Washington was at the corner of Pearl and +Cherry streets, then a fashionable locality. What the New York end of the +Brooklyn Bridge has left of it is now known as Franklin Square. The house +was so small that three of his secretaries had to lodge in one room; and +Custis in his Recollections tells how one of them, who fancied he could +write poetry, would sometimes disturb the others by walking the floor in +his nightgown trying the rhythm of his lines by rehearsing them with loud +emphasis. About a year later Washington removed to a larger house on the +west side of Broadway near Bowling Green. Both buildings went down at an +early date before the continual march of improvement in New York. In +Washington's time Wall Street was superseding Pearl Street as the +principal haunt of fashion. Here lived Alexander Hamilton and other New +Yorkers prominent in their day; here were fashionable boarding-houses at +which lived the leading members of Congress. When some fashionable +reception was taking place, the street was gay with coaches and +sedan-chairs, and the attire of the people who then gathered was as +brilliant as a flight of cockatoos. It was a period of spectacular dress +and behavior for both men and women, the men rivaling the women in their +use of lace, silk, and satin. Dr. John Bard, the fashionable doctor of his +day, who attended Washington through the severe illness which laid him up +for six weeks early in his administration, habitually wore a cocked hat +and a scarlet coat, his hands resting upon a massive cane as he drove +about in a pony-phaeton. The scarlet waistcoat with large bright buttons +which Jefferson wore on fine occasions, when he arrived on the scene, +showed that he was not then averse to gay raiment. Plain styles of dress +were among the many social changes ushered in by the French Revolution and +the war cycle that ensued from it. + +Titles figured considerably in colonial society, and the Revolutionary War +did not destroy the continuity of usage. It was quite in accord with the +fashion of the times that the courtesy title of Lady Washington was +commonly employed in talk about the President's household. Mrs. Washington +arrived in New York from Mount Vernon on May 27, 1789. She was met by the +President with his barge on the Jersey shore, and as the barge passed the +Battery a salute of thirteen cannon was fired. At the landing-place a +large company was gathered, and the coach that took her to her home was +escorted with military parade. The questions of etiquette had been settled +by that time, and she performed her social duties with the ease of a +Virginia gentlewoman always used to good society. She found them irksome, +however, as such things had long since lost their novelty. Writing to a +friend she said, "I think I am more like a state prisoner than anything +else." She was then a grandmother through her children by her first +husband. Although she preferred plain attire, she is described on one +occasion as wearing a velvet gown over a white satin petticoat, her hair +smoothed back over a moderately high cushion. It was the fashion of the +times for the ladies to tent their hair up to a great height. At one of +Mrs. Washington's receptions, Miss McIvers, a New York belle, had such a +towering coiffure that the feathers which surmounted it brushed a lighted +chandelier and caught fire. The consequences might have been serious had +the fire spread to the pomatumed structure below, but one of the +President's aides sprang to the rescue and smothered the burning plumes +between the palms of his hands before any harm came to the young lady. + +Every Tuesday while Congress was in session Washington received visitors +from three to four o'clock. These receptions were known as his levees. He +is described as clad in black velvet; his hair was powdered and gathered +behind in a silk bag; he wore knee and shoe buckles and yellow gloves; he +held a cocked hat with a cockade and a black feather edging; and he +carried a long sword in a scabbard of white polished leather. As visitors +were presented to him by an aide, Washington made a bow. To a candid +friend who reported to him that his bows were considered to be too stiff, +he replied: "Would it not have been better to throw the veil of charity +over them, ascribing their stiffness to the effects of age, or to the +unskillfulness of my teacher, rather than to pride and dignity of office, +which God knows has no charm for me?" Washington bore with remarkable +humility the criticisms of his manners that occasionally reached him. + +On Friday evenings Mrs. Washington received, and these affairs were known +as her "drawing-rooms." They were over by nine o'clock which was bed-time +in the Washington household; for Washington was an early riser, often +getting up at four in the morning to start the day's work betimes. The +"drawing-rooms" were more cheery affairs than the levees, as Mrs. +Washington had simple unaffected manners, and the General had made it +known that on these occasions he desired to be regarded not as the +President but simply as a private gentleman. This gave him an opportunity +such as he did not have at the levees to unbend and to enjoy himself. +Besides these receptions a series of formal dinners was given to +diplomatic representatives, high officers of government, and members of +Congress. Senator Maclay of Pennsylvania recorded in the diary he kept +during the First Congress that Washington would drink wine with every one +in the company, addressing each in turn by name. Maclay thought it of +sufficient interest to record that on one occasion a trifle was served +which had been made with rancid cream. All the ladies watched to see what +Mrs. Washington would do with her portion; and next day there were +tittering remarks all through the fashionable part of the town over the +fact that she had martyred herself and swallowed the dose. Incidentally +Maclay, who was in nearly everything a vehement opponent of the policy of +the Administration, bore witness to Washington's perfect courtesy, Maclay +noted that in spite of his antagonistic attitude Washington invited him to +dinner and paid him "marked attention," although "he knows enough to +satisfy him that I will not be Senator after the 3d of March, and to the +score of his good nature must I place these attentions." + +In his relations with Congress, Washington followed precedents derived +from the English constitutional system under which he had been educated. +No question was raised by anybody at first as to the propriety of a course +with which the public men of the day were familiar. He opened the session +with an address to Congress couched somewhat in the style of the speech +from the throne. At the first session there was talk of providing some +sort of throne for him; but the proposal came to nothing. He spoke from +the Vice-President's chair, and the Representatives went into the Senate +chamber to hear him, as the Commons proceed to the House of Lords on such +occasions. Congress, too, conformed to English precedents by voting +addresses in reply, and then the members repaired to the President's +"audience chamber," where the presiding officers of the two houses +delivered their addresses and received the President's acknowledgments. +These were disagreeable duties for Washington, although he discharged them +conscientiously. Maclay has recorded in his diary the fact that when +Washington made his first address to Congress he was "agitated and +embarrassed more than ever he was by the leveled cannon or pointed +musket." + +It was not until June 8 that Washington settled these delicate affairs of +official etiquette sufficiently to enable him to attend to details of +administration. The government, although bankrupt, was in active +operation, and the several executive departments were under secretaries +appointed by the old Congress. The distinguished New York jurist, John +Jay, now forty-four years old, had been Secretary of Foreign Affairs since +1784. He had long possessed Washington's confidence, and now retained his +Secretaryship until the government was organized, whereupon he left that +post to become the first chief-justice of the United States. Henry Knox of +Massachusetts, aged thirty-nine, had been Secretary of War since 1785, a +position to which Washington helped him. They were old friends, for Knox +had served through the war with Washington in special charge of artillery. +The Postmaster-General, Ebenezer Hazard, was not in Washington's favor. +While the struggle over the adoption of the Constitution was going on +Hazard put a stop to the customary practice by which newspaper publishers +were allowed to exchange copies by mail. Washington wrote an indignant +letter to John Jay about this action which was doing mischief by "inducing +a belief that the suppression of intelligence at that critical juncture +was a wicked trick of policy contrived by an aristocratic junto." As soon +as Washington could move in the matter, Hazard was superseded by Samuel +Osgood, who as a member of the old Congress had served on a committee to +examine the post-office accounts. There was no Secretary of the Treasury +at that time, but the affairs of that department were in the hands of a +board of commissioners,--this same Samuel Osgood, together with Walter +Livingston and Arthur Lee. To all these officials Washington now applied +for a written account of "the real situation" of their departments. + +Several months elapsed before he was in a position to make new +arrangements. The salary bill was approved September 2, 1789, and on the +same day Washington commissioned Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury,-- +the first of the new appointments, although in the creative enactments the +Treasury Department came last. Next came Henry Knox, Secretary of War and +of the Navy, on September 12; Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State; and +Edmund Randolph, Attorney-General, on September 26, on which date Osgood +was also appointed. What may be said to be Washington's Cabinet was thus +established, but the term itself did not come into use until 1793. At the +outset no more was decided than that the new government should have +executive departments, and in superficial appearance these were much like +those of the old government. The Constitution made no distinct provision +for a cabinet, and the only clause referring to the subject is the +provision authorizing the President to "require the opinion, in writing, +of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any +subject relating to the duties of their respective offices." This +provision does not contemplate a body that should be consultative by its +normal character. The prevailing opinion at the time the Constitution was +framed was that the consultative function would be exercised by the +Senate, which together with the President would form the Administration. +Upon this ground, Mason of Virginia refused to sign the report of the +constitutional convention. It was owing to practical experience and not to +the language of the Constitution that the President was soon repelled from +using the Senate as his privy council and was thrown back upon the aid of +the heads of the executive departments, who were thus drawn close to him +as his Cabinet.[Footnote: In this formative process the Postmaster-General +was left outside in Washington's time, since his functions were purely of +a business nature, not directly affected by the issues on which Washington +desired advice. The Postmaster-General did not become a member of the +Cabinet until 1829.] + +The inchoate character of the Cabinet for a considerable period explains +what might otherwise seem to be an anomaly,--the delay of Jefferson in +occupying his post. He did not arrive until March 21, 1790, when +Washington had been in office nearly a year. But this situation occasioned +no remark. The notion that the heads of the departments formed a cabinet, +taking office with the President and reflecting his personal choice as his +advisers, was not developed until long after Washington's administration, +although the Cabinet itself, as a distinct feature of the system of +government, dates from his first term. The importance which the Cabinet +soon acquired is evidence that, even under a written constitution, +institutions owe more to circumstances than to intentions. The +Constitution of the United States is no exception to the rule that the +true constitution of a country is the actual distribution of power, +written provisions being efficacious only in the way and to the extent +that they affect such distribution in practice. Hence results may differ +widely from the expectations with which those provisions are introduced. A +constitution is essentially a growth and never merely a contrivance. + + + +CHAPTER II + + +GREAT DECISIONS + +While Washington was bearing with military fortitude the rigors and +annoyances of the imitation court in which he was confined, Congress +reached decisions that had a vast effect in determining the actual +character of the government. The first business in order of course was the +raising of revenue, for the treasury was empty, and payments of interest +due on the French and Spanish loans were years behind. Madison attacked +this problem before Washington arrived in New York to take the oath of +office. On April 8 he introduced in the House a resolution which aimed +only at giving immediate effect to a scheme of duties and imposts that had +been approved generally by the States in 1783. On the very next day debate +upon this resolution began in the committee of the whole, for there was +then no system of standing committees to intervene between the House and +its business. The debate soon broadened out far beyond the lines of the +original scheme, and in it the student finds lucidly presented the issues +of public policy that have accompanied tariff debates ever since. + +Madison laid down the general principle that "commerce ought to be free, +and labor and industry left at large to find its proper object," but +suggested that it would be unwise to apply this principle without regard +to particular circumstances. "Although interest will, in general, operate +effectually to produce political good, yet there are causes in which +certain factitious circumstances may divert it from its natural channel, +or throw or retain it in an artificial one." In language which now +reads like prophecy he referred to cases "where cities, companies, or +opulent individuals engross the business from others, by having had an +uninterrupted possession of it, or by the extent of their capitals being +able to destroy a competition." The same situation could occur between +nations, and had to be considered. There was some truth, he also thought, +in the opinion "that each nation should have within itself the means of +defense, independent of foreign supplies," but he considered that this +argument had been urged beyond reason, as "there is good reason to believe +that, when it becomes necessary, we may obtain supplies abroad as readily +as any other nation whatsoever." He instanced as a cogent reason in favor +of protective duties that, as the States had formerly the power of making +regulations of trade to cherish their domestic interests, it must be +presumed that, when they put the exercise of this power into other hands +by adopting the Constitution, "they must have done this with the +expectation that those interests would not be neglected" by Congress. + +Actuated by such views, and doubtless also influenced by the great need +for revenue, Madison was on the whole favorable to amendments extending +the list of dutiable articles. Though there were conflicts between members +from manufacturing districts and those from agricultural constituencies, +and though the salt protectionists of New York had some difficulty in +carrying their point, the contention did not follow sectional lines. Coal +was added to the list on the motion of a member from Virginia. The duties +levied were, however, very moderate, ranging from five to twelve and +one-half per cent, with an exception in the case of one article that might +be considered a luxury. + +The bill as it passed the House discriminated in favor of nations with +which the United States had commercial treaties. That is to say, it +favored France and Holland as against Great Britain, which had the bulk of +America's foreign trade. Though Madison insisted on this provision and was +supported by a large majority of the House, the Senate would not agree to +it. During the early sessions of Congress the Senate met behind closed +doors, a practice which it did not abandon until five years later. From +the accounts of the discussion preserved in Maclay's diary it appears that +there was much wrangling. Maclay relates that on one occasion when +Pennsylvania's demands were sharply attacked, his colleague, Robert +Morris, was so incensed that Maclay "could see his nostrils widen and his +nose flatten like the head of a viper." Pierce Butler of South Carolina +"flamed away and threatened a dissolution of the Union, with regard to his +State, as sure as God was in the firmament." Thus began a line of argument +that was frequently pursued thereafter until it was ended by wager of +battle. On several occasions the division was so close that Vice-President +Adams gave the casting vote. Although there was much railing in the Senate +against imposts as a burden to the agricultural sections, yet some who +opposed duties in the abstract thought of particulars that ought not to be +neglected if the principle of protection were admitted. Duties on hemp and +cotton therefore found their way into the bill through amendments voted by +the Senate. Adjustment of the differences between the two houses was +hindered by the resentment of the House at the removal of the treaty +discrimination feature, but the Senate with characteristic address evaded +the issue by promising to deal with it as a separate measure and ended by +thwarting the House on that point. + +On the whole, in view of the sharp differences of opinion, the action +taken on the tariff was remarkably expeditious. The bill, which passed the +House on May 16, was passed by the Senate on June 2, and although delay +now ensued because of the conflict over the discrimination issue, the bill +became law by the President's approval on July 4. This prompt conclusion +in spite of closely-balanced factions becomes more intelligible when it is +observed that the rules of the Senate then provided that, "in case of a +debate becoming tedious, four Senators may call for the question." +Brief as was the period of consideration as compared with the practice +since that day, Maclay noted indignantly that the merchants had "already +added the amount of the duties to the price of their goods" so that a +burden fell upon the consumers without advantage to the Treasury. Such +consequence is evidence of defect in procedure which the experience of +other nations has led them to correct, but which has continued to increase +in the United States until it has attained monstrous proportions. Under +the English budget system new imposts now take effect as soon as they are +proposed by the government, the contingency of alteration in the course of +enactment being provided for by return of payments made in error. The +general tendency of civilized government is now strongly in favor of +attaching the process of deliberation upon financial measures to the +period of their administrative incubation, and of shortening the period of +formal legislative consideration. + +One of the tasks of Congress in its first session was to draught +amendments to the Constitution. The reasons for such action were stated by +Madison to be a desire to propitiate those who desired a bill of rights, +and an effort to secure acceptance of the Constitution in Rhode Island and +North Carolina. Promises had been made, in the course of the struggle for +adoption, that this matter would be taken up, and there was a general +willingness to proceed with it. Under the leadership of Madison, the House +adopted seventeen amendments, which were reduced by the Senate to twelve. +Of these, ten were eventually ratified and formed what is commonly known +as the Bill of Rights. + +Apart from this matter, the session, which lasted until September 29, was +almost wholly occupied with measures to organize the new government. To +understand the significance of the action taken, it should be remembered +that the passions excited by the struggle over the new Constitution were +still turbulent. Fisher Ames of Massachusetts, a member without previous +national experience, who watched the proceedings with keen observation, +early noticed the presence of a group of objectors whose motives he +regarded as partly factious and partly temperamental. Writing to a friend +about the character of the House, he remarked: "Three sorts of people are +often troublesome: the anti-federals, who alone are weak and some of them +well disposed; the dupes of local prejudices, who fear eastern influence, +monopolies, and navigation acts; and lastly the violent republicans, as +they think fit to style themselves, who are new lights in politics, who +are more solicitous to establish, or rather to expatiate upon, some +sounding principle of republicanism, than to protect property, cement the +union, and perpetuate liberty." The spirit of opposition had from the +first an experienced leader in Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts. He had +seen many years of service in the Continental Congress which he first +entered in 1776. He was a delegate to the Philadelphia convention, in +whose sessions he showed a contentious temper, and in the end refused to +subscribe to the new Constitution. In the convention debates he had +strongly declared himself "against letting the heads of the departments, +particularly of finance, have anything to do with business connected with +legislation." Defeated in the convention, Gerry was now bent upon making +his ideas prevail in the organization of the government. + +On May 19, the matter of the executive departments was brought up in +committee of the whole by Boudinot of New Jersey. At this time it was the +practice of Congress to take up matters first in committee of the whole, +and, after general conclusions had been reached, to appoint a committee to +prepare and bring in a bill. A warm discussion ensued on the question +whether the heads of the departments should be removable by the President. +Gerry, who did not take a prominent part in the debate, spoke with a +mildness that was in marked contrast with the excitement shown by some of +the speakers. He was in favor of supporting the President to the utmost +and of making him as responsible as possible, but since Congress had +obviously no right to confer a power not authorized by the Constitution, +and since the Constitution had conditioned appointments on the consent of +the Senate, it followed that removals must be subject to the same +condition. He spoke briefly and only once, although the debate became long +and impassioned. But he was merely reserving his fire, as subsequent +developments soon showed. Without a call for the ayes and nays, the +question was decided in favor of declaring the power of removal to be in +the President. The committee then proceeded to the consideration of the +Treasury Department. Gerry at once made a plea for delay. "He thought they +were hurrying on business too rapidly. Gentlemen had already committed +themselves on one very important point." He "knew nothing of the system +which gentlemen proposed to adopt in arranging the Treasury Department," +but the fact was worth considering that "the late Congress had, on long +experience, thought proper to organize the Treasury Department, in a mode +different from that now proposed." He "would be glad to know what the +reasons were that would induce the committee to adopt a different system +from that which had been found most beneficial to the United States." + +What Gerry had in view was the retention of the then existing system of +Treasury management by a Board of Commissioners. In 1781 the Continental +Congress had been forced to let the Treasury pass out of its own hands +into those of a Superintendent of Finance, through sheer inability to get +any funds unless the change was made. Robert Morris, who held the +position, had resigned in January, 1783, because of the behavior of +Congress, but the attitude of the army had become so menacing that he was +implored to remain in office and attend to the arrears of military pay. He +had managed to effect a settlement, and at length retired from office on +November 1, 1784. Congress then put the Treasury in the hands of three +commissioners appointed and supervised by it. Gerry was now striving to +continue this arrangement with as little change as possible. + +When debate was resumed the next day, Gerry made a long, smooth speech on +the many superior advantages of the Board system. The extent and variety +of the functions of the office would be a trial to any one man's +integrity. "Admit these innumerable opportunities for defrauding the +revenue, without check or control, and it is next to impossible he should +remain unsullied in reputation, or innoxious with respect to misapplying +his trust." The situation would be "Very disagreeable to the person +appointed, provided he is an honest, upright man; it will be disagreeable +also to the people of the Union, who will always have reason to suspect" +misconduct. "We have had a Board of Treasury and we have had a Financier. +Have not express charges, as well as vague rumors, been brought against +him at the bar of the public? They may be unfounded, it is true; but it +shows that a man cannot serve in such a station without exciting popular +clamor. It is very well known, I dare say, to many gentlemen in this +House, that the noise and commotion were such as obliged Congress once +more to alter their Treasury Department, and place it under the management +of a Board of Commissioners." He descanted upon the perils to liberty +involved in the course they were pursuing. Surround the President with +Ministers of State and "the President will be induced to place more +confidence in them than in the Senate.... An oligarchy will be confirmed +upon the ruin of the democracy; a government most hateful will descend to +our posterity and all our exertions in the glorious cause of freedom will +be frustrated." + +Gerry's speech as a whole was tactful and persuasive, but he made a +blunder when he appealed to the recollections of the old members, men who +had been in the Continental Congress, or else in some position where they +could view its springs of action. Their recollections now came forward to +his discomfiture. "My official duty," said Wadsworth of Connecticut, "has +led me often to attend at the Treasury of the United States, and, from my +experience, I venture to pronounce that a Board of Treasury is the worst +of all institutions. They have doubled our national debt." He contrasted +the order and clearness of accounts while the Superintendent of Finance +was in charge with the situation since then. If the committee had before +them the transactions of the Treasury Board, "instead of system and +responsibility they would find nothing but confusion and disorder, without +a possibility of checking their accounts." Boudinot of New Jersey said he +"would state a circumstance which might give the committee some small idea +of what the savings under the Superintendent were. The expenditure of hay +at a certain post was one hundred and forty tons; such was the estimate +laid before him; yet twelve tons carried the post through the year, and +the supply was abundant, and the post was as fully and usefully occupied +as it had ever been before." Of course there was an outcry against the +Superintendent of Finance; "he rather wondered that the clamor was not +more loud and tremendous." He remembered that "one hundred and forty-six +supernumerary officers were brushed off in one day, who had long been +sucking the vital blood and spirit of the nation. Was it to be wondered +at, if this swarm should raise a buzz about him?" Gerry fought on almost +singlehanded, but he could not refute the evidence that he had invited. He +lost his temper and resorted to sarcasm. If a single head of the Treasury +was so desirable, why not "have a single legislator; one man to make all +the laws, the revenue laws particularly, because among many there is less +responsibility, system, and energy; consequently a numerous representation +in this House is an odious institution." + +The case for the Treasury Board was so hopeless that nothing more was +heard of it; but the battle over the removal question was renewed with +added violence, when the bill for establishing the Department of Foreign +Affairs came up for consideration. White of Virginia now led the attack. +He had been a member of the Continental Congress from 1786 to 1788, and a +member of the ratifying convention of his State. Although he voted for +a provisional acceptance of the Constitution, he had supported an +amendment requiring Congress to collect direct taxes or excises through +State agency, which would have been in effect a return to the plan of +requisitions--the bane of the Confederation. In an elaborate speech he +attacked the clause giving the President power to remove from office, as +an attempt to impart an authority not conferred by the Constitution, and +inconsistent with the requirement that appointments should be made with +the advice and consent of the Senate. The debate soon became heated. "Let +us look around at this moment," said Jackson of Georgia, "and see the +progress we are making toward venality and corruption. We already hear the +sounding title of _Highness_ and _Most Honorable_ trumpeted in our ears, +which, ten years since, would have exalted a man to a station as high as +Haman's gibbet." Page of Virginia was ablaze with indignation. "Good God!" +he exclaimed. "What, authorize in a free republic, by law, too, by your +first act, the exertion of a dangerous royal prerogative in your Chief +Magistrate!" Gerry, in remarks whose oblique criticism upon arrangements +at the President's house was perfectly well understood, dwelt upon the +possibility that the President might be guided by some other criterion +than discharge of duty as the law directs. "Perhaps the officer is not +good natured enough; he makes an ungraceful bow, or does it left leg +foremost; this is unbecoming in a great officer at the President's levee. +Now, because he is so unfortunate as not to be so good a dancer as he is a +worthy officer, he must be removed." These rhetorical flourishes, which +are significant of the undercurrent of sentiment, hardly do justice to the +general quality of the debate which was marked by legal acuteness on both +sides. Madison pressed home the sensible argument that the President could +not be held to responsibility unless he could control his subordinates. +"And if it should happen that the officers connect themselves with the +Senate, they may mutually support each other, and for want of efficacy +reduce the power of the President to a mere vapor; in which case, his +responsibility would be annihilated and the expectation of it unjust." + +The debate lasted for several days, but Madison won by a vote of 34 to 20 +in committee, in favor of retaining the clause. On second thought, +however, and probably after consultation with the little group of +constructive statesmen who stood behind the scenes, he decided that it +might be dangerous to allow the President's power of removal to rest upon +a legislative grant that might be revoked. When the report from the +committee of the whole was taken up in the House, a few days later, Benson +of New York proposed that the disputed clause should be omitted and the +language of the bill should be worded so as to imply that the power of +removal was in the President. Madison accepted the suggestion, and the +matter was thus settled. The point was covered by providing that the chief +clerk of the Department should take charge "whenever the principal officer +shall be removed from office by the President." The clause got through the +Senate by the casting vote of the Vice-President, and a similar provision +was inserted, without further contest, in all the acts creating the +executive departments. It is rather striking evidence of the Utopian +expectations which could then be indulged that Daniel Carroll of Maryland +was persistent in urging that the existence of the office should be +limited to a few years, "under a hope that a time would come when the +United States would be disengaged from the necessity of supporting a +Secretary of Foreign Affairs." Although Gerry and others expressed +sympathy with the motion it was voted down without a division. + +When the bill establishing the Treasury Department was taken up, Page of +Virginia made a violent attack upon the clause authorizing the Secretary +to "digest and report plans." He denounced it as "an attempt to create an +undue influence" in the House. "Nor would the mischief stop here; it would +establish a precedent which might be extended until we admitted all the +Ministers of the government on the floor, to explain and support the plans +they have digested and reported; thus laying the foundation for an +aristocracy or a detestable monarchy." As a matter of fact, a precedent in +favor of access to Congress already existed. The old Superintendent of +Finance and the Board which succeeded him had the power now proposed for +the Secretary of the Treasury. Livermore of New Hampshire, who had been a +member of the Continental Congress, admitted this fact, but held that such +power was not dangerous at that time since Congress then possessed both +legislative and executive authority. They could abolish his plans and his +office together, if they thought proper; "but we are restrained by a +Senate and by the negative of the President," Gerry declared his assent to +the views expressed by Page. "If the doctrine of having prime and great +ministers of state was once well established, he did not doubt but that we +should soon see them distinguished by a green or red ribbon, or other +insignia of court favor and patronage." + +The strongest argument in favor of retaining the clause referred to was +made by Fisher Ames, who had begun to display the powers of clear +statement and of convincing argument that soon established his supremacy +in debate. He brought the debate at once to its proper bearings by +pointing out that there were really only two matters to be considered: +whether the proposed arrangement was useful, and whether it could be +safely guarded from abuse. "The Secretary is presumed to acquire the best +knowledge of the subject of finance of any member of the community. Now, +if this House is to act on the best knowledge of circumstances, it seems +to follow logically that the House must obtain the evidence from that +officer: the best way of doing this will be publicly from the officer +himself, by making it his duty to furnish us with it." In one of those +eloquent passages which brighten the records of debate whenever Ames spoke +at any length, he pictured the difficulties that had to be surmounted. "If +we consider the present situation of our finances, owing to a variety of +causes, we shall no doubt perceive a great, although unavoidable confusion +throughout the whole scene; it presents to the imagination a deep, dark, +and dreary chaos; impossible to be reduced to order without the mind of +the architect is clear and capacious, and his power commensurate to the +occasion." He asked, "What improper influence could a plan reported openly +and officially have on the mind of any member, more than if the scheme and +information were given privately at the Secretary's office?" Merely to +call for information would not be advantageous to the House. "It will be +no mark of inattention or neglect, if he take time to consider the +questions you propound; but if you make it his duty to furnish you plans +... and he neglect to perform it, his conduct or capacity is virtually +impeached. This will be furnishing an additional check." + +Sedgwick of Massachusetts made a strong speech to the same effect. "Make +your officer responsible," he said with prophetic vision, "and the +presumption is, that plans and information are properly digested; but if +he can secrete himself behind the curtain, he might create a noxious +influence, and not be answerable for the information he gives." + +The weight of the argument was heavily on the side of the supporters of +the clause, and it looked as though the group of objectors would again be +beaten. But now a curious thing happened. Fitzsimmons remarked that, if he +understood the objection made to the clause, "it was a jealousy arising +from the power given the Secretary to report plans of revenue to the +House." He suggested that "harmony might be restored by changing the word +'report' into 'prepare'." Fitzsimmons was esteemed by the House because of +his zealous support of the War of Independence and also because he stood +high as a successful Philadelphia merchant, but he did not, however, rank +as a leader. Early in the session Ames described him as a man who "is +supposed to understand trade, and he assumes some weight in such matters. +He is plausible, though not over civil; is artful, has a glaring eye, a +down look, speaks low, and with apparent candor and coolness." He was +hardly the man to guide the House on a matter pertaining to the +organization of public authority. + +While the removal issue was before the House, Madison had been prominent +in debate, and had spoken with great power and earnestness; but up to this +time he had said nothing on the issue now pending. He now remarked that he +did not believe that the danger apprehended by some really existed, but +twice in his speech he admitted that "there is a small possibility, +though it is but small, that an officer may derive a weight from this +circumstance, and have some degree of influence upon the deliberations of +the legislature." In its practical effect the speech favored the +compromise which Fitzsimmons had just proposed; in fact, the only +opposition to the change of phrasing now came from a few extremists who +still clamored for the omission of the entire clause. The decisive effect +of Madison's intervention was a natural consequence of the leadership he +had held in the movement for the new Constitution and of his standing +as the representative of the new Administration, of his possessing +Washington's confidence and acting as his adviser. Washington, then being +without a cabinet, had turned to Madison for help in discharging the +duties of his office, and at Washington's written request Madison had +drafted for him his replies to the addresses of the House and the Senate +at the opening of the session. It was a matter of course in such +circumstances that the House accepted Fitzsimmons' amendment,--"by a great +majority," according to the record,--and thus the Secretary of the +Treasury was shut out of the House and was condemned to work in the lobby. + +The consequences of this decision have been so vast that it is worth while +making an inquiry into motive, although the materials upon which judgment +must rest are scant. No one can read the record of this discussion without +noting that Madison's approval of the original clause was lukewarm as +compared with the ardor he had shown when the question was whether +Washington should be allowed to remove his subordinates. This contrast +suggests that Madison's behavior was affected by fear of Hamilton's +influence. Would it be prudent for him to give Hamilton the advantage of +being able to appear in person before the House, and probably to supplant +Madison himself as the spokesman of the Administration? Divergence between +the two men had already begun in details. At the time the vote on the +powers of the Secretary of the Treasury was taken, the tariff bill and the +tonnage bill were still pending, and Hamilton's influence operated against +Madison's views on some points. Moreover, the question of the permanent +residence of the federal government was coming forward and was apparently +overshadowing everything else in the minds of members. Ames several +times in his correspondence at this period remarks upon Madison's +timidity, which was due to his concern about Virginia State politics. Any +arrangement that might enable Hamilton to cross swords with an opponent on +the floor of the House could not be attractive to Madison, who was a lucid +reasoner but not an impressive speaker. Hamilton was both of these, and he +possessed an intellectual brilliancy which Madison lacked. Ames, who +respected Madison's abilities and who regarded him as the leading member +of the House, wrote that "he speaks low, his person is little and +ordinary; he speaks decently as to manner, and no more; his language is +very pure, perspicuous, and to the point." Why Fitzsimmons should be +opposed to the appearance of the Secretary in person in the House, as had +been Robert Morris's practice when he was Superintendent of Finance, is +plain enough. Maclay's diary has many references to Fitzsimmons's +negotiations with members on tariff rates. It was not to the advantage of +private diplomacy to allow the Secretary to shape and define issues on the +floor of the House. But Fitzsimmons could not have had his way about the +matter without Madison's help. + +Gibbon remarks that the greatest of theological controversies which racked +the Roman Empire and affected the peace of millions turned on the question +whether a certain word should be spelled with one diphthong or another. A +like disproportion between the vastness of results and the minuteness of +verbal distinction is exhibited in this decision by the House. The change +of "report" into "prepare" threw up a ridge in the field of constitutional +development that has affected the trend of American politics ever since. +This is the explanation of a problem of comparative politics that has +often excited much wondering notice: why it is that alone among modern +representative assemblies the American House of Representatives tends to +decline in prestige and authority. The original expectation was that the +House of Representatives would take a dominant position like that of the +House of Commons, but its degradation began so soon that Fisher Ames noted +it as early as 1797. Writing to Hamilton he observed: + +"The heads of departments are chief clerks. Instead of being the ministry, +the organs of the executive power, and imparting a kind of momentum to the +operation of the laws, they are precluded even from communicating with the +House by reports.... Committees already are the Ministers and while the +House indulges a jealousy of encroachment in its functions, which are +properly deliberative, it does not perceive that these are impaired and +nullified by the monopoly as well as the perversion of information by +these committees." + +Justice Story, who entered Congress in 1808 as a Jeffersonian Republican, +noted the process of degradation, and in his _Commentaries_ he pointed out +the cause: "The Executive is compelled to resort to secret and unseen +influences, to private interviews and private arrangements to accomplish +its own appropriate purposes, instead of proposing and sustaining its own +duties and measures by a bold and manly appeal to the nation in the face +of its representatives." + +The last of the organic acts of the session was the one establishing the +judiciary. The student will be disappointed if he examines the record to +note whether there was any vision of the ascendancy which the judiciary +was to obtain in the development of the American constitutional system. +The debates were almost wholly about the possibilities of conflict between +the state and the federal courts. Although Maclay's diary gives a +one-sided and distorted account of the proceedings in the Senate, the +course of the debate is clear. Ellsworth of Connecticut had principal +charge of the bill. At the outset Lee and Grayson of Virginia made an +ineffectual effort to confine the original jurisdiction of the federal +courts to cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, and argued that +jurisdiction over other cases involving federal law might be conferred +upon state courts. This was a point on which there had been some +difference of opinion between Hamilton and Madison. The former held that +it was within the competency of Congress, when instituting tribunals +inferior to the Supreme Court, to adopt the state courts for that purpose. +Madison held that nothing less than a system of federal courts quite +distinct from the state courts would satisfy the requirements of the +Constitution. When the bill was taken up in the House, there was a long +debate over this matter. The costly duplication of judicial establishments +that has ever since existed in the United States is certainly not +necessary to a federal system, but is an American peculiarity. The +advocates of a unified system were hampered by the fact that this view was +pressed by some in a spirit of hostility to the Constitution. The decisive +argument was the untrustworthiness of the state courts. Madison urged this +fact with great force and pointed out that in some of the States the +courts "are so dependent on the state legislatures, that to make the +federal laws dependent on them, would throw us back into all the +embarrassments which characterized our former situation." Such was the low +repute of the state legislatures that the only way in which this argument +could be met was to argue that "Congress shall have power, in its fullest +extent, to correct, reverse, or affirm, any decree of a state court." This +high assertion of federal authority was made by Jackson of Georgia in the +course of a long legal argument. The debate did not follow sectional +lines, and in general it was not unfairly described by Maclay as a +lawyer's wrangle. The bill was put into shape by the Senate, and reached +the House toward the close of the session when the struggle over the site +of the national capital was overshadowing everything else. It was so +generally believed that nothing important could be gained by attempts at +amendment that, after an airing of opinions, the House accepted the +measure just as it had come from the Senate. + + + +CHAPTER III + + +THE MASTER BUILDER + +The subject of national finance had long interested Hamilton. His ideas +had been matured by a diligent and minute study of English precedents, and +now that his opportunity had come he was ready to grasp it. Soon after he +took office, the House resolved that "an adequate provision for the +support of the public credit" should be made, and it directed the +Secretary of the Treasury "to prepare a plan for that purpose and to +report the same to the House at its next meeting." This was, in effect, a +postponement until the second session of the First Congress, which began +in January, 1790. In his opening address to Congress, Washington pointedly +referred to the public credit resolution which he had noted "with peculiar +pleasure." On the next day a letter from Hamilton was read in the House +stating that he had prepared his plan and was ready to report the same to +the House when they should be pleased to receive it. + +This announcement brought up anew the question in what manner the +Secretary should make his report. Gerry was on his feet at once with a +motion that it should be made in writing. Boudinot "hoped that the +Secretary of the Treasury might be permitted to make his report in person +in order to answer such inquiries as the members might be disposed to +make, for it was a justifiable surmise that gentlemen would not be able +clearly to comprehend so intricate a subject without oral illustration." +The allusion to the intricacy of the subject had the effect of turning +against the plan of oral communication some who had favored giving the +Secretary the same direct access to Congress that the Superintendent of +Finance had formerly enjoyed. Ames, for instance, now desired that the +Secretary's communications should be in writing since "in this shape they +would obtain a degree of permanency favorable to the responsibility of the +officer, while, at the same time, they would be less liable to be +misunderstood." Benson suggested that since the resolution of Congress had +directed the Secretary to make a report, it was left to his discretion to +"make it in the manner for which he is prepared." Gerry adroitly countered +by saying that the resolution provided for a report. That done, it would +be time enough "to give him the right to lay before them his explanations, +if he thinks explanations necessary." The debate was brief and one-sided; +the motion for receiving the report in writing was adopted without a +division. Five days later the written report was laid before the House, +but the Secretary was never accorded an opportunity to offer any personal +explanations. + +This masterly report, which is justly regarded as the corner-stone of +American public credit, excites the admiration of the reader by the +clearness of its analysis, the cogency of its argument, and the broad +range of its vision. The principles of action that it embodied, however, +were few and simple, chief among them being exact and punctual fulfillment +of contract. "States, like individuals, who observe their engagements, are +respected and trusted; while the reverse is the fate of those who pursue +an opposite conduct." To discharge the principal of the public debt was of +course impracticable; nor was it desirable, as the creditors would be well +pleased to leave it at interest. Incidentally the funding of the debt +would provide securities that would serve trade as a species of currency, +and would set in motion a long train of benefits that would extend +throughout the community. In the funding operation the debts contracted by +the States should be included. As to this Hamilton remarked: "The general +principle of it seems to be equitable, for it seems difficult to conceive +a good reason why the expenses for the particular defense of a part in a +common war should not be a common charge, as well as those incurred +professedly for the general defense. The defense of each part is that of +the whole; and unless the expenditures are brought into a common mass, the +tendency must be to add to the calamities suffered by being the most +exposed to the ravages of war and increase of burthens." + +Hamilton computed the amount of the foreign debt, principal and arrears, +at $11,710,378.62; the domestic debt, including that of the States, at +$42,414,085.94,--a total of over fifty-four millions with an annual +interest charge at existing rates amounting to $4,587,444.81,--a +staggering total for a nation whose revenue was then insufficient to meet +its current expenses. Nevertheless Hamilton refused to admit that "such a +provision would exceed the abilities of the country," but he was "clearly +of the opinion that to make it would require the extension of taxation to +a degree and to objects which the true interest of the public creditor +forbids." He therefore favored a composition, in arranging which there +would be strict adherence to the principle "that no change in the rights +of creditors ought to be attempted without their voluntary consent; and +that this consent ought to be voluntary in fact as well as in name." It +followed that "every proposal of a change ought to be in the shape of an +appeal to their interests; but not to their necessities." Hamilton then +went into details of a funding loan, in which various options were offered +to the creditors, including land grants in part payment, and conversion in +whole or in part into annuities, several sorts of which were offered. He +submitted estimates of how the various plans would work out in practice, +and he concluded that the annual revenue which would be required to enable +the government to meet its obligations under the scheme and also to +maintain its current service would amount to $2,239,163.09, a sum that +could be readily provided. + +There could not have been a more striking contrast than there was between +the humiliating conditions which actually existed and the grand results +which Hamilton designed and confidently expected. The ardent and hopeful +tone of his plan, conceived in apparently desperate circumstances, is very +marked. He declared: "It cannot but merit particular attention that among +ourselves the most enlightened friends of good government are those whose +expectations are the highest. To justify and preserve their confidence; to +promote the increasing respectability of the American name; to answer the +calls of justice; to restore landed property to its due value; to furnish +new resources both to agriculture and commerce; to cement more closely the +union of the States; to add to their security against foreign attack; to +establish public order on the basis of a liberal and upright policy--these +are the great and invaluable ends to be secured by a proper and adequate +provision at the present period for the support of public credit." + +All these great objects were indeed attained, but Hamilton's anticipation +of them was at the time regarded as either a pretext made to cajole +Congress or else merely an ebullition from his own sanguine nature not to +be taken too seriously by sensible people. Senator Maclay of Pennsylvania +regarded Hamilton's plans as wildly extravagant in their conception and +iniquitous in their practical effect. In his opinion, Hamilton had "a very +boyish, giddy manner, and Scotch-Irish people could well call him a +'skite.'" Jackson of Georgia exposed to the House the folly of Hamilton's +proposals by pointing out that a funded debt meant national decay. He +mentioned England as "a melancholy instance of the ruin attending such +engagements." To such a pitch had the "spirit of funding and borrowing +been carried in that country" that its national debt was now "a burthen +which the most sanguine mind can never contemplate they will ever be +relieved from." France also was "considerably enfeebled and languishes +under a heavy load of debt." He argued that by funding the debt in America +"the same effect must be produced that has taken place in other nations; +it must either bring on national bankruptcy, or annihilate her existence +as an independent empire." + +Such dismal prognostications on the very eve of the Napoleonic era, with +its tremendous revelations of national power, were quite common at that +time. The long rambling debate that took place in the House when +Hamilton's report was taken up for consideration abounds with similar +instances of shortsightedness. Many members did not scruple to advise +repudiation, in whole or in part. Livermore of New Hampshire admitted that +the foreign debt should be provided for, since it was "lent to the United +States in real coin, by disinterested persons, not concerned or benefited +by the revolution," but that the domestic debt was "for depreciated paper, +or services done at exorbitant rates, or for goods or provisions supplied +at more than their real worth, by those who received all the benefits +arising from our change of condition." True, Congress had pledged its +faith to the redemption of issues at their face value, "but this was done +on a principle of policy, in order to prevent the rapid depreciation which +was taking place." He argued that "money lent in this depreciated and +depreciating state can hardly be said to be lent from a spirit of +patriotism; it was a mere speculation in public securities." + +The distinction between the foreign debt and the domestic was seized by +many members as providing a just basis for discrimination. Page of +Virginia observed that "our citizens were deeply interested, and, I +believe, if they were never to get a farthing for what is owing to them +for their services, they would be well paid; they have gained what they +aimed at; they have secured their liberties and their laws; they will be +satisfied that this House has pledged itself to pay foreigners the +generous loans they advanced to us in the day of distress." In the course +of the debate the power to do was so often mentioned as implying the right +to do that Ames was moved to remark: "I have heard that in the East Indies +the stock of the labor and the property of the empire is the property of +the Prince; that it is held at his will and pleasure; but this is a +slavish doctrine, which I hope we are not prepared to adopt here." As a +matter of fact, there had already been extensive scaling of the debt, and +the note emissions had been pretty nearly wiped out. To save the public +credit from complete collapse, the Continental Congress had entered into +definite contracts under the most solemn pledges, and it was upon this +select class of securities that it was now proposed to start anew the +process of repudiation. But public opinion displayed itself so hostile to +such perfidy that the party of repudiation in Congress soon dwindled to +insignificance and the struggle finally settled upon two issues, +discrimination and assumption. + +Weeks of debate ensued, and the deepest impression made by a careful +perusal of the record is the inability of members to appreciate the +importance of the issues. Much of the tedious and pointless character of +their speeches may be ascribed to the lack of the personal presence of the +Secretary. There being nothing to focus the debate and exclude the +fictitious and irrelevant, it rambled in any direction a speaker's +fancy might suggest. Moreover, its quality was impaired because any +consideration of motive was of the nature of talking about a man behind +his back and this, everyone knows, is very different from saying things to +his face. Assertions and innuendos which would hardly have been hazarded +had Hamilton been present, or which, had they been made, would have been +forthwith met and refuted, were indulged in without restraint. Although +one of the reasons given for requiring a written report was that the House +would be the better informed, the debate does not indicate that the +arguments by which Hamilton had vindicated his proposals had really been +apprehended. + +The question whether or not any discrimination could be made between +original holders of the public securities and those who had acquired them +by purchase was considered at length by Hamilton in his report. The public +securities had been at such a heavy discount that now, if they were to be +met at face value, speculators would reap large profits. Hamilton put the +case of the opposition as strongly as possible. It might be urged that it +was unreasonable "to pay twenty shillings in the pound to one who had not +given more for it than three or four; and it is added that it would be +hard to aggravate the misfortune of the first owner, who, probably through +necessity, parted with, his property at so great a loss, by obliging him +to contribute to the profit of the person who had speculated on his +distresses." Nevertheless, Hamilton submitted considerations showing that +discrimination would be "equally unjust and impolitic, as highly injurious +even to the original holders of public securities, as ruinous to public +credit." It is unnecessary to repeat the lucid argument by which Hamilton +demonstrated the soundness of his position, for security of transfer is +now well understood to be an essential element of public credit; but the +special point of interest is that the debate simply ignored Hamilton's +argument and rambled along over the superficial aspects of the case, +dwelling upon the sorrows of those who had parted with their holdings, and +exhibiting their situation as the most important matter to be considered. + +Madison was most active in making that branch of the case the leading +issue, and in a series of elaborate speeches which cannot now be read +without regret, he urged that the present holders should be allowed only +the highest market price previously recorded, and that the residue should +go to the original holders. Boudinot at once pointed out that there was +nothing on record to show who might be an original bona fide holder. Great +quantities of the certificates of indebtedness had, as a mere matter of +convenience, been issued to government clerks who afterwards distributed +them among those who furnished supplies to the government or who performed +services entitling them to pay. He mentioned that he himself appeared on +the record as original holder in cases wherein he had really acted in +behalf of his neighbors to relieve them of the trouble of personal +appearance. Madison's proposition would therefore invest him with a legal +title to property which really belonged to others. But this and other +evidence of the real effect of Madison's proposal failed to move him, +further than to cause him to declare that "all that he wished was that the +claims of the original holders, not less than those of the actual holders, +should be fairly examined and justly decided," Finally Benson of New York +gave him a shrewd home thrust that plainly embarrassed him. He put the +question whether, if he had purchased a certificate from Madison, and the +Treasury withheld part of the amount for Madison as the original holder, +Madison would keep the money? "I ask," said Benson, "whether he would take +advantage of the law against me, and refuse to give me authority to take +it up in his name?" Madison evaded the query by saying that everything +would depend upon the circumstances of any particular case, and that +circumstances were conceivable in which the most tender conscience need +not refrain from taking the benefit of what the government had determined. + +The debate on Madison's discrimination amendment lasted from the eleventh +to the twenty-second day of February--Washington's birthday. The House did +honor to the day when it rejected Madison's motion by the crushing vote of +36 to 13. With that, his pretensions to the leadership of the House quite +disappeared. + +The assumption of state debts was the subject of a debate in committee of +the whole which lasted from the twenty-third of February to the second of +March. New factional lines now revealed a supposed diversity of interest +of the several States. The false notions of finance then current were +illustrated by an argument that was in continual use, either on the floor +or in the lobby. Members would figure how much their States would have to +pay as their share of the debt that would be assumed, and on that basis +would reach conclusions as to how their States stood to win or lose by the +transaction. By this reckoning, of course, the great gainer would appear +to be the State upon whom the chances of war had piled the largest debt. +This calculation made Burke of South Carolina, usually an opponent of +anything coming from Hamilton, a strong advocate of assumption. He told +the House that "if the present question was lost, he was almost certain it +would end in her bankruptcy, for she [South Carolina] was no more able to +grapple with her enormous debt than a boy of twelve years of age is able +to grapple with a giant." Livermore, representing a State never within the +actual field of military operations, at once replied: "I conceive that the +debt of South Carolina, or Massachusetts, or of an individual, has nothing +to do with our deliberations. If they have involved themselves in debt, it +is their misfortune, and they must extricate themselves as well as they +can." On a later occasion Stone of Maryland, another State that lay +outside the track of war, gave the leading war-debt States an admonition +of the kind that adds insult to injury, saying "however inconvenient it +may be to Massachusetts or South Carolina to make a bold exertion, and +nobly bear the burthens of their present debt, I believe in the end it +would be found to conduce greatly to their advantage." Burke made a +crushing rejoinder. "Was Maryland like South Carolina constantly grappling +with the enemy during the whole war? There is not a road in the State but +has witnessed the ravages of war; plantations were destroyed, and the +skeletons of houses, to this day, point out to the traveler the route of +the British army; her citizens were exposed to every violence, their +capital taken, and their country almost overrun by the enemy; men, women, +and children murdered by the Indians and Tories; all the personal property +consumed, and now is it to be wondered at that she is not able to make +exertions equal with other States, who have been generally in an +undisturbed condition?" + +The argument pressed by the advocates of assumption was that the state +debts contracted during the Revolutionary War were for the common defense, +and that, unless these were assumed by the general government, the +adoption of the new Constitution would do injury by withdrawing revenue +resources which the States had formerly possessed. This position at the +present day seems reasonable enough, but it is certain that at that time +people worked themselves into a genuine rage over the matter and were able +to persuade themselves into a sincere belief that it was outrageous the +unfortunate States should expect the others to bear their troubles, and +that Hamilton was a great rogue for proposing such a scheme. Writing in +his private diary, Maclay characterized the plan as "a monument of +political absurdity," and he was in the habit of referring to Hamilton's +supporters as his "gladiators" and as a "corrupt squadron." + +On the whole the records make painful reading. The prevailing tone of +public life was one of dull and narrow provincialism, at times thickening +into stupidity, at times sharpening into spite, although ordinarily made +respectable by a serious attitude to life and by a stolid fortitude in +facing whatever the distracted times might present. It was the influence +of a few great men that made America a nation. If one is not subject to +the spirit of ancestor worship that has long ruled American history, one +is bound to say that--apart from some forceful pamphleteering of transient +purpose--the voluminous political literature of the formative period +displays much pedantic erudition but has little that goes really deep. The +_Federalist_, the artillery of a hard fought battle, is a striking +exception. So, too, is the series of reports by Hamilton. But his plans +could not prevail by force of reason against the general spirit of selfish +particularism. Although on March 2 a motion adverse to assumption in +committee of the whole was defeated by a vote of 28 to 22, it was then +known that a majority could not be procured for enactment, and on April 12 +the assumption bill was defeated outright in the House, 31 to 29. Maclay, +who went over to the House from the Senate to witness the event, gloated +over the defeat in his diary: + +"Sedgwick, from Boston, pronounced a funeral oration over it. He was +called to order; some confusion ensued; he took his hat and went out. When +he returned, his visage bore the visible marks of weeping. Fitzsimmons +reddened like scarlet; his eyes were brimful. Clymer's color, always pale, +now merged to a deadly white; his lips quivered, and his nether jaw shook +with convulsive motions; his head, neck, and breast contracted with +gesticulations resembling those of a turkey or goose nearly strangled in +the act of deglutition. Benson bungled like a shoemaker who has lost his +end.... Wadsworth hid his grief under the rim of a round hat. Boudinot's +wrinkles rose in ridges and the angles of his mouth were depressed and +assumed a curve resembling a horse's shoe." The defeat did not discourage +Hamilton. He had successfully handled a more difficult situation in +getting New York to ratify the Constitution, and, resorting now to the +same means he had then employed, he used pressure of interest to move +those who could not be stirred by reason. The intense concern felt by +members in the choice of the site of the national capital supplied him +with the leverage which he brought to bear on the situation. Most of the +members were more stirred by that question than by any other before +Congress. It was a prominent topic in Madison's correspondence from the +time the Constitution was adopted. Maclay's diary abounds with references +to the subject. Some of his bitterest sentences are penned about the +conduct of those who preferred some other site to that on the Susquehanna +River which he knew to be the best because he lived there himself. +Bargaining among the members as to the selection had been going on almost +from the first. As early as April 26, 1789, before Washington had been +installed in his office, Maclay mentions a meeting "to concert some +measures for the removal of Congress." Thereafter notices of pending deals +appear frequently in his diary. After the defeat of the assumption bill, +the diary notes the activity of Hamilton in this matter. An entry of June +14, 1790, ascribes to Robert Morris the statement that "Hamilton said he +wanted one vote in the Senate and five in the House of Representatives; +that he was willing and would agree to place the permanent residence of +Congress at Germantown or Falls of the Delaware (Trenton), if he would +procure him those votes." Although definite knowledge is unattainable, one +gets the impression, in following the devious course of these intrigues, +that had Pennsylvania interests been united they could have decided the +site of the national capital; but the delegation was divided over the +relative merits of the Delaware and the Susquehanna as well as on +the question of assumption. Hamilton's efforts in this quarter were +ineffectual, and the winning combination was finally arranged elsewhere +and otherwise by the aid of Jefferson. + +Thomas Jefferson was at this time forty-seven years old, and owing both to +seniority and to the distinguished positions he had held, he ranked as the +most illustrious member of the Administration. His correspondence at this +period shows that he was fully aware of the importance of the crisis, and +he did not overrate it when he wrote to James Monroe, June 20, 1790, that, +unless the measures of the Administration were successful, "our credit +will burst and vanish, and the States separate to take care everyone of +itself." In this letter Jefferson outlined the compromise that was +actually adopted by Congress. The strongest opposition to the assumption +bill had come from Virginia, although Maryland, Georgia, and New Hampshire +also opposed it, and the Middle States were divided. Jefferson was able to +get enough Southern votes to carry assumption in return for enough votes +from Hamilton's adherents to carry the Potomac site. An agreement was +reached at a dinner given by Jefferson to which he invited Hamilton and +Madison. According to this arrangement, the capital was to remain in +Philadelphia for ten years and after that to be on the Potomac River in a +district ten miles square to be selected by the President. The residence +act was approved July 16, 1790; the funding and assumption measures, now +combined in one bill, became law on August 4. + +After Jefferson turned against the Administration, his participation in +the passage of the assumption bill was such an awkward circumstance that +he discredited his own intelligence by professing that he "was most +ignorantly and innocently made to hold the candle" to Hamilton's "game." +In reality the public service Jefferson then performed was the most useful +in all his long and fruitful career. But for this action, the Declaration +of Independence, to the drafting of which he owes his greatest fame, might +now be figuring among the historical documents of lost causes, like +similar elaborate statements of principle made during the Commonwealth +period in England. Had the national forces failed at the critical period +of financial organization, and the States, bankrupt by the revolutionary +struggle, been left in the lurch, the republic would have followed the +usual course of disintegration displayed by federations from the time of +the Greek amphictyonies down to that of the Holy Roman Empire. + +The charge was made soon after Hamilton's victory that it was largely due +to the influence of speculators. The advance in the market value of +securities produced by Hamilton's measures certainly gave an opportunity +to speculators of which they availed themselves with the unscrupulous +activity characteristic of the sordid tribe. Jefferson has left an account +of "the base scramble." "Couriers and relay horses by land, and swift +sailing pilot boats by sea, were flying in all directions. Active partners +and agents were associated and employed in every state, town, and country +neighborhood, and this paper was bought up at five shillings, and even as +low as two shillings in the pound, before the holder knew that Congress +had already provided for its assumption at par. Immense sums were thus +filched from the poor and ignorant, and fortunes accumulated by those who +had themselves been poor enough before." + +This account is highly colored. The struggle was too close, and the issue +was long too doubtful, to admit of speculative preparations extending to +every "town and country neighborhood." If speculation took place on such a +large scale, it must have been also taking risks on a large scale, for +assumption was not assured until Jefferson himself put his shoulder to the +wheel. The lack of means for prompt diffusion of intelligence naturally +provided large opportunity for speculation by those in a position to +keep well-informed, and undoubtedly large profits were made; but the +circumstances were such that it seems most probable that profits were less +than market opportunities would have allowed had not the issue been so +long in doubt. Nevertheless there was much speculative activity, and the +charge was soon made that it extended into Congress.[Footnote: This charge +was put forth by John Taylor in pamphlets printed in 1793 and 1794, in +which he reviewed the financial policy of the Administration and gave a +list of Congressmen who had invested in the public funds. The facts on +which this charge rests have been collected and examined by Professor +Beard in his _Economic Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy_. His analysis +shows that out of sixty-four members of the House, twenty-nine were +security holders, and of these twenty-one voted for and eight voted +against assumption. But the facts disclosed do not sustain his theory that +the issue was essentially a conflict between capitalism and agrarianism. +The assumption bill was lifted to its place on the statute book through +the leverage exerted by Hamilton and Jefferson, with Washington's prestige +as their fulcrum. The characters of these three men resist schemes of +classification according to economic interest. The principal value of +analysis of the economic elements of the struggle is to protect from +undervaluation the motives that actuated the opposition to Hamilton's +measures. The historian has the advantage of a perspective denied to +participants in events, and this fact is apt to turn unduly to the +discredit of lost causes.] + +The passage of assumption was the turning point. Other important measures +followed, but none of them met with difficulties which the Administration +could not overcome by ordinary methods of persuasion and appeal. A +national bank was authorized by an act approved on February 25, 1791. +Hamilton's famous report on manufactures, a masterly analysis of the +sources of national wealth and of the means of improving them, was sent to +Congress on December 5, 1791. Upon his recommendation Congress established +the mint, the only point which excited controversy being Hamilton's +proposal that the coins should be stamped with the head of the President +in whose administration they were issued. This suggestion was rejected on +the ground that it smacked too much of the practice of monarchies. The +queer totemistic designs of American coinage are a consequence of this +decision. + +The formation of national government by voluntary agreement is a unique +event. The explanation of this peculiar result in the case of America is +the unifying influence of Hamilton's measures. They interested in the +support of the government economic forces strong enough to counteract the +separatist tendencies that had always before broken up states unless +they were held together by sheer might of power in their rulers. The +means employed have been cited as evidence in support of the economic +interpretation of history now in fashion. Government, it is true, like +every other form of life, must meet the fundamental needs of subsistence +and defense, but this truism supplies no explanation of the particular +mode of doing so that may be adopted. Those needs account for motion but +not for direction. Human will, discernment, and purpose enter and +complicate the situation in a way that makes theories of determinism +appear absurd. No one has ever contended that Hamilton was prompted by an +economic motive in giving up his law practice to accept public office. He +did so against the remonstrances of his friends, whose predictions that +what he would get out of it for himself would be calumny, persecution, and +loss of fortune, were all fully verified; but he possessed a nature which +found its happiness in bringing high ideals to grand fulfillment, and in +applying his powers to that object he let everything else go. Hamilton's +career is one of the greatest of those facts that baffle attempts to +reduce history to an exhibition of the play of economic forces. + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +ALARUMS AND EXCURSIONS + +The Shakespearian stage direction which heads this chapter appropriately +describes the course of administrative experience while Washington was +trying to get from Congress the means of sustaining the responsibilities +with which he was charged by his office. Events did not stand still +because for a time anything like national government had ceased. Before +Washington left Mount Vernon he had been disquieted by reports of Indian +troubles in the West, and of intrigues by Great Britain--which still +retained posts that according to the treaty of peace belonged to the +United States,--and by Spain which held the lower Mississippi. Washington +applied himself to these matters as soon as he was well in office, but he +was much hindered in his arrangements by apathy or indifference in +Congress. He noted in his diary for May 1, 1790, communications made to +him of a disposition among members of Congress "to pay little attention to +the Western country because they were of the opinion it would soon shake +off its dependence on this, and, in the meantime would be burdensome to +it." From a letter of Gen. Rufus Putnam, one of the organizers of the Ohio +company, it appears that in July, 1789, Ames of Massachusetts put these +queries to him: "Can we retain the western country with the government of +the United States? And if we can, what use will it be to them?" Putnam +wrote a labored article to the effect that it was both feasible and +desirable to hold the West, but the character of his arguments shows that +there was then a poor prospect of success. At that time no one could have +anticipated the Napoleonic wars which ended all European competition for +the possession of the Mississippi valley, and, as it were, tossed that +region into the hands of the United States. There was strong opposition in +Congress to pursuing any course that would require maintenance of an army +or navy. Some held that it was a great mistake to have a war department, +and that there would be time enough to create one in case war should +actually arrive. + +In a message to the Senate, August 7, 1789, Washington had urged the +importance of "some uniform and effective system for the militia of the +United States," saying that he was "particularly anxious" it should +receive early attention. On January 18, 1790, General Knox submitted to +Congress a plan to which there are frequent references in Washington's +diary, showing the special interest he took in the subject. The report +laid down principles which have long since been embraced by European +nations, but which have just recently been recognized by the United +States. It asserts: "That it is the indispensable duty of every nation to +establish all necessary institutions for its protection and defense; that +it is a capital security to a free state for the great body of the people +to possess a competent knowledge of the military art; that every man of +the proper age and ability of body is firmly bound by the social compact +to perform, personally, his proportion of military duty for the defense of +the State; that all men of the legal military age should be armed, +enrolled, and held responsible for different degrees of military service." +In furtherance of these principles a scheme was submitted providing for +military service by the citizens of the United States beginning at +eighteen years of age and terminating at sixty. The response of Congress +was the Act of April 30, 1790, authorizing a military establishment "to +the number of one thousand two hundred and sixteen non-commissioned +officers, privates, and musicians," with permission to the President to +call State Militia into service if need be, "in protecting the inhabitants +of the frontiers." Washington, in noting in his diary his approval of the +act, observed that it was not "adequate to the exigencies of the +government and the protection it is intended to afford." + +The Indian troubles in the Southwest were made particularly serious by the +ability of the head-chief of the Creek nation, Alexander McGillivray, the +authentic facts of whose career might seem too wildly improbable even for +the uses of melodrama. His grandmother was a full-blooded Creek of high +standing in the nation. She had a daughter by Captain Marchand, a French +officer. This daughter, who is described as a bewitching beauty, was taken +to wife by Lachland McGillivray, a Scotchman engaged in the Indian trade. +A son was born who, at the age of ten, was sent by his father to +Charleston to be educated, where he remained nearly seven years receiving +instruction both in English and Latin. This son, Alexander, was intended +by his father for civilized life, and when he was seventeen he was placed +with a business house in Savannah. During the Revolutionary War the father +took the Tory side and his property was confiscated. The son took refuge +with his Indian kinsfolk, and acquired in their councils an ascendancy +which also extended to the Seminole tribe. His position and influence made +his favor an important object with all powers having American interests. +During the war the British conferred upon him the rank and pay of a +colonel. In 1784, as the representative of the Creek and Seminole nations, +he formed a treaty of alliance with Spain, by the terms of which he became +a Spanish commissary with the rank and pay of a colonel. + +Against the State of Georgia, the Creek nation had grievances which +McGillivray was able to voice with a vigor and an eloquence that compelled +attention. It was the old story, so often repeated in American history, of +encroachments upon Indian territory. Attempts at negotiation had been made +by the old government, and these were now renewed by Washington with no +better result. McGillivray met the commissioners, but left on finding that +they had no intention of restoring the Indian lands that had been taken. A +formidable Indian war seemed imminent, but Washington, whose own frontier +experience made him well versed in Indian affairs, judged correctly that +the way to handle the situation was to induce McGillivray to come to New +York, though, as he noted in his diary, the matter must be so managed that +the "government might not appear to be an agent in it, or suffer in its +dignity if the attempt to get him here should not succeed." With his +habitual caution, Washington considered the point whether he could send +out an agent without consulting the Senate on the appointment, and he +instructed General Knox "to take the opinion of the Chief Justice of the +United States and the Secretary of the Treasury." The assurances obtained +were such that Washington selected an experienced frontier commander, +Colonel Marinus Willett of New York, and impressed upon him the importance +of bringing the Indian chiefs to New York, pointing out "the arguments +justifiable for him to use to effect this, with such lures as respected +McGillivray personally, and might be held out to them." + +Colonel Willett was altogether successful, though the inducements he +offered were probably aided by McGillivray's desire to visit New York and +meet General Washington. Other chiefs accompanied him, and on their way +they received many official attentions. An incident which occurred at +Guilford Court House, North Carolina, displays McGillivray's character in +a kindly light. A woman whose husband had been killed by Creek Indians and +who with her children had been made captive, visited McGillivray to thank +him for effecting their release, and it was disclosed that he had since +that time been contributing to the support of the family. At New York, the +recently organized Tammany Society turned out in costumes supposed to +represent Indian attire and escorted the visiting chiefs to Federal Hall. +Eventually Washington himself went to Federal Hall in his coach of state +and in all the trappings of official dignity, to sign the treaty concluded +with the Indians. The treaty, which laid down the pattern subsequently +followed by the government in its dealings with the Indians, recognized +the claims of the Creek nation to part of the territory it claimed, and +gave compensation for the part it relinquished by an annuity of fifteen +hundred dollars for the tribe, and an annuity of one hundred dollars for +each of the principal chiefs. + +For his part in the transaction McGillivray was commissioned an agent of +the United States with the rank of brigadier-general, a position which he +sustained with dignity. He was six feet tall, spare in frame, erect in +carriage. His eyes were large, dark, and piercing; his forehead, wider at +the top than just above the eyes, was so high and broad as to be almost +bulging. When he was a British colonel, he wore the uniform of that rank; +when in the Spanish service, he wore the military dress of that country; +and after Washington appointed him a brigadier-general he sometimes wore +the uniform of the American army, but never in the presence of Spaniards. +In different parts of his dominions he had good houses where he practised +generous hospitality. His influence was shaken by his various political +alliances, and before he died in 1793 he had lost much of his authority. + +In the course of these negotiations Washington had an experience with the +Senate which thereafter affected his official behavior. The debates of the +constitutional convention indicated an expectation that the Senate would +act as a privy council to the President; and Washington--intent above all +things on doing his duty--tried to treat it as such. In company with +General Knox he went to the Senate chamber, prepared to explain his +negotiations with the Indian chiefs, but he forthwith experienced the +truth of the proverb that although you may lead a horse to water you +cannot make him drink. In his diary for August 22, 1789, Maclay gave a +characteristic account of the scene. Washington presided, taking the +Vice-President's chair. "He rose and told us bluntly that he had called on +us for our advice and consent to some propositions respecting the treaty +to be held with the Southern Indians. Said he had brought General Knox +with him who was well acquainted with the business." A statement was read +giving a schedule of the propositions on which the advice of the Senate +was asked. Maclay relates that he called for the reading of the treaties +and other documents referred to in the statement. "I cast an eye at the +President of the United States. I saw he wore an aspect of stern +displeasure." There was a manifest reluctance of the Senate to proceed +with the matter in the President's presence, and finally a motion was made +to refer the business to a committee of five. A sharp debate followed in +which "the President of the United States started up in a violent fret. +'This defeats every purpose of my coming here' were the first words that +he said. He then went on to say that he had brought his Secretary of War +with him to give any necessary information; that the Secretary knew all +about the business, and yet he was delayed and could not go on with the +matter." The situation evidently became strained. Maclay relates: "A pause +for some time ensued. We waited for him to withdraw. He did so with a +discontented air." + +The privy council function of the Senate was thus in effect abolished by +its own action. Thereafter the President had practically no choice save to +conclude matters subject to subsequent ratification by the Senate. It soon +became the practice of the Senate to restrict the President's power of +appointment by conditioning it upon the approval of the Senators from the +State in which an appointment was made. The clause providing for +the advice and consent of the Senate was among the changes made in +the original draft to conciliate the small States, but it was not +supposed that the practical effect would be to allow Senators to dictate +appointments. It was observed in the _Federalist_ that "there will be no +exertion of choice on the part of Senators." Nevertheless there was some +uneasiness on the point. In a letter of May 31, 1789, Ames remarked that +"the meddling of the Senate in appointments is one of the least defensible +parts of the Constitution," and with prophetic insight he foretold that +"the number of the Senators, the secrecy of their doings, would shelter +them, and a corrupt connection between those who appoint to office and the +officers themselves would be created." + +Washington had to submit to senatorial dictation almost at the outset of +his administration, the Senate refusing to confirm his nomination of +Benjamin Fishbourn for the place of naval officer at Savannah. The only +details to be had about this affair are those given in a special message +of August 6, 1789, from which it appears that Washington was not notified +of the grounds of the Senate's objection. He defended his selection on the +ground that Fishbourn had a meritorious record as an army officer, had +held distinguished positions in the state government of Georgia which +testified public confidence, and moreover was actually holding, by virtue +of state appointment, an office similar to that to which Washington +desired to appoint him. The appointment was, in fact, no more than the +transfer to the federal service of an official of approved administrative +experience, and was of such manifest propriety that it seems most likely +that the rejection was due to local political intrigue using the Georgia +Senators as its tool. The office went to Lachlan McIntosh, who was a +prominent Georgia politician. Over ten years before he had killed in a +duel Button Gwinnett, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. +Gwinnett was the challenger and McIntosh was badly wounded in the duel, +but the affair caused a feud that long disturbed Georgia politics, and +through the agency of the Senate it was able to reach and annoy the +President of the United States. + +At the time when Washington was inaugurated both North Carolina and Rhode +Island were outside the Union. The national government was a new and +doubtful enterprise, remote from and unfamiliar to the mass of the people. +To turn their thoughts toward the new Administration it seemed to be good +policy for Washington to make tours. The notes made by Washington in his +diary indicate that the project was his own notion, but both Hamilton and +Knox cordially approved it and Madison "saw no impropriety" in it. +Therefore, shortly after the recess of the first session of Congress, +Washington started on a trip through the Northern States, pointedly +avoiding Rhode Island, then a foreign country. It was during this tour +that a question of etiquette occurred about which there was a great stir +at the time. John Hancock, then Governor of Massachusetts, did not call +upon Washington but wrote inviting Washington to stay at his house, and +when this invitation was declined, he wrote again inviting the President +to dinner _en famille_. Washington again declined, and this time the +failure of the Governor to pay his respects to the President of the United +States was the talk of the town. Some of Hancock's aides now called with +excuses on the score of his illness. Washington noted in his diary, "I +informed them in explicit terms that I should not see the Governor unless +it was at my own lodgings." This incident occurred on Saturday evening, +and the effect was such that Governor Hancock called in person on Sunday. +The affair was the subject of much comment not to Governor Hancock's +advantage. Washington's church-going habits on this trip afford no small +evidence of the patient consideration which he paid to every point of +duty. In New York, he attended Episcopal church service regularly once +every Sunday. On his northern tour he went to the Episcopal church in the +morning, and then showed his respect for the dominant religious system of +New England by attending the Congregational church in the afternoon. His +northern tour lasted from October 15 to November 13, 1789, and was +attended by popular manifestations that must have promoted the spread of +national sentiment. On November 21, 1789, North Carolina came into the +Union, and Rhode Island followed on May 29, 1790. Washington started on a +tour of the Southern States on March 21,1791, in which he covered more +than seventeen hundred miles in sixty-six days, and was received with +grand demonstrations at all the towns he visited. + +While he was making these tours, which in the days before the railroad and +the telegraph were practically the only efficacious means of establishing +the new government in the thoughts and feelings of the people, he was much +concerned about frontier troubles, and with good reason, as he well knew +the deficiency of the means that Congress had allowed. The tiny army of +the United States was under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Josiah +Harmar, with the brevet rank of general. In October, 1790, Harmar led his +troops, nearly four-fifths of which were new levies of militia, against +the Indians who had been disturbing the western frontier. The expedition +was a succession of blunders and failures which were due more to the rude +and undisciplined character of the material that Harmar had to work with +than to his personal incapacity. Harmar did succeed in destroying five +Indian villages with their stores of corn, but their inhabitants had +warning enough to escape and were able to take prompt vengeance. A +detachment of troops was ambushed and badly cut up. The design had been to +push on to the upper course of the Wabash, but so many horses had been +stolen by the Indians that the expedition was crippled. As a result, +Harmar marched his troops back again, professing to believe that +punishment had been inflicted upon the Indians that would be a severe +lesson to them. What really happened was that the Indians were encouraged +to think that they were more than a match for any army which the settlers +could send against them, and before long news came of the destruction of +settlements and the massacre of their inhabitants. "Unless," wrote Rufus +Putnam to Washington, "Government speedily sends a body of troops for our +protection, we are a ruined people." + +Washington did what he could. He sent to Congress Putnam's letter and +other frontier communications, but Congress, which was stubbornly opposed +to creating a national army, replied, when the need was demonstrated, that +the militia of the several States were available. The Government was +without means of protecting the Indians against abuse and injustice or of +protecting the settlers against the savage retaliations that naturally +followed. The dilemma was stated with sharp distinctness in correspondence +which passed between Washington and Hamilton in April, 1791. Washington +wrote that it was a hopeless undertaking to keep peace on the frontier +"whilst land-jobbing and the disorderly conduct of our borderers are +suffered with impunity; and while the States individually are omitting +no occasion to intermeddle in matters which belong to the general +Government." Hamilton in reply went to the root of the matter. "Our system +is such as still to leave the public peace of the Union at the mercy of +each state government." He proceeded to give a concrete instance: "For +example, a party comes from a county of Virginia into Pennsylvania, and +wantonly murders some friendly Indians. The national Government, instead +of having power to apprehend the murderers and bring them to justice, is +obliged to make a representation to that of Pennsylvania; that of +Pennsylvania, again, is to make a requisition of that of Virginia. And +whether the murderers shall be brought to justice at all must depend upon +the particular policy, and energy, and good disposition of two state +governments, and the efficacy of the provisions of their respective laws. +And security of other States and the money of all are at the discretion of +one. These things require a remedy; but when that will come, God knows." + +Toward the close of its last session, the First Congress was induced to +pass an act "for raising and adding another regiment to the military +establishment of the United States and for making further provision for +the protection of the frontiers." The further provision authorized the +President to employ "troops enlisted under the denomination of levies" for +a term not exceeding six months and in number not exceeding two thousand. +The law thus made it compulsory that the troops should move while still +raw and untrained. Congress had fixed the pay of the privates at three +dollars a month, from which ninety cents were deducted, and it had been +necessary to scrape the streets and even the prisons of the seaboard +cities for men willing to enlist upon such terms. Washington gave the +command to General Arthur St. Clair, whose military experience should have +made him a capable commander, but he was then in bad health and unable to +handle the situation under the conditions imposed upon him. General +Harmar, enlightened by his own experience, predicted that such an army +would certainly be defeated. + +The campaign was intended as an expedition to chastise the Indians so that +they would be deterred from molesting the settlers, but it resulted in a +disaster that greatly encouraged Indian depredations. As the army +approached the Indian towns, a body of the militia deserted, and it was +reported to St. Clair that they intended to plunder the supplies. He sent +one of his regular regiments after them, thus reducing his available force +to about fourteen hundred men. On November 3, 1791, this force camped on +the eastern fork of Wabash. Before daybreak the next morning the Indians +made a sudden attack, taking the troops by surprise and throwing them into +disorder. It was the story of Braddock's defeat over again. The troops +were surrounded by foes that they could not see and could not reach. +Indian marksmen picked off the gunners until the artillery was silenced; +then the Indians rushed in and seized the guns. In the combat there were +both conspicuous exploits of valor and disgraceful scenes of cowardice. In +that dark hour St. Clair showed undaunted courage. He was in the front of +the fight, and several times he headed charges. He seemed to have a +charmed life, for although eight bullets pierced his clothes, one +cutting away a lock of the thick gray hair that flowed from under his +three-cornered hat, he escaped without a wound. Finally defeat became a +rout which St. Clair was powerless to check. Pushed aside in the rush of +fugitives, he was left in a position of great peril. If the Indian pursuit +had been persistent, few might have escaped, but the Indians stopped to +plunder the camp. Nevertheless six hundred and thirty men were killed and +over two hundred and eighty wounded, with small loss to the Indians. + +Washington's reception of the news illustrates both his iron composure and +the gusts of passion under which it sometimes gave way. The details are +unquestionably authentic, as they were communicated by Washington's +secretary who witnessed the scene. Washington was having a dinner party +when an officer arrived at the door and sent word that he was the bearer +of dispatches from the Western army. The secretary went out to him, but +the officer said his instructions were to deliver the dispatches to the +President in person. Washington then went to the officer and received the +terrible news. He returned to the table as though nothing had happened, +and everything went on as usual. After dinner there was a reception in +Mrs. Washington's drawing-room and the President, as was his custom, spoke +courteously to every lady in the room. By ten o'clock all the visitors had +gone and Washington began to pace the floor at first without any change of +manner, but soon he began to show emotional excitement and he broke out +suddenly: "It's all over! St. Clair is defeated--routed,--the officers +nearly all killed--the men by wholesale,--the rout complete,--too +shocking to think of,--and a surprise into the bargain!" + +When near the door in his agitated march about the room, he stopped and +burst forth, "Yes, here on this very spot I took leave of him; I wished +him success and honor; 'You have your instructions,' I said, 'from the +Secretary of War; I had a strict eye to them, and will add one word-- +Beware of a surprise! You know how the Indians fight us!' He went off with +that as my last solemn warning thrown into his ears. And yet, to suffer +that army to be cut to pieces--hacked, butchered, tomahawked--by a +surprise! O God, O God, he's worse than a murderer! How can he answer it +to his country! The blood of the slain is upon him--the curse of the +widows and orphans--the curse of Heaven!" + +The secretary relates that this torrent of passion burst forth in +appalling tones. The President's frame shook. "More than once he threw his +hands up as he hurled imprecations upon St. Clair." But at length he got +his feelings under control, and after a pause he remarked, "I will hear +him without prejudice. He shall have full justice." St. Clair was, indeed, +treated with marked leniency. A committee of the House reported that the +failure of the expedition could not "be imputed to his conduct, either at +any time before or during the action." St. Clair was continued in his +position as Governor of the Northwest Territory and remained there until +1802. + +Notwithstanding the dire results of relying on casual levies, Congress was +still stubbornly opposed to creating an effective force under national +control, and in this attitude to some extent reflected even frontier +sentiment. Ames in a letter of January 13, 1792, wrote that "even the +views of the western people, whose defense has been undertaken by +government, have been unfriendly to the Secretary of War and to the +popularity of the Government. They wish to be hired as volunteers, at +two-thirds of a dollar a day to fight the Indians. They are averse to the +regulars." By the Act of March 5, 1792, Congress authorized three +additional regiments, with the proviso, however, that they "shall be +discharged as soon as the United States shall be at peace with the Indian +tribes." This legislation, nevertheless, was a great practical improvement +on the previous act. General Wayne, who now took command, was fortunately +circumstanced in that he was under no pressure to move against the +Indians. Public opinion favored a return to negotiation, so that he had +time to get his troops under good discipline. He did not move the main +body of his troops until the summer of 1794, and on August 20, he +inflicted a smashing defeat on the Indians, at a place known as the Fallen +Timbers, followed up the victory by punitive expeditions to the Indian +towns, and burned their houses and crops. The campaign was a complete +success. The Indians were so humbled by their losses that they sued for +peace, and negotiations began which were concluded in the summer of 1795 +by the treaty of Greenville, under which the Northwestern tribes ceded an +extensive territory to the United States. + +It was notorious that the trouble which the American authorities had +experienced with the Indians had been largely due to the activity of +British agents. In his report Wayne noted that the destruction effected by +his troops included "the houses, stores, and property of Colonel McKee, +the British agent, and principal stimulator of the war now existing +between the United States and the savages." A sharp correspondence took +place between Wayne and Major William Campbell, commanding a British post +on the Miami. Campbell protested against the approach of Wayne's army, "no +war existing between Great Britain and America." Wayne assented to this +statement, and then asked what he meant "by taking post far within the +well known and acknowledged limits of the United States." Campbell +rejoined that he had acted under orders and as to his right, that was a +matter which were best left to "the ambassadors of our different nations." +Campbell refused to obey Wayne's demand to withdraw, and Wayne ignored +Campbell's threat to fire if he were approached too close. Wayne reported +that the only notice he took of this threat was "by immediately setting +fire to and destroying everything within view of the fort, and even under +the muzzles of the guns." "Had Mr. Campbell carried his threats into +execution," added Wayne, "it is more than probable he would have +experienced a storm." No collision actually took place at that time but +there was created a situation which, unless it were removed by diplomacy, +must have eventually brought on war. + + + +CHAPTER V + + +TRIBUTE TO THE ALGERINES + +At the time when Washington took office, the captains and crews of two +American vessels, which had been seized by Algerine Corsairs in 1785, +still remained in captivity. The Continental Congress had made some +efforts in their behalf which were contemptuously received. The Dey of +Algiers did not wish any treaty with the United States; but he did want +$59,496.00 for the twenty-one captives whom he then held. Farther than +that negotiation had not progressed. Agents of the United States were +advised that, if such a high amount were paid, the Corsairs would pursue +American vessels in preference to those of any other nation, and that the +shrewd thing would be to pretend indifference to the fate of the captives. +This advice was acted upon even to the extent of cutting off the supplies +which had been forwarded to the captives through the Spanish consul at +Algiers. The summary method which was pursued was that of dishonoring +bills drawn by him to cover his expenditures. + +Jefferson, who while Minister to France had been closely connected with +these proceedings, was called upon by Congress for a report upon them, not +long after he took office as Secretary of State. This report, December 28, +1790, set forth the fact that the Mediterranean trade, which had employed +from eighty to one hundred ships with about twelve hundred seamen, had +been almost destroyed. In the interest of the negotiations, it had been +necessary "to suffer the captives and their friends to believe for a +while, that no attention was paid to them, no notice taken of their +letters," and they were "still under this impression." Jefferson contented +himself with submitting the facts in the case, remarking that "upon the +whole it rests with Congress to decide between war, tribute, and ransom. +If war, they will consider how far our own resources shall be called +forth, and how far they will enable the Executive to engage, in the forms +of the Constitution, the cooperation of other Powers. If tribute or +ransom, it will rest with them to limit and provide the amount; and +with the Executive, observing the same constitutional forms, to make +arrangements for employing it to the best advantage." + +The problem which Jefferson thus put before Congress was a singularly +difficult one. Among the captives was Captain Richard O'Brien, whose ship, +the _Dauphin_ of Philadelphia, was taken July 30, 1785. He had a ready pen +and, apparently, had unrestricted access to the mails. His letters were +those of a shrewd observer and depicted a situation that bristled with +perplexity. The Algerines had about a dozen vessels, their armament +ranging from ten to thirty-six guns, but of these vessels only two +belonged to the Government, the others being private ventures. Though they +preyed on merchantmen, they avoided engagements, and did not come out at +all if there were vessels cruising for them. A blockade was effective only +while it lasted. Whenever it was raised, out came the Corsairs again. An +occasional bombardment of their port did not cow them and had no permanent +effect. A French official described it as being "like breaking glass +windows with guineas." The Algerines made treaties with some Powers in +consideration of tribute but refused peace to others on any terms; as they +did not desire to shut out all opportunity for their time-honored sport of +piracy. + +Congress was slow to take action of any kind. In January, 1791, Maclay +noted that a committee had decided that the Mediterranean trade could not +be preserved without an armed force to protect it, and that a navy should +be established as soon as the Treasury was in a position to bear the +expense. Meanwhile the President began fresh negotiations, which were +attended by singular fatality. Thomas Barclay, who had some diplomatic +experience, was commissioned to go to the Emperor of Morocco. When Barclay +reached Gibraltar, he was taken ill, and, after being removed to Lisbon, +he died. Admiral John Paul Jones was then appointed special commissioner +to arrange for the ransom of the captives. As he had then left the Russian +service and was living in Paris, it was supposed that his services would +be available, but he died before the commission could reach him. The delay +caused by these events was made so much worse by the slow transmission of +intelligence that two years elapsed before a fresh start was made by +placing the conduct of matters in the hands of Colonel David Humphreys, +then Minister to Portugal. Humphreys had gone as far as Gibraltar on his +mission when he learned that a truce had been suddenly arranged between +Portugal and Algiers. This was alarming news, since it meant that the +Algerines could now pass into the Atlantic from which they had been +excluded by Portuguese war-vessels stationed in the strait of Gibraltar. +"I have not slept since the receipt of the news of this the hellish plot," +wrote Edward Church, the United States consul at Lisbon. Church was +energetic in spreading the intelligence, which fortunately reached some +American shipmasters in time to save them. In October, 1793, as thirteen +American vessels were in the port of Lisbon afraid to venture out, Church +pleaded their case so vigorously that the Portuguese government agreed to +give them an armed convoy. Nevertheless the Algerines found plenty of game +among American ships then at sea, for they captured ten vessels and added +one hundred and five more Americans to the stock of slaves in Algiers. +"They are in a distressed and naked situation," wrote Captain O'Brien, who +had himself then been eight years in captivity. + +Humphreys made arrangements by which they received clothing and a money +allowance ranging from twelve cents a day for a seaman up to eight dollars +a month for a captain. Nothing, however, could be done in the way of peace +negotiations. One of Humphreys' agents reported that the Dey could not +make peace even if he really wanted to do so. "He declared to me that his +interest does not permit him to accept your offers, Sir, even were you to +lavish millions upon him, 'because,' said he, 'if I were to make peace +with everybody, what should I do with my Corsairs? What should I do with +my soldiers? They would take off my head, for want of other prizes.'" + +This was an honest disclosure of the situation. Humphreys wrote Jefferson +that "no choice is left for the United States but to prepare a naval force +for the protection of their trade." Captain O'Brien wrote, "By all means +urge Congress to fit out some remarkably fast sailing cruisers, well +appointed and manned." In January, 1794, accordingly, a committee of the +House brought in a resolution for building four ships of 44 guns and two +of 20 guns each. The debate began on February 6, and for some time was +altogether one-sided, with one speaker after another opposing the creation +of a navy. Madison, as was now his habit, had doubts as to the propriety +of the measure. He fancied that peace "might be purchased for less +money than this armament would cost." Clark of New Jersey had "an +objection to the establishment of a fleet, because, when once it had been +commenced, there would be no end to it." He had "a scheme which he judged +would be less expensive and more effectual. This was to hire the +Portuguese to cruise against the Algerines." Baldwin of Georgia thought +that "bribery alone could purchase security from the Algerines." Nicholas +of Virginia "feared that we were not a match for the Algerines." + +Smith of Maryland and Fitzsimmons of Pennsylvania championed the +resolution, and Fisher Ames made some remarks on Madison's lack of spirit +that caused Madison to define his position. He proposed as a substitute +for the pending measure that money should "be employed in such a manner as +should be found most effectual for obtaining a peace with the Regency of +Algiers; and failing of this, that the sum should be applied to the end of +obtaining protection from some of the European Powers." This motion warmed +up the debate. Giles of Virginia came to Madison's support in a style that +was not helpful. He "considered navies altogether as very foolish things. +An immense quantity of property was spread on the water for no purpose +whatever, which might have been employed by land to the best purpose." The +suggestion that the United States should be a hermit nation was an +indiscreet exposure of the logical significance of Madison's plan, and it +perhaps turned the scale in favor of employing force. + +The bill came up in the House for final passage on March 10, 1794. Its +opponents now sparred for time, but a motion to recommit in order to give +opportunity for further consideration was defeated by 48 to 41. Giles made +a final effort, by a long and elaborate address, in which he argued that +the effect of fitting out a navy would be to involve the United States in +war with all the European Powers. Moreover, a navy would be dangerous to +American liberty. "A navy is the most expensive of all means of defense, +and the tyranny of governments consists in the expensiveness of their +machinery." He pointed to the results of British naval policy. "The +government is not yet destroyed, but the people are oppressed, liberty is +banished." The French monarchy had been ruined by its navy. He was +"astonished, with these fatal examples before our eyes, that there should +be gentlemen who would wish to enter upon this fashionable system of +politics." In discussing the expense of maintaining a navy, he expressed +his fear that it would eventually bring back the miseries of feudalism. + +William Smith of South Carolina made a reply in which he defined the issue +as being between defense and tribute; but Giles had the last word. He +wanted to know whether it was maintained that the frigates it was proposed +to build would "boldly march upon land and break the chains of the +prisoners?" He begged Congress not to do what "would irritate the +barbarians and furnish additional misery to the unfortunate prisoners." In +this closing struggle over the bill Giles fought single-handed. When he +had quite finished, the bill was passed by 50 yeas to 39 nays, a result +which showed a decided gain in strength from the discussion. + +The debates in the Senate have not been preserved, but the Senate was so +evenly divided that it took the casting vote of the Vice-President to pass +the bill, which became law March 27, 1794. In order to get it passed at +all, a proviso had been tacked on that, if peace terms could be arranged, +"no farther proceeding be had under this Act." In September, 1795, a +treaty of peace with Algiers was finally concluded, after negotiations had +been facilitated by a contingent fee of $18,000 paid to "Bacri the Jew, +who has as much art in this sort of management as any man we ever knew," +the American agents reported. It was a keen bargain, as Bacri had to +propitiate court officials at his own risk, and had to look for both +reimbursement and personal profit, too, out of the lump sum he was to +receive in event of his success. It can hardly be doubted that he had the +situation securely in hand before making the bargain. The money paid in +Algiers for the ransom of the captives, for tribute and for presents to +officials amounted to $642,500.00. But in addition the United States +agreed to build a frigate for the Algerine navy and also supply naval +stores, which with incidental expenses brought the total cost of the peace +treaty up to $992,463.25. Moreover, the United States agreed to pay an +annual tribute of 12,000 sequins,--about $27,500. + +By the terms of the navy act, the United States had to stop building +vessels for its own protection. Of those which had been authorized, the +frigates _Constitution, United States_, and _Constellation_ were under way +and were eventually completed. The timber, with material that had been +collected for the other vessels, was sold, except what was needed for the +frigate which was to be presented to the Algerines, and which was to be +built at Portsmouth, N.H. The whole affair was a melancholy business that +must have occasioned Washington deep chagrin. In his address to Congress, +December 7, 1796, announcing the success of the negotiations for effecting +the release of the captives, he observed that "to secure respect to a +neutral flag requires a naval force, organized and ready to vindicate it +from insult or aggression." + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +FRENCH DESIGNS ON AMERICA + +A few months before France declared war upon England, February 1, 1793, +Edmond Genet was appointed French Minister to the United States. He landed +at Charleston, April 8, and at once began activities so authoritative as +to amount to an erection of French sovereignty in the United States. The +subsequent failure of his efforts and the abrupt ending of his diplomatic +career have so reacted upon his reputation that associations of boastful +arrogance and reckless incompetency cling to his name. This estimate holds +him too lightly and underrates the peril to which the United States was +then exposed. Genet was no casual rhetorician raised to important office +by caprice of events, but a trained diplomatist of hereditary aptitude and +of long experience. His father was chief of the bureau of correspondence +in the Department of Foreign Affairs for the French monarchy, and it was +as an interpreter attached to that bureau that the son began his career in +1775. While still a youth, he gained literary distinction by his +translations of historical works from Swedish into French. Genet was +successively attached to the French Embassies at Berlin and Vienna, and in +1781 he succeeded his father in the Department of Foreign Affairs. In +1788, he was Secretary of the French Embassy at St. Petersburg, where his +zeal for French Revolutionary principles so irritated the Empress +Catherine that she characterized him as "a furious demagogue," and in 1792 +he was forced to leave Russia. In the same year he was named Ambassador to +Holland, and thence was soon transferred to the United States. + +It is obvious that a man of such experience could not be ignorant of +diplomatic forms and of international proprieties of behavior. If he +pursued a course that has since seemed to be a marvel of truculence, the +explanation should be sought in the circumstances of his mission more than +in the nature of his personality. When the matter is considered from this +standpoint, not only does one find that Genet's proceedings become +consistent and intelligible, but one becomes deeply impressed with the +magnitude of the peril then confronting the United States. Nothing less +than American independence was at stake. + +It should be borne in mind that France, in aiding America against England, +had been pursuing her own ends. In August, 1787, the French government +advised its American representative that it had observed with indifference +the movements going on in the United States and would view the break-up of +the Confederation without regret. "We have never pretended to make of +America a useful ally; we have had no other object than to deprive Great +Britain of that vast continent." But, now that war with England had broken +out again, it was worth while making an effort to convert America into a +useful ally. Jefferson, while Minister to Paris, had been sympathetic with +the Revolutionary movement. In 1789, the English Ambassador reported to +his government that Jefferson was much consulted by the leaders of the +Third Estate. On the other hand, Gouverneur Morris, who was then living in +Paris, sympathized frankly with the King. Nevertheless he was chosen to +succeed Jefferson as the American Minister. In notifying him of the +appointment, Washington let him know that there had been objections. "It +was urged that in France you were considered as a favorer of the +aristocracy, and unfriendly to its Revolution." Washington's reminder that +it was his business to promote the interest of his own country did not +have any apparent effect on Morris's behavior. He became the personal +agent of Louis XVI, and he not only received and disbursed large sums on +the King's account, but he also entered into plans for the King's flight +from Paris. During the Reign of Terror which began in 1792, he behaved +with an energy and an intrepidity honorable to him as a man; in general, +however, his course tended to embroil and not to guard American interests. + +In the face of the European coalition against revolutionary France, the +principle of action was that announced by Danton,--"to dare, and to dare, +and without end to dare." Genet therefore went on his mission to America +keyed to measures which were audacious but which can hardly be described +as reckless. By plunging heavily he might make a big winning; if he +failed, he was hardly worse off than if he had not made the attempt. To +draw the United States into the war as the ally of France was only one +part of his mission. He was also planning to reestablish the +French colonial empire, the loss of which was still an unhealed wound. +Canada, Louisiana, and the Floridas were all in his mind. In Louisiana, +France regarded conditions as being so favorable that Genet was instructed +to make special efforts in that quarter. Spain, which had entered the +coalition against republican France, held the lower Mississippi. Spain was +therefore the common enemy of France and of the American settlements west +of the mountains. Ought not then those two republican interests to work +together to expel Spain and to seize Louisiana? Moreover, there was a +belief, not without grounds, that the older States which formed the +American union were indifferent to the needs and interests of the country +west of the Alleghenies and would be more relieved than afflicted if it +should take its destinies into its own hands. Such considerations animated +a group of Americans in Paris, among whose prominent members were Thomas +Paine, the pamphleteer, Joel Barlow, the poet, and Dr. James O'Fallon, a +Revolutionary soldier now interested in Western land speculation. All were +then ardent sympathizers with the French Revolution, and they entered +heartily into the design of stirring up the Western country against Spain. +The project attracted some frontier leaders, among them George Rogers +Clark, famous for his successful campaigns against the hostile Indians and +the British during the Revolutionary War. He was to lead a force of +Western riflemen against the Spanish posts in Louisiana, and Genet brought +with him blank brevets of officers up to the grade of captain for bestowal +on the Indian chiefs who would cooperate. The expenses of the expedition +were to be met by collections which Genet expected to make from the +treasury of the United States on account of sums due to France. + +The project of using the United States as a French base could claim legal +rights under the treaties of 1778 between France and the United States. +There were two treaties, both concluded on the same day. One, entitled a +treaty of amity and commerce, was a mutual conveyance of privileges; it +provided that the ships of war of each country should defend the vessels +of the other country against all attacks that might occur while they were +in company. Besides this right of convoy, each country had the right to +use the ports of the other, either for ships of war or for privateers and +their prizes, "nor shall such prizes be arrested or seized when they come +to and enter the ports of either party; nor shall the searchers or other +officers of those places search the same, or make any examination +concerning the lawfulness of such prizes, but they may hoist sail at any +time, and depart." All vessels of either country had the right to take +refuge in the ports of the other, whether from stress of weather or +pursuit of enemies, "and they shall be permitted to refresh and provide +themselves at reasonable rates, with victuals and all things needful for +the sustenance of their persons or reparation of their ships, and +conveniency of their voyage; and they shall no ways be detained or +hindered from returning out of the said ports or roads, but may remove and +depart when and whither they please, without any let or hindrance." It was +expressly provided that such hospitality should not be extended to vessels +of an enemy of either country. The accompanying instrument, entitled a +treaty of alliance, was a mutual guarantee of territorial possessions, +"forever against all other powers." These broad rights and privileges were +supplemented by the convention of 1788 on consular functions, which +facilitated the organization of a consular jurisdiction competent to deal +with cases arising from the treaties. There was still due to France on +loans contracted during the Revolution a remainder of about $2,300,000 +payable by instalments, subject to the proviso that "Congress and the +United States" had "the liberty of freeing themselves by anticipated +payments should the state of their finances admit." It was planned to get +the United States to reciprocate the past favors of France by favoring her +now, if not by direct payments of money, at least by acceptances which +Genet could use in purchasing supplies. The fact that whatever in the way +of money or accommodations was obtained in the United States would be +used in business in that country was counted upon to facilitate the +transaction. + +These facts form the background against which Genet's activities should be +viewed. He came with deliberate intent to rush the situation, and armed +with all needful powers for that purpose, so far as the French government +could confer them. According to a dispatch from Morris to the State +Department, Genet "took with him three hundred blank commissions which he +is to distribute to such as will fit out cruisers in our ports to prey on +the British commerce." + +At Charleston, Genet received an enthusiastic reception. The Revolutionary +commander, General Moultrie, who was then governor of South Carolina, +entered so cordially into Genet's plans that in his first dispatch home, +Genet was able to say to his government that Moultrie had permitted him to +arm privateers and had assisted the various branches of his mission in +every possible way. Such was Genet's energy that within five days after +his arrival he had opened a recruiting station at which American seamen +were taken into the French service; he had commissioned American vessels +as French privateers; and he had turned the French consul's office into an +admiralty court for which business was provided by the prizes that were +being brought in. + +After seeing under way all matters that he could attend to in Charleston, +Genet moved on to Philadelphia, and received on his way thither such +greetings as to give to his journey the character of a triumphal progress. +Meanwhile, _L'Ambuscade_, the French frigate which had brought Genet to +Charleston, was proceeding to Philadelphia, taking prizes on her way and +sending them to American ports. In Delaware Bay she captured the _Grange_, +an English merchantman lying there at anchor, and took this vessel +with her to Philadelphia as a prize. As Genet neared Philadelphia on +May 16, _L'Ambuscade_ gave notice by firing three guns, at which signal a +procession was formed to meet Genet at Gray's Ferry and escort him to his +lodgings. He found awaiting him a letter from George Rogers Clark, which +gave an account of his plans for the invasion of Louisiana and the capture +of New Orleans, and which announced his readiness to start if he were +assisted by some frigates and provided with three thousand pounds sterling +to meet expenses. Genet received reports from other agents or friendly +correspondents in the Spanish territory, and so active was he in +forwarding the objects of his mission that on June 19 he was able to write +to his government, "I am provisioning the West Indies, I excite the +Canadians to break the British yoke, I arm the Kentukois and prepare a +naval expedition which will facilitate their descent on New Orleans." + +These claims were well founded. Genet did, in fact, make an effective +start, and had he been able to command funds he might have opened a great +chapter of history. George Rogers Clark was the ablest and most successful +commander that the frontier had yet produced, and such was the weakness of +the Spanish defenses that had his expedition been actually launched as +planned, the conquest of Louisiana might indeed have been accomplished. It +was not any defect in Genet's arrangements that frustrated his plans, but +his inability to raise money and the uncertainty of his position as the +agent of a government which was undergoing rapid revolutionary change. + +News that the French Republic had declared war against Great Britain +reached the United States early in April, 1793. Washington, who was then +at Mount Vernon, wrote to Jefferson that "it behooves the Government of +this country to use every means in its power to prevent the citizens +thereof from embroiling us with either of those Powers, by endeavoring to +maintain a strict neutrality," and he requested that the Secretary should +"give the subject mature consideration, that such measures as shall be +deemed most likely to effect this desirable purpose may be adopted without +delay." On arriving at Philadelphia a few days later, Washington was met +by a distracted Cabinet. The great difficulty was the conflict of +obligations. The United States had a treaty of alliance with France; it +had a treaty of peace with Great Britain. The situation had become such +that it could not sustain both relations at the same time. If the United +States remained neutral, it would have to deny to France privileges +conferred by the treaty which had been negotiated when both countries were +at war with Great Britain. How far was that treaty now binding? It had +been made with "the Most Christian king," whose head had been cut off. Did +not his engagements fall with his head? That was the very position taken +by the government of the French Republic, which had asserted the right to +decide what treaties of the old monarchy should be retained and what +rejected. As an incident of the present case, the question was to be +decided whether the ambassador of the French Republic should be received. + +Such were the issues that Washington's Administration had to face, at a +time when the whole country was thrilling with enthusiasm in behalf of the +French Republic. Chief Justice Marshall left on record his opinion that +this feeling "was almost universal," and that "a great majority of the +American people deemed it criminal to remain unconcerned spectators of a +conflict between their ancient enemy and republican France." + +Washington acted with his customary deliberation. On April 18, 1793, he +submitted to the members of his Cabinet thirteen questions. Jefferson, who +held that the French treaty was still operative, noted that the questions +reached him in Washington's own handwriting, "yet it was palpable from +the style, their ingenious tissue and suite, that they were not the +President's, that they were raised upon a prepared chain of argument, in +short, that the language was Hamilton's and the doubts his alone." In +Jefferson's opinion they were designed to lead "to a declaration of the +Executive that our treaty with France is void." Jefferson was right as to +Hamilton's authorship. At a time when Jefferson had no advice to give save +that it would be well to consider whether Congress ought not to be +summoned, Hamilton had ready a set of interrogatories which subjected the +whole situation to close analysis. The critical questions were these: + +"Shall a proclamation issue for the purpose of preventing interferences of +the citizens of the United States in the war between France and Great +Britain, &c.? Shall it contain a declaration of neutrality or not? What +shall it contain? + +"Are the United States obliged, by good faith, to consider the treaties +heretofore made with France as applying to the present situation of the +parties? May they either renounce them, or hold them suspended till the +government of France shall be established?" + +To the interrogatories framed by Hamilton, Washington added one which +presented the point raised by Jefferson--"Is it necessary or advisable to +call together the two Houses of Congress, with a view to the present +posture of European affairs? If it is, what shall be the particular object +of such a call?" + +The Cabinet met on April 19. On the question of a proclamation of +neutrality Jefferson argued that such a proclamation would be equivalent +to a declaration that the United States would not take part in the war, +and that this matter did not lie within the power of the Executive, since +it was the province of Congress to declare war. Congress ought therefore +to be called to consider the question. Hamilton, who held that it was both +the right and the duty of the President to proclaim neutrality, was +strongly opposed to summoning Congress. In a brief record of the +proceedings he remarked that "whether this advice proceeded from a secret +wish to involve us in a war, or from a constitutional timidity, certain it +is such a step would have been fatal to the peace and tranquillity of +America." The matter was finally compromised by an unanimous agreement +that a proclamation should be issued "forbidding our citizens taking any +part in any hostilities on the seas with or against any of the belligerent +powers; and warning them against carrying to any such powers any of those +articles deemed contraband, according to the modern usage of nations; and +enjoining them from all acts and proceedings inconsistent with the duties +of a friendly nation toward those at war." Jefferson's scruples having +been appeased by avoiding the use of the term "neutrality," it was now +unanimously decided that Congress should not be called. It was further +decided that the French Minister should be received. Jefferson and +Randolph, however, were of opinion that he should be received without +conditions, while Hamilton, supported by Knox, held that the Minister +ought to be apprised of the intention to reserve the question whether the +treaties were still operative, "lest silence on that point should occasion +misconstruction." The even division of the Cabinet on this point was in +practical effect a victory for Jefferson. The Cabinet was unable to reach +any decision in the matter of treaty obligations. Jefferson held that +they were still operative; Hamilton, that they were "temporarily and +provisionally suspended." Knox sided with Hamilton, and Randolph, although +he at first sided with Jefferson, was so shaken in his opinion by +Hamilton's argument that he asked further time for consideration. +Eventually written opinions were submitted by Hamilton, Jefferson, and +Randolph, confirming the views they had previously expressed, and, as Knox +concurred with Hamilton, the Cabinet was still evenly divided on that +fundamental question. + +The proclamation, on the lines upon which all had agreed, was draughted by +Randolph who showed it to Jefferson in order to assure him that "there was +no such word as neutrality in it." Jefferson, whose own account this is, +did not mention that he raised any objection to the wording of the +proclamation at the time, though a few months later he referred to it in +his private correspondence as a piece of "pusillanimity," because it +omitted any expression of the affection of America for France. The +proclamation was issued on April 22, two weeks after the arrival of Genet +at Charleston. The procedure that had been adopted at Jefferson's instance +avoided none of the difficulties that a declaration of neutrality would +have encountered but rather increased them by putting the Government in a +false position. The mere omission of the term did not prevent it from +being known as a neutrality proclamation. It was at once so designated and +has always been so considered. Jefferson himself, in advising the American +foreign representatives of the policy of the Government, said that it +would be "a fair neutrality"; and, in writing to Madison a few days after +the proclamation had been issued, he remarked, "I fear a fair neutrality +will prove a disagreeable pill to our friends, though necessary to keep us +out of the calamities of war." + +By its terms, however, the proclamation was simply an admonition to +American citizens to keep out of the war, with notice that, if they got +into trouble by engaging in contraband trade, they would not receive the +protection of the United States, and would be liable to prosecution for +the commission of acts of a nature to "violate the law of nations." It is +manifest that the question whether or not the French treaty was still in +operation was of great practical importance. If it was still in force, the +treaty formed part of the law of the land, and American citizens might +plead immunity for acts done in pursuance of its provisions. Hamilton was +for suspending the treaty since a situation had arisen which made its +provisions inconsistent with a policy of neutrality. His main contention +was that the obligations imposed by the treaty of '78 were no longer +binding on the United States, since they contemplated only defensive war. +By her declaration of war France had taken the offensive, thereby +relieving the United States of her reciprocal obligations. Jefferson held +that the treaty was still operative, for even if its provisions apparently +required the United States to engage in the war, it did not follow that +such action would be an actual consequence. The possibility was "not yet +certain enough to authorize us in sound morality to declare, at this +moment, the treaties null." + +Meanwhile Genet was left in a position in which he had a perfect right to +claim all privileges conferred on France by the treaty. The result was a +curious chapter of diplomatic correspondence. Genet took an attitude of +indignant remonstrance at the duplicity of the American position. Did not +the United States have a treaty with France? By what authority then did +the Administration interfere with him in the enjoyment of his rights as +the representative of France, and interfere with American citizens in +their dealings with him? He shrewdly refrained from any attempt to defend +the capture of the _Grange_ by _L'Ambuscade_ in Delaware Bay. "The learned +conclusions of the Attorney-General of the United States, and the +declarations of the American Government, have been on this subject the +rule of my conduct. I have caused the prize to be given up." But he stood +firm on rights secured by the treaty. "As long as the States, assembled in +Congress, shall not have determined that this solemn engagement should not +be performed, no one has the right to shackle our operations, and to annul +their effect, by hindering those of our marines who may be in the American +ports, to take advantage of the commissions which the French Government +has charged me to give to them, authorizing them to defend themselves, and +fulfill, if they find an opportunity, all the duties of citizens against +the enemies of the State." + +This was using an argument borrowed from Jefferson's abundant stock of +constitutional limitations. Genet was, of course, advised of the +dissensions in the Cabinet. He was on such confidential terms with +Jefferson that he talked freely about the projected raid on Louisiana. +Jefferson noted in his diary that "he communicated these things to me, not +as Secretary of State, but as Mr. Jefferson." Jefferson told Genet that he +"did not care what insurrections should be excited in Louisiana," but that +"enticing officers and soldiers from Kentucky to go against Spain was +really putting a halter about their necks, for that they would assuredly +be hung if they commenced hostilities against a nation at peace with the +United States." So great is the force of legal pedantry that Jefferson was +unable to agree that the President should proclaim neutrality in clear and +positive terms; but that same pedantry was effectively employed in +covering the legal flaws of Jefferson's position in his notes to Genet. He +attenuated the treaty obligations by strict construction and also by +reservations founded on the general principles of international law. "By +our treaties with several of the belligerent Powers," he told Genet, "we +have established a style of peace with them. But without appealing to +treaties, we are at peace with them all by the law of nature: for, by +nature's law, man is at peace with man." Hence the propriety of forbidding +acts within American jurisdiction that would cause disturbance of this +peace, a point on which he quoted copiously from Vattel. Genet manifested +some irritation at being referred to treatises on international law when +he was resting his case on a treaty the validity of which Jefferson +acknowledged. "Let us not lower ourselves," he wrote, "to the level +of ancient politics by diplomatic subtleties. Let us be frank in +our overtures, in our declarations, as our two nations are in their +affections, and, by this plain and sincere conduct, arrive at the object +by the shortest way." + +Logically Jefferson's position was that of maintaining the validity of the +treaty while opposing the fulfillment of its obligations. At the same time +he had to carry on a correspondence with Hammond, the British Minister, +who was making complaints of the use of American ports for French +depredations on British commerce, and to him Jefferson pleaded entire +willingness to discharge in good faith the obligations of a neutral Power. +It may seem as if Jefferson was attempting the impossible feat of trying +to ride at one time two horses going in opposite directions, but such was +his dexterity that in appearance he was largely successful. Meanwhile he +contrived to throw on Hamilton and his adherents the blame for the +feebleness and inconsistency of national policy. In letters to his +Congressional lieutenants, Monroe in the Senate and Madison in the House, +he lamented "the anglophobia, secret antigallomany" that have "decided the +complexion of our dispositions." He spoke scornfully of Randolph, whom he +regarded as so irresolute that the votes in the Cabinet were "generally +two and a half against one and a half," by which he meant that Hamilton +and Knox stood together against Jefferson, while Randolph divided his +influence between the two actions. + +So inflamed was the state of public opinion that a rising against the +Government seemed possible. In a letter written twenty years later, John +Adams described "the terrorism excited by Genet, in 1793, when ten +thousand people in the streets of Philadelphia, day after day, threatened +to drag Washington out of his house, and effect a revolution in the +Government, or compel it to declare war in favor of the French Revolution +and against England." Adams related that he "judged it prudent and +necessary to order chests of arms from the War Office" to be brought into +his house to defend it from attack, and he had it from "the coolest +and firmest minds" that nothing but the outbreak of yellow fever in +Philadelphia that summer "could have saved the United States from a fatal +revolution of government." On the other hand, letters written by Hamilton +during the time of all this excitement show that he thought little of it, +although he more than anyone else was its target. In May, 1793, he wrote +that the number of persons who went to meet Genet "would be stated high at +a hundred," and he did not believe that a tenth part of the city +participated in the meetings and addresses of Genet's sympathizers. "A +crowd will always draw a crowd, whatever be the purpose. Curiosity will +supply the place, of attachment to, or interest in, the object." +Washington's own letters at this period show no trace of concern about his +personal safety though he smarted under the attacks on his motives. An +entry of August 2, 1793, in Jefferson's private diary, forming the volume +since known as "The Anas," relates that at a cabinet meeting Knox +exhibited a print entitled the funeral of George W----n, in which the +President was placed on a guillotine. "The President was much inflamed; +got into one of those passions when he cannot command himself; ran much on +the personal abuse which had been bestowed upon him; defied any man on +earth to produce one single act of his since he had been in the Government +which was not done from the purest motives; that he had never repented but +once the having slipped the moment of resigning his office, and that was +every moment since; that by God he had rather be in his grave than in his +present situation; that he had rather be on his farm than to be made +emperor of the world; and that they were charging him with wanting to be +king; that that rascal Freneau sent him three of his papers every day, as +if he thought he would become the distributor of his papers; that he could +see in this nothing but an impudent design to insult him." + +Freneau was one of Jefferson's subordinates in the State Department, +combining with his duties there the editorship of a newspaper engaged in +spreading the calumny that the Administration was leaning toward +monarchy through the influence of Hamilton and his friends, who despised +republicanism, hated France, and loved England. This journalistic campaign +went on under the protection of Jefferson to the disturbance of an +administration of which Jefferson himself formed a part. This circumstance +has given trouble to Jefferson's biographers, and it is now somewhat +difficult to make those allowances to which Jefferson is entitled from the +candid historian. Such behavior at the present day would be regarded as +treacherous, for it is now a settled doctrine that it is the duty of a +member of the President's Cabinet to give unreserved support to his +policy, or to resign. But at that period, neither in England nor in the +United States, did this view of cabinet solidarity prevail. It was not +considered against the rules of the game for a cabinet official to use any +opportunities within reach for promoting his aims or to boast such +behavior as patriotic zeal. Jefferson, who wanted to resign and stayed on +only at Washington's earnest desire, certainly rendered a service to the +Administration, which was then so unpopular that Jefferson's connection +with it was a political asset of great value. + +Hamilton also made use of the services of journalism. When on June +29,1793, publication began of a series of eight articles signed +"Pacificus," it was well known that Hamilton was the author. The acute +analysis and cogent reasoning of these articles have given them classic +rank as an exposition of national rights and duties. Upon minds open to +reason their effect was marked. Jefferson wrote to Madison, "For God's +sake, my dear Sir, take up your pen, select the most striking heresies, +and cut him to pieces in the face of the public." Madison did take up his +pen, but he laid it down again without attempting to controvert Hamilton's +argument. The five articles which Madison wrote over the signature +"Helvidius" do not proceed farther into the subject than a preliminary +examination of executive authority, in which he laid down principles of +strict construction of the Constitution which have never been adopted in +practice and which are now interesting only as specimens of dialectic +subtlety. + +Although as an electioneering tactician Jefferson had superior ability, +neither he nor any of his associates was a match for Hamilton in debate. +As the issues were discussed, the Jeffersonians lost ground, and for this +they put the blame on Genet. By July 7, Jefferson was writing to Madison +that Genet "renders my position immensely difficult," and thereafter in +the correspondence of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, Genet figures as a +rash man whose indiscretions embarrassed his friends and impeded his own +objects. This view has to a large extent passed over into history, but +when it is considered that Genet did not come to America for Jefferson's +comfort but to accomplish certain things for his own government, it must +be owned that he had considerable success. Although his means were small, +he managed to engage in the French service an active American fleet +including such vessels as _Le Cassius, L'Ami de le Point a Petre, L'Amour +de la Liberte, La Vengeance, La Montagne, Le Vainqueur de la Bastille, La +Carmagnole, L'Esperance, Le Citoyen Genet, Sans Pareil_, and _Le +Petit Democrate._ The last-mentioned vessel was originally an English +merchantman, the brig _Little Sarah_, brought into Philadelphia harbor as +a French prize. When it was learned that this vessel had been armed and +equipped for service as a French man-of-war, Governor Mifflin of +Pennsylvania gave orders that the vessel should be detained. Genet +threatened forcible resistance, and a clash might have occurred, had +Jefferson not intervened. He went to Genet's house on Sunday to persuade +him not to move the vessel until the President could decide the case. +Genet refused to give any promise, but remarked that the vessel would +probably not be ready to depart for several days. Jefferson thereupon +exerted himself successfully to prevent the taking of any steps to detain +the vessel. + +Washington, harassed and confused by the dissensions of his Cabinet, now +desired that the advice of the justices of the Supreme Court be taken. +Hamilton was opposed to a proceeding which involved prejudgment by the +Court on questions which might come before it in due course of law, and +which seemed to him also to be an avoidance of the proper responsibility +of the executive. Nevertheless he took part in preparing the case, and of +the twenty-nine questions submitted to the Supreme Court, Hamilton framed +twenty-one, Jefferson seven, and Washington himself the last. Jefferson +notified Genet of this consultation as an additional reason for patience, +"the object of it being to obtain the best advice possible on the sense of +the laws and treaties respecting the several cases. I am persuaded you +will think the delay well compensated." Genet did not think so, and _Le +Petit Democrate_ put to sea in defiance of American authority. + +The justices declined to answer the questions, and the Administration had +to face its responsibilities on its own judgment of its rights and duties. +At least one member of the Administration had clear and positive ideas on +that subject. Hamilton, who in his "Pacificus" letters had given a +masterly exposition of international obligations, now took up the +particular issues raised by Genet's claims, which at that time were +receiving ardent championship. Freneau's _National Gazette_ held that +Genet had really acted "too tamely," had been "too accommodating for the +peace of the United States." Hamilton now replied by a series of articles +in the _Daily Advertiser_ over the signature "No Jacobin," in which +Genet's behavior was reviewed. After five articles had appeared in rapid +succession, the series was abruptly terminated because Hamilton was taken +down by the yellow fever. + +The journalistic war was almost in the nature of a duel between the State +and the Treasury Departments. Genet must have been amused. Lack of funds +hindered his activities more than anything else. Jefferson had advised +Washington that, "if the instalments falling due in this year could be +advanced without incurring more danger," it would be well to make the +payments, as he "thought it very material to keep alive the friendly +sentiments of France." But this was a matter which pertained to Hamilton's +own department, and in that field his advice controlled Washington. Genet +could do nothing in this direction, and before the affair of _Le Petit +Democrate_ he had ceased to expect financial aid. + +Jefferson was now so angry and indignant that he no longer opposed the +suggestions that had been made in cabinet meetings that Genet should be +dismissed, and the note on that subject which he drafted for transmission +to the French Government is an able document. The French Government, with +ample reason, conditioned the recall of Genet upon the recall of Morris, +who was succeeded by James Monroe. Meanwhile Genet's situation had become +perilous through revolution at home. On October 16, 1793, his Government +issued an order for his arrest. The United States now became his asylum. +He acquired citizenship, married a daughter of Governor Clinton of New +York, and settled down to a useful and respected career as a country +gentleman devoted to the improvement of agriculture. He died at his home, +Schodak, New York, in 1834, after having founded an American family. + +At the time when Genet, favored by the exasperated state of Western +sentiment over the navigation of the lower Mississippi, was promoting an +attack upon the Spanish posts, the Administration had already been engaged +for a long time in efforts to secure "full enjoyment of that navigation," +as well as a settlement of the southwestern boundary. In December, 1791, +Washington nominated William Carmichael, charge d'affaires in Spain, and +William Short, then charge d'affaires in France, commissioners to make a +treaty. Their efforts proved unsuccessful, and in 1794 the Spanish +commissioner in the United States gave notice that they were not +acceptable personally, and that it "was hoped that some other person would +be appointed, with full powers, to settle this treaty, and graced with +such a character as became the royalty to which he was accredited." +Washington then nominated Thomas Pinckney, at that time minister in +London, as minister plenipotentiary in Spain. When Pinckney arrived on the +scene he was met with the dilatory methods then characteristic of Spanish +diplomacy, and finally he had to bring matters to an issue by demanding +his passports. His determination so impressed the Spanish Government that +it finally consented to a treaty, October 27, 1795, which fixed the +southern boundary of the United States and opened the Mississippi River to +navigation. The boundary line was to run east along the thirty-first +parallel of latitude from the Mississippi to the Appalachicola, thence +along the latter river to its junction with the Flint, thence to the +headwaters of the St. Mary's, and along its course to the Atlantic Ocean. +The free navigation of the Mississippi was coupled with the privilege of +depositing merchandise at New Orleans "without paying any other duty than +a fair price for the hire of the stores." This privilege was to be +continued after three years, or "an equivalent establishment" on the banks +of the Mississippi was to be assigned to citizens of the United States--a +provision which was not free from ambiguities and which furnished fresh +material for controversy a few years later. + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +A SETTLEMENT WITH ENGLAND + +According to Jefferson, the President originally took the same view of the +French treaty that he did. Jefferson relates that on April 18, 1793, +Washington spoke of having "never had a doubt of the validity of the +French treaty," and he notes that in the cabinet disputes Washington was +inclined to his views. As the embarrassments of the Administration +thickened, the President, it is true, leaned more and more toward +Hamilton, but this inclination was due more to necessity than to personal +partiality. The explanation stands out in Jefferson's own account of +events. Hamilton was clear, positive, and decided as to what to do and how +to do it. Jefferson was active in finding objections but not in finding +ways and means of action. This contrast became sharper as time went on, +and, as Washington was in a position where he had to do something, he was +forced to rely on Hamilton more and more. Jefferson held that it +would be inexpedient for the general government to assume the duty of +fortifying the harbors, and that there was no constitutional authority for +establishing a military academy. On November 28, 1793, there was a +prolonged wrangle over these issues at a cabinet meeting, which the +President ended by saying that he would recommend the military academy to +Congress, and "let them decide for themselves whether the Constitution +authorized it or not." This was the last of the quarrelsome cabinet +sessions recorded by Jefferson. He vacated the office of Secretary of +State, December 31, 1793, and thereafter the ascendancy of Hamilton in the +Cabinet was indisputed. + +An immediate effect of the change was to give new vigor to efforts at +reaching a settlement with Great Britain. The old troubles over her +retention of the western posts still continued, and in addition to them +came new difficulties arising from war measures. On January 30, 1793, +Thomas Pinckney, then American minister to Great Britain, wrote that war +was about to begin, "and although our claim to a free intercourse is +founded in reason and our national right, yet, as we have no armed +neutrality the members whereof this people have to fear, they may stop our +vessels bound to French ports with provisions." What was feared soon +happened. By the French decree of 1793, the French colonies were opened to +American trade and West Indian commerce flourished. This was now afflicted +by contraband regulations laid down by Great Britain, under which many +American vessels were seized for carrying cargoes to or from French ports. +Although Genet's activities and the extent to which they were indulged by +the United States did not tend to promote friendly relations with Great +Britain, yet it does not appear that the British policy was inspired by +resentment. The regulations as defined by instructions issued on June 8, +1793, made liable to detention all vessels carrying "corn, flour, or meal" +to French ports, with the proviso that the cargoes might be purchased on +behalf of the British government and the ships might then be released with +a due allowance for freight, or they might be allowed to dispose of their +cargoes in the ports of any country in amity with Great Britain. +Vessels attempting to enter a blockaded port were liable to seizure and +condemnation, save that the ships of Denmark and Sweden might be seized +only if they should persist in trying to enter after once having been +turned back. + +Conciliatory explanations were made by Hammond, the British minister, in +notifying our State Department. He pointed out that only corn and flour +were contraband, that the regulations did not extend to other provisions, +and that they secured "to the proprietors, supposing them neutral, a full +indemnification for any loss they may possibly sustain." The special +privilege extended to Denmark and Sweden was attributed to treaty +requirements and therefore could not be regarded as invidious. In reply +Jefferson at home and Pinckney abroad argued in behalf of the United +States for the principle that free ships make free goods, but Great +Britain would not hearken to a doctrine that struck at the efficacy of her +sea power. + +Washington besought Congress to support the efforts of the Administration +by making, for the defense of American interests, such provision as would +inspire respect. In his address of December 3, 1793, he observed: "There +is a rank due to the United States among nations which will be withheld, +if not absolutely lost, by the reputation of weakness. If we desire to +avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, +one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be +known that we are at all times ready for war." The answer of Congress was +the grudging consent to some naval preparations already recounted. + +After the passage of the navy bill Sedgwick of Massachusetts endeavored to +interest the House in the general subject of military preparation. On +March 12, 1794, he introduced resolutions for raising fifteen additional +regiments for two years, the term to be extended for three years in case +of the outbreak of war. In advocating this measure he spoke of the sorry +experience of the country in depending upon militia. Their "want of +discipline occasions them to commit a great waste on the property of their +fellow citizens, besides a waste of public property." As long as we depend +upon militia, "European nations will not consider us as able to retaliate +and assert our rights." Nothing came of this sensible proposal, but +Sedgwick made an auxiliary suggestion which Congress did adopt. He urged +that the sailing of vessels from the ports of the United States be +prohibited. An embargo would hold over foreign nations the threat that, +unless they behaved themselves, their supplies from the United States +might be cut off. Such embargo was voted for a month from March 26, 1794, +which was subsequently extended for another month, and the President was +authorized to lay, regulate, and revoke embargoes during the recess of +Congress. Congress regarded the embargo policy as a cheap way out of a +difficult situation, but this method was really not only far more costly +to the nation than would have been the straightforward course of arming +for defense, but at the same time accomplished nothing. Dayton of New +Jersey proposed to supplement the embargo by the sequestration of all +debts due from citizens of the United States to British subjects. Clark of +New Jersey outdid his colleague by proposing to prohibit all commercial +intercourse between the United States and Great Britain until such time +as that country should surrender the western posts and should make +restitution for all losses sustained by American citizens. + +Violent speeches were made on these proposals at the very time when the +House was refusing to support either an army or a navy. Sedgwick +introduced some good sense into a debate that was alternating between +blatant vaporing and legal pedantry, by pointing out that, under the +Constitution, the President of the United States ought to be allowed +to have some say about the matter. It was the function of the President +to treat with foreign powers, and yet the House was now considering action +which was in effect "prescribing the terms of treaty, and restraining +the constitutional power from treating on any other terms." This argument +was used effectively by a number of speakers. It turned the main +position taken by the advocates of non-intercourse, which was that the +real objection came from the bondholders who feared that the ensuing +loss of revenue might prevent them from getting their interest. Such +imputations of sordid motive became fruitless when the issue was raised of +the constitutional authority of the President, but the advocates of +non-intercourse met this new point of view by pointing out that the +Constitution gave Congress the right to regulate commerce. The feeling +against Great Britain was so great that the House was bent on indulging +it, and on April 25, 1794, the non-intercourse bill was passed by a vote +of 58 to 34. The Senate was so evenly divided that, on the motion to pass +the bill to its third reading, there was a tie vote, and Vice-President +Adams, who was called upon for a casting vote, gave it against the bill. +About a month later in the House another attempt was made to carry the +policy of non-intercourse by a joint resolution, but by this time a +reaction in favor of the Administration had set in and the resolution +received only 24 yeas to 46 nays, James Madison being among those who +stuck to the proposal to the last. + +While the House was abandoning itself to reckless mischief-making, +Washington was striving to arrange matters by negotiation. The +perplexities of his situation were great and varied. As a military man +he knew that American jurisdiction was precarious so long as Great +Britain held the interior. The matter had been the subject of prolix +correspondence between Jefferson and Hammond, but the American demands +that Great Britain should surrender the frontier posts in accordance with +the treaty of peace had been met by demands that America, in accordance +with that same treaty, should first satisfy various claims of British +subjects for restitution, indemnity, and relief. The regular diplomatic +machinery stuck fast at this point, both at home and abroad. In one of his +gossipy, confidential letters Fisher Ames remarked that Hammond was a most +"petulant, impudent" man, habitually railing against the conduct of our +government "with a gabble that his feelings render doubly unintelligible." +But Pinckney, our representative in England, was equally undiplomatic. He +was "sour and also Gallican"; although calm in manner, "he had prejudices, +and unless a man has a mind above them, he can do little service there." + +Washington decided that it would be wise to send a special envoy to deal +with all the points at issue. He thought first of Hamilton, but was warned +that the Senate would not ratify such an appointment. Hamilton recommended +John Jay as "the only man in whose qualifications for success there would +be thorough confidence." Jay was then chief-justice, but the crisis was so +dangerous as to justify Washington in calling him even from that important +post. He had matchless qualifications for the mission. He had been +minister to Spain, 1778-1782; he had been one of the commissioners who had +negotiated the treaty of peace of 1783; he had been Secretary of Foreign +Affairs, 1784-1789; so that he had had an experience which familiarized +him with every detail of the questions at issue. As a negotiator he had +always gained marked success by acting upon his own principle that "a +little good-natured wisdom often does more in politics than much slippery +craft." Jay showed fine patriotism in accepting the appointment. He +remarked to his friends that no man could frame a treaty with Great +Britain without making himself unpopular and odious and he accepted the +mission under "a conviction that to refuse it would be to desert my duty +for the sake of my ease and domestic concerns and comforts." + +Jay was nominated as envoy extraordinary on April 16, 1794, and, after +three days of violent debate, the appointment was confirmed by the +Senate. The event did not moderate the rage of the House for immediate +action. Some members urged that it was indelicate for the House to be +passing reprisals at a time when the Executive was attempting friendly +negotiations; but the reply was made that, if there was any indelicacy, it +was on the part of the Executive, inasmuch as the House proceedings had +been already begun when the President decided to nominate an envoy +extraordinary. While Congress was fuming and wrangling, Jay was proceeding +with his difficult task. He sailed on May 12, and on June 8 landed +in England where he was hospitably received. Despite these personal +attentions, the differences to be adjusted were so numerous and +complicated that on the surface the situation looked almost hopeless. +Conditions, however, were really more favorable than they appeared to be. +A change, latent but influential, had taken place in the mental attitude +of the governing class in England. There had been a notion that American +independence would not last long and that the country would eventually be +restored to the British Crown. The drift of events was rather in that +direction until Hamilton's measures gave the ascendancy to the forces +making for American national development. The practical statesmanship of +Great Britain perhaps saw more clearly the significance of what was taking +place than did that of America itself, and it was prepared to reckon with +this new condition. Moreover, the European commotion resulting from the +French Revolution had brought to the front a new set of interests and +anxieties, for the free handling of which a settlement of differences with +the United States might be advantageous. The effect of such considerations +was at least to render the situation more manageable than might have been +expected, and Jay improved his opportunities with admirable tact. + +In pursuance of his principle of bringing "good-natured wisdom" to bear, +Jay suggested to Lord Grenville, the British Secretary for Foreign +Affairs, that they should dispense with written communications, and merely +meet and converse informally "until there should appear a probability +of coming to some amicable mutual understanding." Even after such +understanding should be put into writing, it was not to be regarded as +official or binding, but simply as an exchange of private memoranda. So +strictly was this informal method adhered to that the regular force of +secretaries and copyists had nothing to do with the proceedings until the +treaty was almost ready for signing. Jay had been instructed to demand +compensation for some three thousand slaves who had followed the British +troops when they departed, but Lord Grenville stood firm on the principle +that the slave, once under the British flag, became a free man, the +property rights of the former owner thereupon becoming extinct and not +forming a subject for compensation. Jay, who really held the same opinion, +had to yield the point. It was agreed that the western posts should be +evacuated by June 1, 1796, an arrangement which would allow the British +government to retain them about two years longer. That government had +already justified its retention of these posts by averring that the United +States had not complied with the articles of the peace treaty relating to +British debts. Jay was not in a position to argue the point with any +force, for when he was Secretary of Foreign Affairs he had advised +Congress that these articles "have been constantly violated on our part by +legislative acts, then and still existing and operating"; and that Great +Britain was therefore not to blame for retaining the posts. The British +government was undoubtedly cognizant of this report, and Jay could not +make any effective opposition to a proviso which in effect said to the +United States, "before surrendering the posts we will wait and see whether +you intend to fulfill your agreements." The root of the trouble--an evil +often felt and still experienced in the United States--was defective +sovereignty, an inability of the whole to control the behavior of its +parts. Jay could not deny that the peace treaty had been violated by state +legislation, and only by the humiliating means of an avowal of its +impotence could he exonerate the national government from the imputation +of bad faith. The matter was disposed of by provision for a joint +commission to decide upon all cases in which it was alleged that +unlawful impediments had been placed in the way of collection of debts due +British subjects, and by the United States undertaking payment of the +awards. A similar commission was to pass upon American claims for British +violation of neutral rights. This arrangement was a concession whose +practical value was eventually shown by the fact that as a result American +merchants received some millions of dollars. + +Jay displayed marked adroitness as a negotiator in dealing with the issues +growing out of past differences, but he made an extraordinary slip in +providing for commercial relations between the two countries. In their +general tenor the articles displayed broad liberality. Between all British +dominions in Europe and the territories of the United States there was to +be "a reciprocal and perfect liberty of commerce and navigation." American +vessels were to "be admitted and hospitably received" in the ports of East +India, and, although participation in the coasting trade was prohibited, +it was provided that this restriction should not prevent ships going from +one port of discharge to another. The East Indian trade was not, however, +so important as the nearer West Indian trade, and with respect to the +latter the treaty provisions were narrow and exacting. American vessels +were limited to seventy tons burden, and it was provided that "the United +States will prohibit and restrain the carrying away of molasses, sugar, +coffee, or cotton in American vessels, either for his Majesty's Islands or +the United States, to any part of the world except the United States, +reasonable sea-stores excepted." Jay, in a letter to Washington, excused +his acceptance of this restraint on the ground that "the commercial part +of the treaty may be terminated at the expiration of two years after the +war, and in the meantime a state of things more auspicious to negotiation +will probably arise, especially if the next session of Congress should not +interpose fresh obstacles." + +The treaty was silent on the subject of impressment, but Jay's failure on +that point was just what was to have been expected in view of the +unwillingness of the United States to defend its commerce. Impressment was +not abandoned until many years afterwards, and then not through treaty +stipulation but because the United States had a navy and could resist +aggression on the seas. In its treatment of the subject of contraband, the +treaty took positions in accord with the international law then received, +but in one respect it made a distinct advance. Provision was made that war +between the two countries should never become the pretext for confiscation +of debts or annulment of contracts. This position involves the noble +principle that war should never supersede justice but should be the +servant of justice. Great practical advantage was experienced from it in +the War of 1812, when the United States was a creditor nation. + +On the whole, Jay's diplomacy was as enlightened as it was shrewd, but at +the time it exposed him to furious denunciation which he disdained to +notice. "I had read the history of Greece," he wrote to a friend, "and was +apprised of the politics and proceedings of more recent date." The +philosophic composure which he drew from his knowledge of history enabled +him to behave with calm dignity while he was being burned in effigy, and +while mob orators were heaping insult and calumny on his name. After a +struggle that shook the Government, the treaty was ratified by the Senate +on June 24, 1795, with the exception of the article about the West Indian +trade, an omission to which Great Britain made no objection. The treaty +was extremely unpopular, chiefly because unreasonable expectations of its +provisions had been entertained. People had yet to learn that national +independence has its defects as well as its advantages, and that the +traditional intimacy between the West Indies and America was now on a +footing of privilege and not of right. The great benefits conferred by the +treaty were therefore not appreciated, and so violent was the fury its +terms excited that it was perhaps fortunate that Jay did not resume his +seat on the Supreme Bench. Before his return from England and before the +details of the treaty had been made public, he had been elected governor +of New York, and to accept this office he resigned the chief-justiceship. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +PARTY VIOLENCE + +When, in July, 1793, Jefferson notified the President of his wish to +resign from the Cabinet, Hamilton's resignation had already been before +the President for several weeks. Ever since the removal of Congress to +Philadelphia, Hamilton's circumstances had become less and less able to +endure the strain of maintaining his official position on a salary of +$3500 a year. He had fully experienced the truth of the warnings he had +received that, if he gave himself to the public service, he might spend +his time and substance without receiving gratitude for his efforts or +credit for his motives. His vocation for statesmanship, however, was too +genuine and his courage too high for such results to dishearten him. He +had now accomplished what he had set out to do in securing the adoption of +the measures which established the new government, and he no longer +regarded his administrative position as essential to the success of his +policy. Meanwhile the need had become urgent that he should resume the +practice of his profession to provide for his family. It was not in his +nature, however, to leave the front when a battle was coming on, and, +although he gave early notice of his intention so that Washington should +have ample time to look about for his successor, the resignation was not +to become effective until Congress had met and shown its temper. According +to Jefferson, Washington once remarked to him that he supposed Hamilton +"had fixed on the latter part of next session to give an opportunity to +Congress to examine into his conduct." Although Hamilton had made up his +mind to retire, he intended to march out with flying colors, as became the +victor on a hard-fought field. So far, he had met and beaten all enemies +who had dared to assail his honor; he meant to beat them again if they +renewed the attack, and he had word that one encounter was coming more +formidable than any before. + +Hamilton's success in carrying his measures through Congress, by sheer +dexterity of management when numbers were against him, added intense +bitterness to the natural chagrin felt by the defeated faction. Men like +Jefferson and Madison were subject to traditions of behavior that required +them to maintain a certain style of public decorum no matter how they +might rage in private. But new men with new manners were coming on the +scene, and among them the opposition to Hamilton had found a new leader-- +William Branch Giles of Virginia. He was a Princeton graduate of the class +of 1781, had studied for the bar, and had been admitted to practice in +1786. To the full legal equipment of the period he added an energy and an +audacity that speedily brought him legal and political distinction. He was +active and outspoken in advocating the adoption of the new Constitution, +at a time when popular sentiment in Virginia was strongly inclined to be +adverse. He had no hesitation about undertaking unpopular causes, and +hence British debt cases became a marked feature of his practice. Virginia +State law had suspended the recovery of debts due British subjects until +reparation had been made for the loss of negro slaves taken away by the +British during the war, and until the western posts had been surrendered. +But the peace treaty of 1783 stipulated that creditors on neither side +should meet with lawful impediment in the recovery of debts, and by the +new Constitution treaties had become part of the law of the land. On the +basis of a national jurisdiction in conflict with the Virginia statutes, +Giles acted so energetically, that he himself related that by 1792 he had +been employed in at least one hundred British debt cases, and was "as +successful in collecting monies under judgments as is usually the case +with citizens." + +Comprehension of the true nature of the struggle in which Giles became +conspicuous must start with the fact that the Constitution was reluctantly +accepted and with great uneasiness as to possible consequences. In the +Virginia convention of 1788, it was declared that the new Constitution was +essentially a scheme of the military men to subject the people to their +rule. This argument was not so much met as avoided by the declaration that +there could be no tyranny while Washington lived. The rejoinder was +obvious: what if he should not be able to withstand military influence? +What if, in spite of him, the government should be given a dangerous +character that would develop after he passed away? Jefferson had felt +misgivings on this score from the first, and Madison experienced them as +soon as differences on practical measures arose between himself and +Hamilton. Jefferson and Madison wanted the government to be made +respectable but not strong. Hamilton saw what they could not see--and +indeed what few at that time could see--that a government cannot be made +respectable without being made strong. + +Washington was probably without any clear views of his own on +constitutional questions, and what evidence there is on this point +supports Jefferson's claim that Washington was more disposed to confide in +him and in Madison than in Hamilton. When Jefferson relinquished the State +Department, Washington proposed to give Madison the post, but was told he +would not think of taking it. Washington then transferred Randolph to the +position because he could not get anybody else of suitable capacity. +Whatever Washington's personal inclinations may have been, he was in a +position in which he had to act. Hamilton was the only one whom he could +find to show him the way, and thus circumstances more and more compelled +Washington to accept Hamilton's guidance, while at the same time it seemed +increasingly clear to the opposition that it was above all things +necessary to crush Hamilton. This state of sentiment must be kept in mind +in order to make intelligible the rabid violence of the party warfare +which had long been going on against Hamilton, and which--now that +Jefferson had left the Cabinet--was soon to be extended to Washington +himself. + +When Giles went to the front in this war, both Jefferson and Madison were +busy behind the firing line supplying munitions. Giles was elected in 1790 +to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Theodorick Bland, and took his +seat in the third session of the First Congress. The assumption bill had +been passed, but that was only the first of the series of financial +measures proposed by Hamilton, and Giles followed Madison's lead in +unsuccessful resistance to the excise and to the national bank. Giles was +re-elected to the Second Congress, which opened on October 24, 1791. In +the course of this session he became the leader of the opposition, not by +supplanting Madison but through willingness to take responsibilities from +which Madison, like Jefferson, shrank, because he, too, preferred activity +behind the scenes. This situation has often occurred in parliamentary +history--a zealous party champion scouting the scruples and restraints +that hampered the official leadership, and assuming an independent line of +attack with the covert favor and assistance of that leadership. In the +effort to crush Hamilton a series of raids was led by Giles, whose +appetite for fighting could never be extinguished no matter how severe +might be his defeat. + +After much preliminary skirmishing which put heavy tasks on Hamilton in +the way of getting up reports and documents, a grand attack was made on +January 23, 1793. A series of resolutions, in drafting which Madison and +Jefferson took part, was presented, calling for minute particulars of all +loans, names of all persons to whom payments had been made, statements of +semi-monthly balances between the Treasury and the Bank, and an account of +the sinking fund and of unexpended appropriations,--all from the beginning +of the government until the end of 1792. The resolution required Hamilton +to complete and state all the accounts of the Treasury Department up to a +period only a little over three weeks before the resolutions were +presented, and to give a detailed transcript of particulars. But +the Treasury accounts were in such perfect order, and so great was +Hamilton's capacity for work, that the information called for was promptly +transmitted in reports dated February 4, February 13, and February 14. At +the same time Hamilton hit back by observing that the resolutions "were +not moved without a pretty copious display of the reasons on which they +were founded," which "were of a nature to excite attention, to beget +alarm, to inspire doubts." + +Giles was soon able to renew the attack. Jefferson and Madison helped him +to prepare a series of nine resolutions which were presented on February +27. They specifically charged Hamilton with violation of law, neglect of +duty, transgression of the proper limits of his authority, and indecorum +in his attitude towards the House. The series ended with a resolution that +a copy should be transmitted to the President. The proceeding was a sort +of impeachment, framed with the purpose not of bringing Hamilton to trial +but of forcing him out of the Cabinet. The charges against him were purely +technical and were actuated by malevolence. Hamilton, though not allowed +to come into the House to defend himself, nevertheless participated in the +debate indirectly by writing the speech delivered by William Smith and +credited to him in the Annals of Congress. It was so generally felt in +Congress that the resolutions were founded on nothing more substantial +than spite that Giles could not hold his forces together, and as the +debate proceeded the number of his adherents dwindled. The House began +voting at a night session on March 1st. After the third resolution had +been defeated by a vote of 40 to 12, an attempt was made to withdraw the +others, but such action was refused, and one by one the remaining +resolutions were defeated by increasing numbers until only seven voted +with Giles at the last, among them James Madison. It was a signal triumph +for Hamilton. But his enemies were not disposed to accept the decision as +final, and Jefferson thought it might be revised at the next session. + +It was not until the Second Congress that the old factions finally +disappeared and the formation of national parties began. The issue +over the adoption of the Constitution had produced Federalists and +Anti-Federalists, but with its adoption Anti-Federalism as such became a +thing of the past. Opposition to the Government had to betake itself to +the political platform provided by the successful introduction of the new +system of government, and was obliged to distinguish itself from official +Federalism by attacking not the Constitution but the way in which the +Constitution was being construed and applied. The suspicion, jealousy, and +dislike with which the new government was regarded, in many quarters were +reflected from the beginning in the behavior of Congress. There was from +the first a disposition to find fault and to antagonize, and as time went +on this disposition was aggravated by the great scope allowed to +misunderstanding and calumny from the lack of direct contact between +Congress and the Administration. In founding a new party, Jefferson only +organized forces that were demanding leadership. He consolidated the +existing opposition, and gave it the name "Republican Party," implying +that its purpose was to resist the rise of monarchy and the growth of +royal prerogative in the system of government which was introduced by the +adoption of the Constitution. It is clear enough now that the implication +was mere calumny; the notion that Washington was either aiming at monarchy +or was conniving at it through ignorance was a grotesque travesty of the +shameful situation that actually existed; but fictions, pretenses, +slanders, and calumnies that would never have been allowed utterance if +the Administration and Congress had stood face to face now had opportunity +to spread and infect public opinion. Hence the tone of extreme rage that +dishonors the political contention of the period and the malice that +stains the correspondence of the faction chiefs. + +Although a distinct party opposition appeared and assumed a name during +the Second Congress, it disavowed as yet any opposition to Washington +and represented its actual attempts to thwart the measures of the +Administration as efforts to counteract Washington's evil advisers. The +old constitutional tradition that the king can do no wrong, which still +lingered in American politics, tended to an analogous elevation of the +presidential office above the field of party strife, while leaving the +President's Cabinet advisers fully exposed to it, just as in the case of +the ministers of the Crown in England. Allowance must be made for the +effect of this tradition when judgment is passed on the political +activities of the period. Considered with regard to present standards of +political behavior, the course of Jefferson in fomenting opposition to the +Administration of which he was a part wears the appearance of despicable +intrigue. There was nothing mean or low about it, however, in the opinion +of himself and his friends, and even his enemies would have allowed it to +be within the rules of the game. Jefferson did his best to defeat in +Congress measures adopted by Washington on the advice of Hamilton, and he +also did his best to undermine Washington's confidence in Hamilton. In his +personal dealings with Washington, Jefferson had every advantage, for he +had Washington's ear and could, more readily than Hamilton, direct the +currents of unconscious influence that produce the will to believe. But +Jefferson's animosity kept tempting him to overplay his hand in a way that +was fatal in the face of an antagonist so keen and so dexterous as +Hamilton. + +In a letter of May 23, 1792, Jefferson presented to Washington an +elaborate indictment of Hamilton's policy as a justification of his own +behavior in organizing an opposition party in Congress. He charged +Hamilton with subverting the character of the Government by his financial +measures, the logical consequence of which would be "a change from the +present republican form of government to that of a monarchy." Hence the +need for organizing "the Republican party who wish to preserve the +government in its present form." Washington thought over the matter, and-- +according to Jefferson--reopened the subject in a personal interview on +July 10. Being now fully apprised of Jefferson's case, Washington himself +prepared a brief of it, divided into numbered sections, and applied to +Hamilton for a statement of his ideas upon the "enumerated discontents," +framed so "that those ideas may be applied to the correspondent numbers." +The proceeding is a fine instance of the care which Washington exercised +in forming his opinions. Of course, as soon as charges of corruption and +misdemeanor were reduced to exact statement the matter was put just where +Hamilton wanted to get it, and in the grasp of his powerful hands its +trashy character was promptly displayed. It is needless to go into +details, now that public loans, the funding of floating indebtedness in +excess of current income, and the maintenance of a national banking system +to supply machinery of credit, are such well recognized functions that the +wonder is how any statesman could have ever thought otherwise. Jefferson's +arguments, when read with the prepossessions of the present day, are so +apt to leave an impression of absurdity that they constitute a troublesome +episode for his biographers. + +Jefferson's maneuvering utterly failed to injure Hamilton in Washington's +esteem, but it did have the effect of so thoroughly disgusting +Washington with public life that at one time he was determined to +refuse a reelection, and even went so far as to ask Madison to prepare a +valedictory address for him. He consented to serve another term most +reluctantly, and not until he had been besought to do so by the leaders on +both sides. Jefferson was as urgent as was Hamilton. While Washington was +still wavering, he received a strong letter from Edmund Randolph that +doubtless touched his soldierly pride. The letter closed with this sharp +argument: + +"You suffered yourself to yield when the voice of your country summoned +you to the Administration. Should a civil war arise, you cannot stay at +home. And how much easier will it be to disperse the factions, which are +rushing to this catastrophe, than to subdue them after they shall appear +in arms? It is the fixed opinion of the world, that you surrender nothing +incomplete." + +An appeal of this character was the most effective that could possibly be +addressed to Washington, but in consenting he grumbled over the hardship +of having to keep in active service at his time of life after already +having served for so long a time. He complained that his hearing was +getting bad and that "perhaps his other faculties might fall off and he +not be sensible of it." + +Acquiescence in Washington's candidacy made it practically impossible for +the Republican party to manifest its true strength. The compliment of +Republican support was awarded to Governor Clinton of New York, who +together with Washington received all the electoral votes of Virginia, +New York, North Carolina, and Georgia. A stray electoral vote from +Pennsylvania brought Clinton's total up to 50, whereas John Adams received +77 votes which re-elected him as vice-president. Jefferson received only +four electoral votes, all from Kentucky, but his poor showing in this +election was wholly due to the intricacy of the electoral system, and his +party meanwhile developed so much strength that when the Third Congress +met on December 2, 1793, the Republicans were strong enough to elect the +speaker. + +Undeterred by this circumstance, Hamilton forced the fighting. The +Jeffersonians had been excusing the defeat they had received in attacking +Hamilton in the previous Congress on the ground that the House had acted +without allowing sufficient time for due examination of the evidence. This +plea supplied to Hamilton an occasion for prompt action. Exactly two weeks +after the meeting of Congress he addressed a letter to the Speaker, in +which he declared: "Unwilling to leave the matter on such a footing, I +have concluded to request of the House of Representatives, as I now do, +that a new inquiry may be, without delay, instituted in some mode, most +effectual for an accurate and thorough investigation; and I will add, that +the more comprehensive it is, the more agreeable it will be to me." + +Giles promptly took up the challenge, and moved the appointment of a +committee to examine the state of the Treasury Department in all its +particulars. Pending action by the House, a new complication was +introduced, which, though meant as a blow at Hamilton, resulted in a +signal triumph for him. His enemies got hold of a discharged clerk of the +Treasury Department by means of whom they now tried to counteract the +effect of Hamilton's challenge. Two days after Hamilton's letter to the +Speaker, a memorial from Andrew G. Fraunces was laid before the House +making charges which amounted to this: that there was a combination +between Hamilton and other officers of the Treasury Department to evade +payment of warrants so that they could be bought up for speculative +purposes. Hamilton's request for an investigation was allowed to lie on +the table, but the memorial from Fraunces was referred to a select +committee of which Giles was a member. This circumstance turned out to be +much to Hamilton's advantage. Giles was an erect, bold, manly foe; he +could not stomach the sort of testimony upon which depended the charges +against Hamilton's personal integrity, and he concurred in a report on +Hamilton finding that the evidence was "fully sufficient to justify his +conduct; and that in the whole course of this transaction the Secretary +and other officers of the Treasury have acted a meritorious part towards +the public." + +Giles, while exonerating Hamilton of the charge of dishonesty, did not +desist from pressing his motion for further investigation of the Treasury +Department. But he admitted that imputations upon the Secretary's +integrity had been quite removed, and he now urged that "the primary +object of the resolution is to ascertain the boundaries of discretion and +authority between the Legislature and the Treasury Department." In thus +shifting his ground he presented a new issue in which the House--and +indeed Giles's own party associates--took little interest. The fact was +that the attack on Hamilton had failed, that the purpose of showing +him to be unworthy of Washington's confidence had been abandoned as +impracticable, and that all that remained was a proposal that the House +should again engage in a laborious investigation of the desirability of +attempting a new delimitation of the functions of the Treasury Department +and of Congress. But this, of course, did not concern Hamilton. He had +acted under existing laws and with responsibilities which were defined by +them. If Congress saw fit to make new laws, the consequences would fall +upon his successor in office, not upon him since he was about to retire. +If Congress made fetters for the Secretary, it might even be that some +member of Giles's own party would have to wear them. Thus, however Giles's +latest proposal might be viewed, it was not attractive. Moreover, it was +presented at a time when the House had much more urgent matters to +consider. The country was wild with excitement over the retaliating orders +and decrees of Great Britain and France, which subjected American +interests to injury from both sides. Giles and Page appear to have been +the only speakers on the resolution when it was taken up for consideration +on February 24, 1794, and both disclaimed any intention of reflecting +upon Hamilton. The resolution received decent interment by reference to a +committee, with no one objecting. The practical conclusion of the matter +was that Hamilton had beaten his enemies once more and beaten them +thoroughly. + +Before resigning his office, Hamilton added still another great +achievement to his record of illustrious service in establishing public +authority. The violent agitation against the excise act promoted by the +Jeffersonians naturally tended to forcible resistance. One of the counts +of Jefferson's indictment of Hamilton's policy which had been presented to +Washington was that the excise law was "of odious character ... committing +the authority of the Government in parts where resistance is most probable +and coercion least practicable." The parts thus referred to were the +mountains of western Pennsylvania. The popular discontent which arose +there from the imposition of taxes upon their principal staple--distilled +spirits--naturally coalesced with the agitation carried on against +Washington's neutrality policy. At a meeting of delegates from the +election districts of Allegheny county held at Pittsburgh, resolutions +were adopted attributing the policy of the Government "to the pernicious +influence of stockholders." This was an echo of Jefferson's views. But the +resolutions went on to declare: "Our minds feel this with so much +indignancy, that we are almost ready to wish for a state of revolution and +the guillotine of France, for a short space, in order to inflict +punishment on the miscreants that enervate and disgrace our Government." +This was an echo of the talk in the political clubs that had been formed +throughout the country. The original model was apparently the Jacobin club +of Paris. The Philadelphia club with which the movement started, soon +after Genet's arrival, adopted the Jacobin style of utterance. It declared +its object to be the preservation of a freedom whose existence was menaced +by a "European confederacy transcendent in power and unparalleled in +iniquity," and also by "the pride of wealth and arrogance of power" +displayed in the United States. Writing to Governor Lee of Virginia, +Washington said that he considered "this insurrection as the first +formidable fruit of the Democratic Societies." + +Hamilton moved warily, doing whatever lay in his power to smooth the +practical working of the system in the hope of "attaining the object of +the laws by means short of force." But such was the inflamed state of +feeling in western Pennsylvania that no course was acceptable short of +abandonment by the Government of efforts to enforce the internal revenue +laws. During 1793, there were several outrageous attacks on agents of the +Government, and the execution of warrants for the arrest of rioters was +refused by local authority. People who showed a disposition to side with +the Government had their barns burned. A revenue inspector was tarred and +feathered, and was run out of the district. The patience with which the +Government endured insults to its authority encouraged the mob spirit. On +July 16, 1794, the house of Inspector Neville was attacked by a mob, and, +when he appealed to the local authorities for protection, he was notified +that there was such a general combination of the people that the laws +could not be executed. Neville, a revolutionary veteran of tried valor, +was able to obtain the help of an officer and eleven soldiers from Fort +Pitt, but the mob was too numerous and too well-armed to be withstood by +so weak a force. After a skirmish in which the mob fired the buildings and +the place became untenable, the troops had to surrender. Soon after this +affair, a convention of delegates from the four western counties of +Pennsylvania was called to meet on August 14 to concert measures for +united action. Organized insurrection had, in fact, begun. + +"The Government," said Washington, "could no longer remain a passive +spectator of the contempt with which the laws were treated." But when he +called for Cabinet opinions, the old variance at once showed itself. +Randolph thought that calm consideration of the situation "banishes every +idea of calling the militia into immediate action." He pointed out that +the disaffected region had more than fifteen thousand white males above +the age of sixteen, and that sympathy with the insurgents was active in +"several counties in Virginia having a strong militia." There was also the +risk that the insurgents might seek British aid, in which case a severance +of the Union might result. Randolph also enlarged upon the expense that +would attend military operations and questioned whether the funds could be +obtained. He advised a proclamation and the appointment of commissioners +to treat with the insurgents. Should such means fail, and should it appear +that the judiciary authority was withstood, then at last military force +might be employed. + +Hamilton held that "a competent force of militia should be called forth +and employed to suppress the insurrection, and support the civil +authority." It appeared to him that "the very existence of the Government +demands this course." He urged that the force employed ought "to be an +imposing one, such, if practicable, as will deter from opposition, save +the effusion of the blood of the citizens, and serve the object to be +accomplished." He proposed a force of twelve thousand men, of whom three +thousand were to be cavalry, and he advised that, in addition to the +Pennsylvania militia, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia should each +contribute a quota. + +All the members of the Cabinet except Randolph concurred in Hamilton's +opinion. The practical execution of the measures was entrusted to +Hamilton, who acted with great sagacity. Some appearance of timidity and +inertia in Pennsylvania state authority was indirectly but effectually +counteracted by measures which showed that the military expedition would +move even if Pennsylvania held back. Although some troops were to gather +at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, others were to meet at Cumberland Fort, +Virginia. The business was so shrewdly managed that Pennsylvania state +authority fell obediently into line, and the insurgents were so cowed by +the determined action of the Government that they submitted without a +struggle. Washington thought that this event would react upon the clubs +and "effectuate their annihilation sooner than it might otherwise have +happened." A general collapse among them certainly followed, and they +disappeared from the political scene. + +It is in the nature of precaution that the more successful it is the less +necessary it appears to have been, and thus the complete success of +Hamilton's management furnished his enemies with a new argument against +him of which they afterwards made great use. The costly military +expedition that had no fighting to do was continually held up to public +ridicule. That the expense was trifling in comparison with the objects +achieved must deeply impress any one who examines the records of the +times. A mistake might have been fatal to the existence of the Government. +It has become so powerful and massive since that time, that we can hardly +realize what a rickety structure it then was, and how readily, in less +capable hands, it might have collapsed. + +Randolph, then Secretary of State, seems to have been in a panic. Fauchet, +the French minister at that time, reported to his government that Randolph +called upon him and with a grief-stricken countenance declared, "It is all +over; a civil war is about to ravage our unhappy country." He represented +to Fauchet that there were four men whose talents, influence, and energy +might save it. "But debtors of English merchants, they will be deprived of +their liberty if they take the smallest step." He wanted to know whether +Fauchet could lend "funds sufficient to shelter them from English +persecution." Fauchet's letter was captured by the British and made +public. Randolph's explanations did not clear up the obscurity that +surrounds the affair. His version was that the four men were flour +merchants who were being pressed by their creditors "and that the money +was wanted only for the purpose of paying them what was actually due to +them in virtue of existing contracts." Even on his own showing it was a +shady transaction, and he retired from Washington's Cabinet under a cloud. + +Washington always had difficulty about the composition of his Cabinet. A +capable man had been found to succeed Randolph as Attorney-General in the +person of William Bradford, an able Pennsylvania lawyer, but he died in +1795, and was succeeded by Charles Lee of Virginia. When Knox resigned in +1794, the vacancy was filled by transferring to the War Department +Timothy Pickering of Massachusetts, who had previously served as +Postmaster-General. When Hamilton retired, January, 1795, he was +succeeded by Oliver Wolcott of Connecticut, who had been Comptroller of +the Treasury. After Randolph had been discredited by the Fauchet +letter, the office of Secretary of State went a-begging. It was offered to +William Paterson of New Jersey, to Thomas Johnson of Maryland, to Charles +Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina, but all these men declined. +Washington got word that Patrick Henry, the old antagonist of the +Constitution, was showing Federalist leanings in opposition to Jefferson +and Madison, and Henry was then tendered the appointment, but he +too declined. Others were approached but all refused, and meanwhile +Pickering, though Secretary of War, also attended to the work of the State +Department. The matter was finally settled by permanently attaching +Pickering to the State Department, while the vacancy thus created at the +head of the War Department was filled by James McHenry, an appointment +which Washington himself described as "Hobson's choice." + +Hamilton, although out of the Cabinet, still remained a trusted adviser, +and he rendered splendid service at a dangerous crisis. In spite of the +fact that the Jay treaty had been ratified by the Senate in June, 1795, it +was an issue in the Fall elections that year. Jefferson held that the +treaty was an "execrable thing," an "infamous act, which is really nothing +more than a treaty of alliance between England and the Anglo-men of this +country against the Legislature and the people of the United States." +Giles, who had been in close consultation with Jefferson, moved with +characteristic energy to translate Jefferson's views into congressional +action. + +The Fourth Congress met on December 7, 1795, and although a Federalist, +Jonathan Dayton of New Jersey was elected Speaker, the Republicans +were strong enough to tone down the reply to the President's address +by substituting for an expression of "undiminished confidence" an +acknowledgment of "zealous and faithful services," which expressed +"approval of his course." On March 24, 1796, the House by a vote of 62 to +37 adopted a resolution calling upon the President to lay before it his +instructions to Jay, "together with the correspondence and the other +documents relative to said treaty." Advised by Hamilton and sustained by +his whole Cabinet, Washington replied on March 30, by declining to comply +because concurrence of the House was not necessary to give validity to the +treaty, and "because of the necessity of maintaining the boundaries fixed +by the Constitution between the different departments." The House retorted +by a resolution declaring its right to judge the merits of the case when +application was made for an appropriation to give effect to a treaty. +Debate on this issue, which is still an open one in our constitutional +system, began on April 14 and continued for sixteen days. Madison opposed +the execution of the treaty, but the principal speech was made by Giles, +whose argument covers twenty-eight columns in the _Annals_. As the +struggle proceeded, the Jeffersonians lost ground. It became evident that +weighty elements of public opinion were veering around to the support of +the treaty as the best arrangement attainable in the circumstances. The +balance of strength became so close that the scales were probably turned +by a speech of wonderful power and eloquence delivered by Fisher Ames. A +decision was reached on April 30, the test question being on declaring the +treaty "highly objectionable." Forty-eight votes were cast on each side +and the Speaker gave his decision for the negative. In the end, the House +stood 51 to 48 in favor of carrying the treaty into effect. Only four +votes for the treaty came from the section south of Mason and Dixon's +line. + +During the agitation over the Jay treaty the rage of party spirit turned +full against Washington himself. He was blackguarded and abused in every +possible way. He was accused of having shown incapacity while General and +of having embezzled public funds while President. He was nicknamed "the +Step-Father of his country." The imputation on his honor stung so keenly +that he declared "he would rather be in his grave than in the Presidency," +and in private correspondence he complained that he had been assailed "in +terms so exaggerated and indecent as could scarcely be applied to a Nero, +a notorious defaulter, or even to a common pickpocket." The only rejoinder +which his dignity permitted him to make is that contained in his Farewell +Address, dated September 17, 1796, in which he made a modest estimate of +his services and made a last affectionate appeal to the people whom he had +so faithfully served. + +The Farewell Address was not a communication to Congress. It was issued in +view of the approaching presidential election, to give public notice that +he declined "being considered among the number of those out of whom a +choice is to be made." The usual address to Congress was delivered by +Washington on December 7, 1796, shortly after the opening of the second +session of the Fourth Congress. The occasion was connected in the public +mind with his recent valedictory, and Congress was ready to vote a reply +of particularly cordial tenor. Giles stood to his guns to the last, +speaking and voting against complimentary resolutions. "He hoped gentlemen +would compliment the President privately, as individuals; at the same +time, he hoped such adulation would never pervade the House." He held that +"the Administration has been neither wise nor firm," and he acknowledged +that he was "one of those who do not think so much of the President as +some others do." On this issue Madison forsook him, and Giles was voted +down, 67 to 12. Among the eleven who stood by Giles was a new member who +made his first appearance that session--Andrew Jackson of Tennessee. In +later years, when Giles's opinions had been modified by experience and +reflection, he regretted his attitude towards Washington. It is due to +Giles to say that he did not stab in the dark. He had qualities of +character that under better constitutional arrangements would have +invigorated the functions of the House as an organ of control, but at that +time, with the separation that had been introduced between the House and +the Administration, his energy was mischievous and his intrepidity was a +misfortune to himself and to his party. + +Washington's term dragged to its close like so much slow torture. Others +might resign, but he had to stand at his post until the end, and it was a +happy day for him when he got his discharge. His elation was so manifest +that it was noticed by John Adams. Writing to his wife about the ceremony +the day after the inauguration, Adams remarked that Washington "seemed to +me to enjoy a triumph over me. Methought I heard him say, 'Ay! I am fairly +out, and you fairly in! See which of us will be the happiest.'" + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +THE PERSONAL RULE OF JOHN ADAMS + +The narrow majority by which John Adams was elected did not accurately +reflect the existing state of party strength. The electoral college +system, by its nature, was apt to distort the situation. Originally the +electors voted for two persons without designating their preference for +President. There was no inconvenience on that account while Washington was +a candidate, since he was the first choice of all the electors; but in +1796, with Washington out of the field, both parties were in the dilemma +that, if they voted solidly for two candidates, the vote of the electoral +college would not determine who should be President. To avert this +situation, the adherents of a presidential candidate would have to scatter +votes meant to have only vice-presidential significance. This explains the +wide distribution of votes that characterized the working of the system +until it was changed by the Twelfth Amendment adopted in 1804. + +In 1796, the electoral college gave votes to thirteen candidates. The +Federalist ticket was John Adams and Thomas Pinckney of South Carolina. +Hamilton urged equal support of both as the surest way to defeat +Jefferson; but eighteen Adams electors in New England withheld votes from +Pinckney to make sure that he should not slip in ahead of Adams. Had they +not done so, Pinckney would have been chosen President, a possibility +which Hamilton foresaw because of Pinckney's popularity in the South. New +York, New Jersey, and Delaware voted solidly for Adams and Pinckney as +Hamilton had recommended, but South Carolina voted solidly for both +Jefferson and Pinckney, and moreover Pinckney received scattering votes +elsewhere in the South. The action of the Adams electors in New England +defeated Pinckney, and gave Jefferson the vice-presidency, the vote for +the leading candidates being 71 for Adams, 68 for Jefferson, and 59 for +Pinckney. The tendency of such conditions to inspire political feuds and +to foster factional animosity is quite obvious. This situation must be +borne in mind, in order to make intelligible the course of Adams's +administration. + +Adams had an inheritance of trouble from the same source which had plagued +Washington's administration,--the efforts of revolutionary France to rule +the United States. In selecting Monroe to succeed Morris, Washington knew +that the former was as friendly to the French Revolution as Morris had +been opposed to it, and hence he hoped that Monroe would be able to impart +a more friendly feeling to the relations of the two countries. Monroe +arrived in Paris just after the fall of Robespierre. The Committee of +Public Safety then in possession of the executive authority hesitated to +receive him. Monroe wrote to the President of the National Convention then +sitting, and a decree was at once passed that the Minister of the United +States should "be introduced in the bosom of the Convention." Monroe +presented himself on August 15, 1794, and made a glowing address. He +descanted upon the trials by which America had won her independence and +declared that "France, our ally and friend, and who aided in the contest, +has now embarked in the same noble career." The address was received with +enthusiasm, the President of the Convention drew Monroe to his bosom in a +fraternal embrace; and it was decreed that "the flags of the United States +of America shall be joined to those of France, and displayed in the hall +of the sittings of the Convention, in sign of the union and eternal +fraternity of the two peoples." In compliance with this decree Monroe soon +after presented an American flag to the Convention. + +When the news of these proceedings reached the State Department, a sharp +note was sent to Monroe "to recommend caution lest we be obliged at some +time or other to explain away or disavow an excess of fervor, so as to +reduce it down to the cool system of neutrality." The French Government +regarded the Jay treaty as an affront and as a violation of our treaties +with France. Many American vessels were seized and confiscated with their +cargoes, and hundreds of American citizens were imprisoned. Washington +thought that Monroe was entirely too submissive to such proceedings; +therefore, on August 22, 1796, Monroe was recalled and soon after Charles +Cotesworth Pinckney was appointed in his stead. + +The representation of France in the United States had been as mutable as +her politics. Fauchet, who succeeded Genet, retired in June, 1795, and +was succeeded by Adet, who like his predecessors, carried on active +interference with American politics, and even attempted to affect the +presidential election by making public a note addressed to the Secretary +of State complaining of the behavior of the Administration. In Adams's +opinion this note had some adverse effect in Pennsylvania but no other +serious consequences, since it was generally resented. Meanwhile Pinckney +arrived in France in December, 1796, and the Directory refused to receive +him. He was not even permitted to remain in Paris; but honors were +showered upon Monroe as he took his leave. In March, 1797, Adet withdrew, +and diplomatic relations between the two countries were entirely +suspended. By a decree made two days before Adams took office, the +Directory proclaimed as pirates, to be treated without mercy, all +Americans found serving on board British vessels, and ordered the seizure +of all American vessels not provided with lists of their crews in proper +form. Though made under cover of the treaty of 1778, this latter provision +ran counter to its spirit and purpose. Captures of American ships began at +once. As Joel Barlow wrote, the decree of March 2, 1797, "was meant to be +little short of a declaration of war." + +The curious situation which ensued from the efforts made by Adams to deal +with this emergency cannot be understood without reference to his personal +peculiarities. He was vain, learned, and self-sufficient, and he had the +characteristic defect of pedantry: he overrated intelligence and he +underrated character. Hence he was inclined to resent Washington's +eminence as being due more to fortune than to merit, and he had for +Hamilton an active hatred compounded of wounded vanity and a sense of +positive injury. He knew that Hamilton thought slightingly of his +political capacity and had worked against his political advancement, and +he was too lacking in magnanimity to do justice to Hamilton's motives. His +state of mind was well known to the Republican leaders, who hoped to be +able to use him. Jefferson wrote to Madison suggesting that "it would be +worthy of consideration whether it would not be for the public good to +come to a good understanding with him as to his future elections." +Jefferson himself called on Adams and showed himself desirous of cordial +relations. Mrs. Adams responded by expressions of pleasure at the success +of Jefferson, between whom and her husband, she said, there had never been +"any public or private animosity." Such rejoicing over the defeat of the +Federalist candidate for Vice-President did not promote good feeling +between the President and the Federalist leaders. + +The morning before the inauguration, Adams called on Jefferson and +discussed with him the policy to be pursued toward France. The idea had +occurred to Adams that a good impression might be made by sending out a +mission of extraordinary weight and dignity, and he wanted to know whether +Jefferson himself would not be willing to head such a mission. Without +checking Adams's friendly overtures, Jefferson soon brought him to agree +that it would not be proper for the Vice-President to accept such a post. +Adams then proposed that Madison should go. On March 6, Jefferson reported +to Adams that Madison would not accept. Then for the first time, according +to Adams's own account, he consulted a member of his Cabinet, supposed to +be Wolcott although the name is not mentioned. + +Adams took over Washington's Cabinet as it was finally constituted after +the retirement of Jefferson and Hamilton and the virtual expulsion of +Randolph. The process of change had made it entirely Federalist in its +political complexion, and entirely devoted to Washington and Hamilton in +its personal sympathies. That Adams should have adopted it as his own +Cabinet has been generally regarded as a blunder, but it was a natural +step for him to take. To get as capable men to accept the portfolios as +those then holding them would have been difficult, so averse had prominent +men become to putting themselves in a position to be harried by Congress, +with no effective means of explaining and justifying their conduct. +Congress then had a prestige which it does not now possess, and its +utterances then received consideration not now accorded. Whenever +presidential electors were voted for directly by the people, the poll was +small compared with the vote for members of Congress. Moreover, there was +then a feeling that the Cabinet should be regarded as a bureaucracy, and +for a long period this conception tended to give remarkable permanence to +its composition. + +When the personal attachments of the Cabinet chiefs are considered, it is +easy to imagine the dismay and consternation produced by the dealings of +Adams with Jefferson. By the time Adams consulted the members of his +Cabinet, they had become suspicious of his motives and distrustful of his +character. Before long they were writing to Washington and Hamilton for +advice, and were endeavoring to manage Adams by concerted action. In this +course they had the cordial approval of leading Federalists, who would +write privately to members of the Cabinet and give counsel as to +procedure. Wolcott, a Federalist leader in Connecticut, warned his son, +the Secretary of the Treasury, that Adams was "a man of great vanity, +pretty capricious, of a very moderate share of prudence, and of far less +real abilities than he believes himself to possess," so that "it will +require a deal of address to render him the service which it will be +essential for him to receive." + +The policy to be pursued was still unsettled when news came of the +insulting rejection of Pinckney and the domineering attitude assumed by +France. On March 25, Adams issued a call for the meeting of Congress on +May 15, and then set about getting the advice of his Cabinet. He presented +a schedule of interrogatories to which he asked written answers. The +attitude of the Cabinet was at first hostile to Adams's favorite notion of +a special mission, but as Hamilton counseled deference to the President's +views, the Cabinet finally approved the project. Adams appointed John +Marshall of Virginia and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts to serve in +conjunction with Pinckney, who had taken refuge in Holland. + +Strong support for the Government in taking a firm stand against France +was manifested in both Houses of Congress. Hamilton aided Secretary +Wolcott in preparing a scheme of taxation by which the revenue could be +increased to provide for national defense. With the singular fatality that +characterized Federalist party behavior throughout Adams's Administration, +however, all the items proposed were abandoned except one for stamp taxes. +What had been offered as a scheme whose particulars were justifiable by +their relation to the whole was converted into a measure which was +traditionally obnoxious in itself, and was now made freshly odious by an +appearance of discrimination and partiality. The Federalists did improve +their opportunity in the way of general legislation: much needed laws were +passed to stop privateering, to protect the ports, and to increase the +naval armament; and Adams was placed in a much better position to maintain +neutrality than Washington had been. Fear of another outbreak of yellow +fever accelerated the work of Congress, and the extra session lasted only +a little over three weeks. + +Such was the slowness of communication in those days that, when Congress +reassembled at the regular session in November, no decisive news had +arrived of the fate of the special mission. Adams with proper prudence +thought it would be wise to consider what should be done in case of +failure. On January 24, 1798, he addressed to the members of his Cabinet a +letter requesting their views. No record is preserved of the replies of +the Secretaries of State and of the Treasury. Lee, the Attorney-General, +recommended a declaration of war. McHenry, the Secretary of War, offered a +series of seven propositions to be recommended to Congress: 1. Permission +to merchant ships to arm; 2. The construction of twenty sloops of war; 3. +The completion of frigates already authorized; 4. Grant to the President +of authority to provide ships of the line, not exceeding ten, "by such +means as he may judge best." 5. Suspension of the treaties with France; 6. +An army of sixteen thousand men, with provision for twenty thousand more +should occasion demand; 7. A loan and an adequate system of taxation. + +These recommendations are substantially identical with those made by +Hamilton in a letter to Pickering, and the presumption is strong that +McHenry's paper is a product of Hamilton's influence, and that it had the +concurrence of Pickering and Wolcott. The suggestion that the President +should be given discretionary authority in the matter of procuring ships +of the line contemplated the possibility of obtaining them by transfer +from England, not through formal alliance but as an incident of a +cooeperation to be arranged by negotiation, whose objects would also +include aid in placing a loan and permission for American ships to join +British convoys. This feature of McHenry's recommendations could not be +curried out Pickering soon informed Hamilton that the old animosities were +still so active "in some breasts" that the plan of cooperation was +impracticable. + +Meanwhile the composite mission had accomplished nothing except to make +clear the actual character of French policy. When the envoys arrived in +France, the Directory had found in Napoleon Bonaparte an instrument of +power that was stunning Europe by its tremendous blows. That instrument +had not yet turned to the reorganization of France herself, and at the +time it served the rapacious designs of the Directory. Europe was looted +wherever the arms of France prevailed, and the levying of tribute both on +public and on private account was the order of the day. Talleyrand was the +Minister of Foreign Affairs, and he treated the envoys with a mixture of +menace and cajolery. It was a part of his tactics to sever the Republican +member, Gerry, from his Federalist colleagues. Gerry was weak enough to be +caught by Talleyrand's snare, and he was foolish enough to attribute the +remonstrances of his colleagues to vanity. "They were wounded," he wrote, +"by the manner in which they had been treated by the Government of France, +and the difference which had been used in respect to me." Gerry's conduct +served to weaken and delay the negotiations, but he eventually united with +his colleagues in a detailed report to the State Department, which was +transmitted to Congress by the President on April 3, 1798. In the original +the names of the French officials concerned were written at full length in +the Department cipher. In making a copy for Congress, Secretary Pickering +substituted for the names the terminal letters of the alphabet, and hence +the report has passed into history as the X.Y.Z. dispatches. + +The story, in brief, was that on arriving in Paris the envoys called on +Talleyrand, who said that he was busy at that very time on a report to the +Directory on American affairs, and in a few days would let them know how +matters stood. A few days later they received notice through Talleyrand's +secretary that the Directory was greatly exasperated by expressions used +in President Adams's address to Congress, that the envoys would probably +not be received until further conference, and that persons might +be appointed to treat with them. A few more days elapsed, and then +three persons presented themselves as coming from Talleyrand. They +were Hottinguer, Bellamy, and Hauteval, designated as X.Y.Z. in the +communication to Congress. They said that a friendly reception by the +Directory could not be obtained unless the United States would assist +France by a loan, and that "a sum of money was required for the pocket of +the Directory and Ministers, which would be at the disposal of M. +Talleyrand." This "douceur to the Directory," amounting to approximately +$240,000, was urged with great persistence as an indispensable condition +of friendly relations. The envoys temporized and pointed out that their +Government would have to be consulted on the matter of the loan. The +wariness of the envoys made Talleyrand's agents the more insistent about +getting the "douceur." At one of the interviews Hottinguer exclaimed:-- +"Gentlemen, you do not speak to the point; it is money; it is expected +that you will offer money." The envoys replied that on this point their +answer had already been given. "'No,' said he, 'you have not: what is your +answer?' We replied, 'It is no; no; not a sixpence.'" This part of the +envoys' report soon received legendary embellishment, and in innumerable +stump speeches it rang out as, "Not one cent for tribute; millions for +defense!" + +The publication of the X.Y.Z. dispatches sent rolling through the country +a wave of patriotic feeling before which the Republican leaders quailed +and which swept away many of their followers. Jefferson held that the +French Government ought not to be held responsible for "the turpitude of +swindlers," and he steadfastly opposed any action looking to the use of +force to maintain American rights. Some of the Republican members of +Congress, however, went over to the Federalist side, and Jefferson's party +was presently reduced to a feeble and dispirited minority. Loyal addresses +rained upon Adams. There appeared a new national song, _Hail Columbia_, +which was sung all over the land and which was established in lasting +popularity. Among its well-known lines is an exulting stanza beginning: + +"Behold the chief who now commands, +Once more to serve his country stands." + +This is an allusion to the fact that Washington had left his retirement to +take charge of the national forces. The envoys had been threatened that, +unless they submitted to the French demands, the American Republic might +share the fate of the Republic of Venice. The response of Congress +was to vote money to complete the frigates, the _United States_, the +_Constitution_, and the _Constellation_, work on which had been suspended +when the Algerine troubles subsided; and further, to authorize the +construction or purchase of twelve additional vessels. For the management +of this force, the Navy Department was created by the Act of April 30, +1798. By an Act of May 28, the President was authorized to raise a +military force of ten thousand men, the commander of which should have the +services of "a suitable number of major-generals." On July 7, the treaties +with France that had so long vexed the United States were abrogated. + +The operations of the Navy Department soon showed that American sailors +were quite able and willing to defend the nation if they were allowed the +opportunity. In December, 1798, the Navy Department worked out a plan of +operations in the enemy's waters. To repress the depredations of the +French privateers in the West Indies, a squadron commanded by Captain John +Barry was sent to cruise to the windward of St. Kitts as far south as +Barbados, and it made numerous captures. A squadron under Captain Thomas +Truxtun cruised in the vicinity of Porto Rico. The flagship was the +frigate _Constellation_, which on February 9, 1799, encountered the French +frigate, _L'Insurgente_, and made it strike its flag after an action +lasting only an hour and seventeen minutes. The French captain fought +well, but he was put at a disadvantage by losing his topmast at the +opening of the engagement, so that Captain Truxtun was able to take a +raking position. The American loss was only one killed and three wounded, +while _L'Insurgente_ had twenty-nine killed and forty-one wounded. On +February 1, 1800, the _Constellation_ fought the heavy French frigate +_Vengeance_ from about eight o'clock in the evening until after midnight, +when the _Vengeance_ lay completely silenced and apparently helpless. But +the rigging and spars of the _Constellation_ had been so badly cut up that +the mainmast fell, and before the wreck could be cleared away the +_Vengeance_ was able to make her escape. During the two years and a half +in which hostilities continued, the little navy of the United States +captured eighty-five armed French vessels, nearly all privateers. Only one +American war vessel was taken by the enemy, and that one had been +originally a captured French vessel. The value of the protection thus +extended to American trade is attested by the increase of exports from +$57,000,000 in 1797 to $78,665,528 in 1799. Revenue from imports increased +from $6,000,000 in 1797 to $9,080,932 in 1800. + +The creation of an army, however, was attended by personal disagreements +that eventually wrecked the Administration. Without waiting to hear from +Washington as to his views, Adams nominated him for the command and then +tried to overrule his arrangements. The notion that Washington could be +hustled into a false position was a strange blunder to be made by anyone +who knew him. He set forth his views and made his stipulations with his +customary precision, in letters to Secretary McHenry, who had been +instructed by Adams to obtain Washington's advice as to the list of +officers. Washington recommended as major-generals, Hamilton, C.C. +Pinckney, and Knox, in that order of rank. Adams made some demur to the +preference shown for Hamilton, but McHenry showed him Washington's letter +and argued the matter so persistently that Adams finally sent the +nominations to the Senate in the same order as Washington had requested. +Confirmation promptly followed, and a few days later Adams departed for +his home at Quincy, Massachusetts, without notice to his Cabinet. It soon +appeared that he was in the sulks. When McHenry wrote to him about +proceeding with the organization of the army, he replied that he was +willing provided Knox's precedence was acknowledged, and he added that the +five New England States would not patiently submit to the humiliation of +having Knox's claim disregarded. + +From August 4 to October 13, wrangling over this matter went on. The +members of the Cabinet were in a difficult position. It was their +understanding that Washington's stipulations had been accepted, but the +President now proposed a different arrangement. Pickering and McHenry +wrote to Washington explaining the situation in detail. News of the +differences between Adams and Washington of course soon got about and +caused a great buzz in political circles. Adams became angry over the +opposition he was meeting, and on August 29 he wrote to McHenry +that "there has been too much intrigue in this business, both with +General Washington and with me"; that it might as well be understood that +in any event he would have the last say, "and I shall then determine it +exactly as I should now, Knox, Pinckney, and Hamilton." Washington stood +firm and, on September 25, wrote to the President demanding "that he might +know at once and precisely what he had to expect." In reply Adams said +that he had signed the three commissions on the same day in the hope "that +an amicable adjustment or acquiescence might take place among the +gentlemen themselves." But should this hope be disappointed, "and +controversies shall arise, they will of course be submitted to you as +commander-in-chief." + +Adams, of course, knew quite well that such matters did not settle +themselves, but he seems to have imagined that all he had to do was to sit +tight and that matters would have to come his way. The tricky and +shuffling behavior to which he descended would be unbelievable of a man of +his standing were there not an authentic record made by himself. The +suspense finally became so intolerable that the Cabinet acted without +consulting the President any longer on the point. The Secretary of War +submitted to his colleagues all the correspondence in the case and asked +their advice. The Secretaries of State, of the Treasury, and of the Navy +made a joint reply declaring "the only inference which we can draw +from the facts before stated, is, that the President consents to the +arrangement of rank as proposed by General Washington," and that therefore +"the Secretary of War ought to transmit the commissions, and inform the +generals that in his opinion the rank is definitely settled according to +the original arrangement." This was done; but Knox declined an appointment +ranking him below Hamilton and Pinckney. Thus, Adams despite his +obstinacy, was completely baffled, and a bitter feud between him and his +Cabinet was added to the causes now at work to destroy the Federalist +party. + +The Federalist military measures were sound and judicious, and the +expense, although a subject of bitter denunciation, was really trivial +in comparison with the national value of the enhanced respect and +consideration obtained for American interests. But these measures were +followed by imprudent acts for regulating domestic politics. By the Act of +June 18,1798, the period of residence required before an alien could be +admitted to American citizenship was raised from five years to fourteen. +By the Act of June 25, 1798, the efficacy of which was limited to two +years, the President might send out of the country "such aliens as he +shall judge dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States, or +shall have reasonable grounds to suspect are concerned in any treasonable +or secret machinations against the government thereof." The state of +public opinion might then have sanctioned these measures had they stood +alone, but they were connected with another which proved to be the weight +that pulled them all down. By the Act of July 14, 1798, it was made a +crime to write or publish "any false, scandalous, and malicious" +statements about the President or either House of Congress, to bring them +"into contempt or disrepute," or to "stir up sedition within the United +States." + +There were plenty of precedents in English history for legislation of such +character. Robust examples of it were supplied in England at that very +time. There were also strong colonial precedents. According to Secretary +Wolcott, the sedition law was "merely a copy from a statute of Virginia in +October, 1776." But a revolutionary Whig measure aimed at Tories was a +very different thing in its practical aspect from the same measure used by +a national party against a constitutional opposition. Hamilton regarded +such legislation as impolitic, and, on hearing of the sedition bill, he +wrote a protesting letter, saying, "Let us not establish tyranny. Energy +is a very different thing from violence." + +But in general the Federalist leaders were so carried away by the +excitement of the times that they could not practice moderation. Their +zealotry was sustained by political theories which made no distinction +between partisanship and sedition. The constitutional function of +partisanship was discerned and stated by Burke in 1770, but his definition +of it, as a joint endeavor to promote the national interest upon some +particular principle, was scouted at the time and was not allowed until +long after. The prevailing idea in Washington's time, both in England and +America, was that partisanship was inherently pernicious and ought to be +suppressed. Washington's _Farewell Address_ warned the people "in the most +solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party." The +idea then was that government was wholly the affair of constituted +authority, and that it was improper for political activity to surpass the +appointed bounds. Newspaper criticism and partisan oratory were among the +things in Washington's mind when he censured all attempts "to direct, +control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the +constituted authorities." Hence judges thought it within their province to +denounce political agitators when charging a grand jury. Chief Justice +Ellsworth, in a charge delivered in Massachusetts, denounced "the French +system-mongers, from the quintumvirate at Paris to the Vice-President and +minority in Congress, as apostles of atheism and anarchy, bloodshed, and +plunder." In charges delivered in western Pennsylvania, Judge Addison +dealt with such subjects as Jealousy of Administration and Government, and +the Horrors of Revolution. Washington, then in private life, was so +pleased with the series that he sent a copy to friends for circulation. + +Convictions under the sedition law were few, but there were enough of them +to cause great alarm. A Jerseyman, who had expressed a wish that the wad +of a cannon, fired as a salute to the President, had hit him on the rear +bulge of his breeches, was fined $100. Matthew Lyon of Vermont, while +canvassing for reelection to Congress, charged the President with +"unbounded thirst for ridiculous pomp, foolish adulation, and a selfish +avarice." This language cost him four months in jail and a fine of $1000. +But in general the law did not repress the tendencies at which it was +aimed but merely increased them. + +The Republicans, too weak to make an effective stand in Congress, tried to +interpose state authority. Jefferson drafted the Kentucky Resolutions, +adopted by the state legislature in November, 1798. They hold that the +Constitution is a compact to which the States are parties, and that "each +party has an equal right to judge for itself as well of infractions as of +the mode and measure of redress." The alien and sedition laws were +denounced, and steps were proposed by which protesting States "will concur +in declaring these Acts void and of no force, and will each take measures +of its own for providing that neither these Acts, nor any others of the +general Government, not plainly and intentionally authorized by the +Constitution, shall be exercised within their respective territories." The +Virginia Resolutions, adopted in December, 1798, were drafted by Madison. +They view "the powers of the federal Government as resulting from the +compact to which the States are parties," and declare that, if those +powers are exceeded, the States "have the right and are in duty bound to +interpose." This doctrine was a vial of woe to American politics until it +was cast down and shattered on the battlefield of civil war. It was +invented for a partisan purpose, and yet was entirely unnecessary for that +purpose. + +The Federalist party as then conducted was the exponent of a theory of +government that was everywhere decaying. The alien and sedition laws were +condemned and discarded by the forces of national politics, and state +action was as futile in effect as it was mischievous in principle. It +diverted the issue in a way that might have ultimately turned to the +advantage of the Federalist party, had it possessed the usual power of +adaptation to circumstances. After all, there was no reason inherent +in the nature of that party why it should not have perpetuated its +organization and repaired its fortunes by learning how to derive authority +from public opinion. The needed transformation of character would have +been no greater than has often been accomplished in party history. Indeed, +there is something abnormal in the complete prostration and eventual +extinction of the Federalist party; and the explanation is to be found in +the extraordinary character of Adams's administration. It gave such +prominence and energy to individual aims and interests that the party was +rent to pieces by them. + +In communicating the X.Y.Z. dispatches to Congress, Adams declared: "I +will never send another Minister to France without assurance that he will +be received, respected, and honored, as the representative of a great, +free, powerful, and independent nation." But on receiving an authentic +though roundabout intimation that a new mission would have a friendly +reception, he concluded to dispense with direct assurances, and, without +consulting his Cabinet, sent a message to the Senate on February 18, 1799, +nominating Murray, then American Minister to Holland, to be Minister to +France. This unexpected action stunned the Federalists and delighted the +Republicans as it endorsed the position they had always taken that war +talk was folly and that France was ready to be friendly if America would +treat her fairly. "Had the foulest heart and the ablest head in the +world," wrote Senator Sedgwick to Hamilton, "been permitted to select the +most embarrassing and ruinous measure, perhaps it would have been +precisely the one which has been adopted." Hamilton advised that +"the measure must go into effect with the additional idea of a commission +of three." The committee of the Senate to whom the nomination was referred +made a call upon Adams to inquire his reasons. According to Adams's own +account, they informed him that a commission would be more satisfactory to +the Senate and to the public. According to Secretary Pickering, Adams was +asked to withdraw the nomination and refused, but a few days later, on +hearing that the committee intended to report against confirmation, he +sent in a message nominating Chief Justice Ellsworth and Patrick Henry, +together with Murray, as envoys extraordinary. The Senate, much to Adams's +satisfaction, promptly confirmed the nominations, but this was because +Hamilton's influence had smoothed the way. Patrick Henry declined, and +Governor Davie of North Carolina was substituted. By the time this +mission reached France, Napoleon Bonaparte was in power and the envoys +were able to make an acceptable settlement of the questions at issue +between the two countries. The event came too late to be of service to +Adams in his campaign for reelection, but it was intensely gratifying to +his self-esteem. + +Some feelers were put forth to ascertain whether Washington could not be +induced to be a candidate again, but the idea had hardly developed before +all hopes in that quarter were abruptly dashed by his death on December +14, 1799, from a badly treated attack of quinsy. Efforts to substitute +some other candidate for Adams proved unavailing, as New England still +clung to him on sectional grounds. News of these efforts of course reached +Adams and increased his bitterness against Hamilton, whom he regarded as +chiefly responsible for them. Adams had a deep spite against members of +his Cabinet for the way in which they had foiled him about Hamilton's +commission, but for his own convenience in routine matters he had retained +them, although debarring them from his confidence. In the spring of 1800 +he decided to rid himself of men whom he regarded as "Hamilton's spies." +The first to fall was McHenry, whose resignation was demanded on May 5, +1800, after an interview in which--according to McHenry--Adams reproached +him with having "biased General Washington to place Hamilton in his list +of major-generals before Knox." Pickering refused to resign, and he was +dismissed from office on May 12. John Marshall became the Secretary of +State, and Samuel Dexter of Massachusetts, Secretary of War. Wolcott +retained the Treasury portfolio until the end of the year, when he +resigned of his own motion. + +The events of the summer of 1800 completed the ruin of the Federalist +party. That Adams should have been so indifferent to the good will of his +party at a time when he was a candidate for reelection is a remarkable +circumstance. A common report among the Federalists was that he was no +longer entirely sane. A more likely supposition was that he was influenced +by some of the Republican leaders and counted on their political support. +In biographies of Gerry it is claimed that he was able to accomplish +important results through his influence with Adams. At any rate, Adams +gave unrestrained expression to his feelings against Hamilton, and finally +Hamilton was aroused to action. On August 1, 1800, he wrote to Adams +demanding whether it was true that Adams had "asserted the existence of a +British faction in this country" of which Hamilton himself was said to be +a leader. Adams did not reply. Hamilton waited until October 1, and then +wrote again, affirming "that by whomsoever a charge of the kind mentioned +in my former letter, may, at any time, have been made or insinuated +against me, it is a base, wicked, and cruel calumny; destitute even of a +plausible pretext, to excuse the folly, or mask the depravity which must +have dictated it." + +Hamilton, always sensitive to imputations upon his honor, was not +satisfied to allow the matter to rest there. He wrote a detailed account +of his relations with Adams, involving an examination of Adams's public +conduct and character, which he privately circulated among leading +Federalists. It is an able paper, fully displaying Hamilton's power of +combining force of argument with dignity of language, but although +exhibiting Adams as unfit for his office it advised support of his +candidacy. Burr obtained a copy and made such use of parts of it that +Hamilton himself had to publish it in full. + +In this election the candidate associated with Adams by the Federalists +was Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina. Though one Adams +elector in Rhode Island cut Pinckney, he would still have been elected had +the electoral votes of his own State been cast for him as they had been +for Thomas Pinckney, four years before; but South Carolina now voted +solidly for both Republican candidates. The result of the election +was a tie between Jefferson and Burr, each receiving 73 votes, while Adams +received 65 and Pinckney 64. The election was thus thrown into the +House, where some of the Federalists entered into an intrigue to give Burr +the Presidency instead of Jefferson, but this scheme was defeated largely +through Hamilton's influence. He wrote: "If there be a man in this +world I ought to hate, it is Jefferson. With Burr I have always been +personally well. But the public good must be paramount to every private +consideration." + +The result of the election was a terrible blow to Adams. His vanity was so +hurt that he could not bear to be present at the installation of his +successor, and after working almost to the stroke of midnight signing +appointments to office for the defeated Federalists, he drove away from +Washington in the early morning before the inauguration ceremonies began. +Eventually he soothed his self-esteem by associating his own trials and +misfortunes with those endured by classical heroes. He wrote that +Washington, Hamilton, and Pinckney formed a triumvirate like that of +Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus, and "that Cicero was not sacrificed to the +vengeance of Antony more egregiously than John Adams was to the unbridled +and unbounded ambition of Alexander Hamilton in the American triumvirate." + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + +Abundant materials are available for the period covered by this work. +Chief among them are the Annals of Congress, the State Papers, and the +writings of statesmen to be found in any library index under their names. +The style maintained by Washington early became a subject of party +controversy and to this may be attributed a noticeable variation in +accounts given by different authors. For instance, Washington Irving, who +as a child witnessed the first inauguration parade, says in his _Life of +Washington_ that the President's coach "was drawn by a single pair of +horses." But the detailed account given in the _New York Packet_ of May 1, +1789, the day after the ceremony, says that "the President joined the +procession in his carriage and four." The following authorities may be +consulted on the point: + +B.J. Lossing, article in _The Independent_, vol. xli, April 25, 1889. + +Martha J. Lamb, article in _Magazine of American History_, vol. xx, +December, 1888. + +For details of official etiquette during Washington's administration, the +following may be consulted: + +GEORGE WASHINGTON, _Diary_, from 1789 to 1791. Edited by B.J. Lossing +(1860). + +WILLIAM MACLAY, _Journal_, 1789-1791 (1890). + +GEORGE W. P. CUSTIS, _Memoirs of Washington_ (1859). + +JAMES G. WILSON, _The Memorial History of New York_ (1893). + +ANNE HOLLINGSWORTH WHARTON, _Martha Washington_ (1897). + +Works of special importance for their documentary matter and for their +exhibition of the personal aspect of events are: + +J. C. HAMILTON, _History of the Republic of the United States_, 7 vols. +(1860). + +H. S. RANDALL, _Life of Thomas Jefferson_, 3 vols. (1858). + +GEORGE GIBBS, _Administrations of Washington and John Adams_, 2 vols. +(1846). + +Some economic aspects of the struggle over Hamilton's financial measures +are exhibited by: + +CHARLES A. BEARD, _Economic Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy_ (1915). + +New light has been cast upon Genet's mission, causing a great change in +estimates of his character and activities, by materials drawn from the +French archives by Professor F.J. Turner, and presented in the following +articles: + +"The Origin of Genet's Projected Attack on Louisiana and the Floridas," +_American Historical Review_, vol. iii. + +"The Policy of France toward the Mississippi Valley," _American Historical +Review_, vol. x. + +"The Diplomatic Contest for the Mississippi Valley," _Atlantic Monthly_, +vol. xciii. + +Further references will be found appended to the articles on _Washington, +Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, Jay_, and _John Adams_ in _The Encyclopaedia +Britannica_, 11th Edition. + + + +INDEX + + +Adams, John, favors making government impressive through ceremony, + attitude toward Genet affair, reelected Vice-president, elected + President, personal characteristics, relations with Jefferson, Cabinet, + defeat at election of 1800, + +Addison, Alexander, Judge, + +Algiers, relations with, treaty with, + +Alien and Sedition laws, + +Ames, Fisher, of Massachusetts, + + +Bacri, the Jew, + +Barclay, Thomas, + +Baldwin, Abraham, of Georgia, + +Barlow, Joel, + +Barry, John, Captain, + +Beard, C.A., _Economic Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy_, Benson, Egbert, + of New York, + +Boudinot, Elias, of New Jersey, + +Bradford, William, of Rhode Island, + +Burke, Edanus, of South Carolina, + +Burr, Aaron, + +Butler, Pierce, of South Carolina, + + +Cabinet, President's, a development after Washington's administration, + status of, + +Campbell, William, Major, + +Carmichael, William, + +Church, Edward, U. S. consul at Lisbon, + +Clark, Abraham, of New Jersey, + +Clark, George Rogers, + +Clinton, George, of New York, + +_Constellation_, The, ship, + +_Constitution_, The, ship, + +Constitutional amendments adopted, + + +_Daily Advertizer_, + +_Dauphin_, The, ship, + +Dayton, Jonathan, of New Jersey, + +Dexter, Samuel, of Massachusetts, + +District of Columbia, exact site to be selected by the President, + + +Ellsworth, Oliver, of Connecticut, + + +Federal Hall, + +_Federalist_, + +Federalist party, + +Finance, National, Tariff bill, debt of United States (1790), Assumption + bill, national bank established, mint established, + +Fishbourn, Benjamin, + +Fitzsimmons, Thomas, of Pennsylvania, + +France, relations with United States, treaties of 1778, representation in + United States, special mission to, treaties abrogated (1798), maritime + troubles with, second mission to, + +Fraunces, A.G., + +Freneau, Philip, editor of _National Gazette_, + + +Genet, Edmond, appointed French minister to United States; a trained + diplomatist, audacious mission, reception in United States, policy + toward Louisiana, argues for treaty rights, public opinion for, arrest + by French Government, success, United States becomes his asylum, + bibliography, + +Germantown, Proposal to place capital at, + +Gerry, Elbridge, of Massachusetts, + +Giles, W.B., of Virginia, + +_Grange_, The, ship, + +Grayson, William, of Virginia, + +Great Britain, lays down contraband regulations, retains Western posts in + America, treaty with (1795), + +Greenville, Treaty of (1795), + +Gwinnett, Button, + + +_Hail Columbia_, + +Hamilton, Alexander, personal appearance, aid in finance sought by + Washington, advises Washington as to deportment, appointed Secretary of + Treasury, rivalry between Madison and, opinion as to establishment of + courts, report to Congress (1790), stand on the question of security of + transfer, interest in site for national capital, report on manufactures, + appreciation of, author of interrogatories to the cabinet (1793), + opinion on French treaty obligations; stands against Jefferson, calmness + in regard to Genet affair, "Pacificus,", "No Jacobin,", resigns as + Secretary of Treasury (1793), party warfare against, requests a Treasury + investigation, opinion as to enforcing law, remains trusted adviser, + aids Wolcott in preparing scheme of taxation, appointed major-general, + relations with Adams, bibliography, + +Hammond, George, British minister to United States, + +Hancock, John, + +Harmar, Josiah, Lieutenant-Colonel, + +Hazard, Ebenezer, Postmaster-General, + +Henry, Patrick, + +Humphreys, David, Colonel, + + +Indian troubles in the West, + + +Jackson, Andrew, + +Jackson, James, of Georgia, + +Jay, John, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, appointed envoy extraordinary to + Great Britain (1794), mission to England, elected Governor of New York, + +Jay treaty, terms of, agitation over, French attitude toward, + +Jefferson, Thomas, appointed Secretary of State, attitude on question of + assumption of state debts, importance of public service, report on the + Algerine question, as minister to Paris, opinion on French treaty + obligations, "The Anas," disturbs the administration, resigns as + Secretary of State (1793), for the principle "free ships, free goods," + opponent of Hamilton, drafts Kentucky Resolutions (1798), elected + President, bibliography, + +Johnson, Thomas, of Maryland, + +Jones, John Paul, Admiral, + +Judiciary, Establishment of the, + + +Kentucky Resolutions, + +Knox, Henry, Secretary of War since 1785, Secretary of War and of the + Navy, submits plan for militia, supports Hamilton in question of treaty + obligations, recommended as major-general by Washington, question of + precedence of rank, declines appointment, + +_La Carmagnole_, ship, + +_L'Ambuscade_, ship, + +_L'Ami de la Point a Petre_, ship, + +_La Montagne_, ship, + +_L'Amour de la Liberte_, ship, + +_La Vengeance_, ship, + +_Le Cassius_, ship, + +_Le Citoyen Genet_, ship, + +Lee, Arthur, + +Lee, Charles, of Virginia, + +Lee, R.H., of Virginia, + +l'Enfant, P.C., + +_Le Petit Democrate_, ship, + +_L'Esperance_, ship, + +_Le Vainqueur de Bastille_, ship, + +_Little Sarah_, ship, + +Livermore, Samuel, of New Hampshire, + +Livingston, Walter, + +Louisiana territory, + + +McGillivray, Alexander, Head chief of the Creeks, + +McHenry, James, of Maryland, + +McIntosh, Lachlan, + +Maclay, William, of Pennsylvania, Diary of, + +Madison, James, cooperates with Hamilton in government organization, + personal appearance, introduces scheme for raising revenue, upholds + President's power of removal, acts as advisor to Washington, opinion + as to system of federal courts, stand on question of security of + transfer, opinion on creation of a navy, "Helvidius," attitude toward + non-intercourse, drafts Virginia Resolutions (1798), + +Marshall, John, opinion on neutrality of United States (1793), appointed + commissioner to France, becomes Secretary of State, + +Military preparedness, Policy of, + +Monroe, James, + +Morris, Gouverneur, + +Morris, Robert, + +Moultrie, William, General, + +Murray, W.V., Minister to Holland, + + +Napoleon Bonaparte, + +_National Gazette_, + +Naval policy of the United States, + +Neutrality, Question of (1793), + +New York, desires to be capital of nation, Washington's home in, + +Nicholas, W.C., of Virginia, + +Non-intercourse bill, + +North Carolina admitted to the Union (1789), + + +O'Brien Richard, Captain, + +O'Fallon, James, Dr., + +Osgood, Samuel, Postmaster-General, + + +Page, John, of Virginia, + +Paine, Thomas, + +Paterson, William, of New Jersey, + +Philadelphia club, + +Pickering, Timothy of Massachusetts, + +Pinckney, C.C., + +Pinckney, Thomas, + +President of the United States, social position and duties, official + title, power of removal by, + +Putnam, Rufus, General, + + +Randolph, Edmund, appointed Attorney-General, opinion on question of + French treaty obligations, divides influence between factions in + cabinet, transferred to State Department, letter to Washington, + opinion as to enforcing law, applies to French minister for funds, + retires, + +Republican party, + +Residence act, + +Rhode Island admitted to the Union (1790), + + +St. Clair, Arthur, General, + +_Sans Pareil_, ship, + +Sedgwick, Theodore, of Massachusetts, + +Senate, privy council function of, + +Short, William, + +Smith, Samuel, of Maryland, + +Smith, William, of South Carolina, + +Spain, Treaty with (1795), + +Stone, M.J., of Maryland, + +Story, Joseph, Justice, + + +Talleyrand, + +Tariff, _see_ Finance. + +Taylor, John, + +Treasury Department, established by Congress, rights and duties of + Secretary defined, Secretary's report, + +Trenton, proposal to place capital at, + +Truxtun, Thomas, Captain, + +_United States_, The, ship + + +Virginia Resolutions + + +Wadsworth, Jeremiah, of Connecticut + +War Department, Opposition to + +Washington, George, reluctant to reassume public responsibilities, + installed as President (1789), personal characteristics; his + magnificence, his levees; first message to Congress; first cabinet, + message to Senate (1789), differences with the Senate, tours, + church-going habits, receives news of St. Clair's defeat, concern about + Genet affair, opinion as to validity of French treaty, dependence upon + Hamilton, address of Dec. 3, 1793, reelected President, party spirit + against, Farewell Address (1796), death (1799), bibliography, + +Washington, Martha, arrival in New York, her entertainments + +Wayne, Anthony, General + +West Indies, trade with + +Whiskey insurrection, + +White, Alexander, of Virginia + +Willett, Marinus, Colonel + +Wolcott, Oliver, of Connecticut + + +"X.Y.Z." dispatches + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WASHINGTON AND HIS COLLEAGUES*** + + +******* This file should be named 11702.txt or 11702.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/7/0/11702 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS,' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's +eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + +https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000, +are filed in directories based on their release date. If you want to +download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular +search system you may utilize the following addresses and just +download by the etext year. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext06 + + (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, + 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90) + +EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are +filed in a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part +of the directory path. The path is based on the etext number (which is +identical to the filename). The path to the file is made up of single +digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename. For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** diff --git a/old/11702.zip b/old/11702.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..801dc9c --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11702.zip |