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+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Life of George Washington, vol. 5, by John Marshall.
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life of George Washington, Vol. 5 (of 5), by 
+John Marshall
+
+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: The Life of George Washington, Vol. 5 (of 5)
+       Commander in Chief of the American Forces During the War
+              which Established the Independence of his Country and First
+              President of the United States
+
+Author: John Marshall
+
+Release Date: June 15, 2006 [EBook #18595]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Linda Cantoni and  David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+<h3><a href="#CONTENTS">Table of Contents</a></h3>
+<h3><a href="#ILLUSTRATIONS">List of Illustrations</a></h3>
+
+
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<img src="images/spines.jpg" width="727" height="633" alt="spines" /></p>
+
+
+<p style="text-align: center">&#160;</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a name="image01">
+<img src="images/frontispiece5.jpg" width="343" height="532" alt="President Washington" /></a></p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center"><b>President Washington</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p style="text-align: center"><i>From the portrait by John Vanderlyn, in the Capitol at Washington</i></p>
+
+<p><i>This full-length portrait of our First President is the work of an
+artist to whom Napoleon I awarded a gold medal for his &quot;Marius Among
+the Ruins of Carthage,&quot; and another of whose masterpieces, &quot;Ariadne in
+Naxos,&quot; is pronounced one of the finest nudes in the history of
+American art. For Vanderlyn sat many other notable public men,
+including Monroe, Madison, Calhoun, Clinton, Zachary Taylor and Aaron
+Burr, who was his patron and whose portrait by Vanderlyn hangs in the
+New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. Nevertheless, Vanderlyn failed in
+achieving the success his genius merited, and he once declared
+bitterly that &quot;no one but a professional quack can live in America.&quot;
+Poverty paralyzed his energies, and in 1852, old and discouraged he
+retired to his native town of Kingston, New York, so poor that he had
+to borrow twenty-five cents to pay the expressage of his trunk.
+Obtaining a bed at the local hotel, he was found dead in it the next
+morning, in his seventy-seventh year.</i></p>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h3>THE</h3>
+
+<h1>LIFE</h1>
+
+<h3>OF</h3>
+
+<h1>GEORGE WASHINGTON,</h1>
+
+<h3>COMMANDER IN CHIEF</h3>
+
+<h3>OF THE</h3>
+
+<h2>AMERICAN FORCES,</h2>
+
+<h3>DURING THE WAR WHICH ESTABLISHED THE INDEPENDENCE OF HIS COUNTRY,</h3>
+
+<h3>AND</h3>
+
+<h2>FIRST PRESIDENT</h2>
+
+<h3>OF THE</h3>
+
+<h2>UNITED STATES.</h2>
+
+<h3>COMPILED UNDER THE INSPECTION OF</h3>
+
+<h3>THE HONOURABLE BUSHROD WASHINGTON,</h3>
+
+<h3>FROM</h3>
+
+<h3><i>ORIGINAL PAPERS</i></h3>
+
+<h3>BEQUEATHED TO HIM BY HIS DECEASED RELATIVE, AND NOW IN POSSESSION OF
+THE AUTHOR.</h3>
+
+<h3>TO WHICH IS PREFIXED,</h3>
+
+<h2>AN INTRODUCTION,</h2>
+
+<h3>CONTAINING A COMPENDIOUS VIEW OF THE COLONIES PLANTED BY THE ENGLISH
+ON THE</h3>
+
+<h3>CONTINENT OF NORTH AMERICA,</h3>
+
+<h3>FROM THEIR SETTLEMENT TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF THAT WAR WHICH TERMINATED
+IN THEIR</h3>
+
+<h2>INDEPENDENCE.</h2>
+
+
+<h2>BY JOHN MARSHALL.</h2>
+
+
+<h3>VOL. V.</h3>
+
+<hr style="width: 25%;" />
+
+<p style="text-align: center">
+THE CITIZENS' GUILD<br />
+OF WASHINGTON'S BOYHOOD HOME<br />
+FREDERICKSBURG, VA.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center">1926</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center">Printed in the U.S.A.</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center">&#160;</p>
+
+
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<img src="images/titlepage5.jpg" width="440" height="670" alt="title page" /></p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center">&#160;</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<img src="images/subscription.jpg" width="508" height="803" alt="subscription" /></p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+
+<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a></h3>
+
+<p>G. Washington again unanimously elected President.... War between
+Great Britain and France.... Queries of the President respecting the
+conduct to be adopted by the American government.... Proclamation of
+neutrality.... Arrival of Mr. Genet as minister from France.... His
+conduct.... Illegal proceedings of the French cruisers.... Opinions of
+the cabinet.... State of parties.... Democratic societies.... Genet
+calculates upon the partialities of the American people for France,
+and openly insults their government.... Rules laid down by the
+executive to be observed in the ports of the United States in relation
+to the powers at war.... The President requests the recall of
+Genet.... British order of 8th of June, 1793.... Decree of the
+national convention relative to neutral commerce.</p>
+
+
+<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a></h3>
+
+<p>Meeting of congress.... President's speech.... His message on the
+foreign relations of the United States.... Report of the Secretary of
+State on the commerce of the United States.... He resigns.... Is
+succeeded by Mr. Randolph.... Mr. Madison's resolutions founded on the
+above report.... Debate thereon.... Debates on the subject of a
+navy.... An embargo law.... Mission of Mr. Jay to Great Britain....
+Inquiry into the conduct of the Secretary of the Treasury, terminates
+honourably to him.... Internal taxes.... Congress adjourns.</p>
+
+
+<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a></h3>
+
+<p>Genet recalled.... Is succeeded by Mr. Fauchet.... Gouverneur Morris
+recalled, and is succeeded by Mr. Monroe.... Kentucky remonstrance....
+Intemperate resolutions of the people of that state.... General Wayne
+defeats the Indians on the Miamis.... Insurrection in the western
+parts of Pennsylvania.... Quelled by the prompt and vigorous measures
+of the government.... Meeting of Congress.... President's speech....
+Democratic societies.... Resignation of Colonel Hamilton.... Is
+succeeded by Mr. Wolcott.... Resignation of General Knox.... Is
+succeeded by Colonel Pickering.... Treaty between the United States
+and Great Britain.... Conditionally ratified by the President.... The
+treaty unpopular.... Mr. Randolph resigns.... Is succeeded by Colonel
+Pickering.... Colonel M'Henry appointed secretary at war.... Charge
+against the President rejected..... Treaty with the Indians north-west
+of the Ohio.... With Algiers.... With Spain.... Meeting of
+congress.... President's speech.... Mr. Adet succeeds Mr. Fauchet.....
+The house of representatives call upon the President for papers
+relating to the treaty with Great Britain.... He declines sending
+them.... Debates upon the treaty making power.... Upon the bill for
+making appropriations to carry into execution the treaty with Great
+Britain.... Congress adjourns.... The President endeavours to procure
+the liberation of Lafayette.</p>
+
+
+<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></h3>
+
+<p>Letters from General Washington to Mr. Jefferson.... Hostile measures
+of France against the United States.... Mr. Monroe recalled and
+General Pinckney appointed to succeed him.... General Washington's
+valedictory address to the people of the United States.... The
+Minister of France endeavours to influence the approaching
+election.... The President's speech to congress.... He denies the
+authenticity of certain spurious letters published in 1776.... John
+Adams elected President, and Thomas Jefferson Vice President....
+General Washington retires to Mount Vernon.... Political situation of
+the United States at this period.... The French government refuses to
+receive General Pinckney as Minister.... Congress is convened....
+President's speech.... Three envoys extraordinary deputed to
+France.... Their treatment.... Measures of hostility adopted by the
+American government against France.... General Washington appointed
+Commander-in-chief of the American army.... His death.... And
+character.</p>
+
+<h3><a href="#NOTES">NOTES.</a></h3>
+
+<h3><a href="#FOOTNOTES">Footnotes.</a></h3>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="ILLUSTRATIONS">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</a></h2>
+
+<h3><a href="#image01">President Washington</a></h3>
+
+
+<h3><a href="#image02">Martha Washington</a></h3>
+
+
+<h3><a href="#image03">George Washington</a></h3>
+
+
+<h3><a href="#image04">George Washington's Bedroom at Mount Vernon</a></h3>
+
+
+<h3><a href="#image05">&#160;George Washington</a></h3>
+
+
+<h3><a href="#image06">Martha Washington's Bedroom at Mount Vernon</a></h3>
+
+
+<h3><a href="#image07">Mount Vernon</a></h3>
+
+
+<h3><a href="#image08">&#160;Resting-Place of George and Martha Washington at Mount Vernon</a></h3>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE LIFE</h2>
+
+<h3>OF</h3>
+
+<h2>GEORGE WASHINGTON</h2>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><b>G. Washington again unanimously elected President.... War
+between Great Britain and France.... Queries of the
+President respecting the conduct to be adopted by the
+American government.... Proclamation of neutrality....
+Arrival of Mr. Genet as minister from France.... His
+conduct.... Illegal proceedings of the French cruisers....
+Opinions of the cabinet.... State of parties.... Democratic
+societies.... Genet calculates upon the partialities of the
+American people for France, and openly insults their
+government.... Rules laid down by the executive to be
+observed in the ports of the United States in relation to
+the powers at war.... The President requests the recall of
+Genet.... British order of 8th of June, 1793.... Decree of
+the national convention relative to neutral commerce.</b></p></div>
+
+<p>&#160;</p>
+
+<div class="sidenotey">1793</div>
+
+<p><span class="lgsmcap">The</span> term for which the President and Vice President had been elected
+being about to expire on the third of March, the attention of the
+public had been directed to the choice of persons who should fill
+those high offices for the ensuing four years. Respecting the
+President, but one opinion prevailed. From various motives, all
+parties concurred in desiring that the present chief magistrate should
+continue to afford his services to his country. Yielding to the weight
+of the representations made to him from various quarters, General
+Washington had been prevailed upon to withhold a declaration, he had
+at one time purposed to make, of his determination to retire from
+political life.</p>
+
+<p>Respecting the person who should fill the office of Vice President,
+the public was divided. The profound statesman who had been called to
+the duties of that station, had drawn upon himself a great degree of
+obloquy, by some political tracts, in which he had laboured to
+maintain the proposition that a balance in government was essential to
+the preservation of liberty. In these disquisitions, he was supposed
+by his opponents to have discovered sentiments in favour of distinct
+orders in society; and, although he had spoken highly of the
+constitution of the United States, it was imagined that his balance
+could be maintained only by hereditary classes. He was also understood
+to be friendly to the system of finance which had been adopted; and
+was believed to be among the few who questioned the durability of the
+French republic. His great services, and acknowledged virtues, were
+therefore disregarded; and a competitor was sought for among those who
+had distinguished themselves in the opposition. The choice was
+directed from Mr. Jefferson by a constitutional restriction on the
+power of the electors, which would necessarily deprive him of the vote
+to be given by Virginia. It being necessary to designate some other
+opponent to Mr. Adams, George Clinton, the governor of New York, was
+selected for this purpose.</p>
+
+<p>Throughout the war of the revolution, this gentleman had filled the
+office of chief magistrate of his native state; and, under
+circumstances of real difficulty, had discharged its duties with a
+courage, and an energy, which secured the esteem of the
+Commander-in-chief, and gave him a fair claim to the favour of his
+country. Embracing afterwards with ardour the system of state
+supremacy, he had contributed greatly to the rejection of the
+resolutions for investing congress with the power of collecting an
+impost on imported goods, and had been conspicuous for his determined
+hostility to the constitution of the United States. His sentiments
+respecting the measures of the government were known to concur with
+those of the minority in congress.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">George Washington again unanimously elected president.</div>
+
+<p>Both parties seemed confident in their strength; and both made the
+utmost exertions to insure success. On opening the ballots in the
+senate chamber, it appeared that the unanimous suffrage of his country
+had been once more conferred on General Washington, and that Mr. Adams
+had received a plurality of the votes.</p>
+
+<p>The unceasing endeavours of the executive to terminate the Indian war
+by a treaty, had at length succeeded with the savages of the Wabash;
+and, through the intervention of the Six Nations, those of the Miamis
+had also been induced to consent to a conference to be held in the
+course of the ensuing spring. Though probability was against the
+success of this attempt to restore peace, all offensive operations, on
+the part of the United States, were still farther suspended. The
+Indians did not entirely abstain from hostilities; and the discontents
+of the western people were in no small degree increased by this
+temporary prohibition of all incursions into the country of their
+enemy. In Georgia, where a desire to commence hostilities against the
+southern Indians had been unequivocally manifested, this restraint
+increased the irritation against the administration.</p>
+
+<p>The Indian war was becoming an object of secondary magnitude. The
+critical and irritable state of things in France began so materially
+to affect the United States, as to require an exertion of all the
+prudence, and all the firmness, of the government. The 10th<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> of
+August, 1792, was succeeded in that nation by such a state of anarchy,
+and by scenes of so much blood and horror; the nation was understood
+to be so divided with respect to its future course; and the republican
+party was threatened by such a formidable external force; that there
+was much reason to doubt whether the fallen monarch would be finally
+deposed, or reinstated with a greater degree of splendour and power
+than the constitution just laid in ruins, had assigned to him. That,
+in the latter event, any partialities which might be manifested
+towards the intermediate possessors of authority, would be recollected
+with indignation, could not be questioned by an attentive observer of
+the vindictive spirit of parties;&#8212;a spirit which the deeply tragic
+scenes lately exhibited, could not fail to work up to its highest
+possible pitch. The American minister at Paris, finding himself in a
+situation not expected by his government, sought to pursue a
+circumspect line of conduct, which should in no respect compromise the
+United States. The executive council of France, disappointed at the
+coldness which that system required, communicated their
+dissatisfaction to their minister at Philadelphia. At the same time,
+Mr. Morris made full representations of every transaction to his
+government, and requested explicit instructions for the regulation of
+his future conduct.</p>
+
+<p>The administration entertained no doubt of the propriety of
+recognizing the existing authority of France, whatever form it might
+assume. That every nation possessed a right to govern itself according
+to its own will, to change its institutions at discretion, and to
+transact its business through whatever agents it might think proper,
+were stated to Mr. Morris to be principles on which the American
+government itself was founded, and the application of which could be
+denied to no other people. The payment of the debt, so far as it was
+to be made in Europe, might be suspended only until the national
+convention should authorize some power to sign acquittances for the
+monies received; and the sums required for St. Domingo would be
+immediately furnished. These payments would exceed the instalments
+which had fallen due; and the utmost punctuality would be observed in
+future. These instructions were accompanied with assurances that the
+government would omit no opportunity of convincing the French people
+of its cordial wish to serve them; and with a declaration that all
+circumstances seemed to destine the two nations for the most intimate
+connexion with each other. It was also pressed upon Mr. Morris to
+seize every occasion of conciliating the affections of France to the
+United States, and of placing the commerce between the two countries
+on the best possible footing.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p>
+
+<p>The feelings of the President were in perfect unison with the
+sentiments expressed in this letter. His attachment to the French
+nation was as strong, as consistent with a due regard to the interests
+of his own; and his wishes for its happiness were as ardent, as was
+compatible with the duties of a chief magistrate to the state over
+which he presided. Devoted to the principles of real liberty, and
+approving unequivocally the republican form of government, he hoped
+for a favourable result from the efforts which were making to
+establish that form, by the great ally of the United States; but was
+not so transported by those efforts, as to involve his country in
+their issue; or totally to forget that those aids which constituted
+the basis of these partial feelings, were furnished by the family
+whose fall was the source of triumph to a large portion of his fellow
+citizens.</p>
+
+<p>He therefore still preserved the fixed purpose of maintaining the
+neutrality of the United States, however general the war might be in
+Europe; and his zeal for the revolution did not assume so ferocious a
+character as to silence the dictates of humanity, or of friendship.</p>
+
+<p>Not much time elapsed before the firmness of this resolution was put
+to the test.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">War between Great Britain and France.</div>
+
+<p>Early in April, the declaration of war made by France against Great
+Britain and Holland reached the United States. This event restored
+full vivacity to a flame, which a peace of ten years had not been able
+to extinguish. A great majority of the American people deemed it
+criminal to remain unconcerned spectators of a conflict between their
+ancient enemy and republican France. The feeling upon this occasion
+was almost universal. Men of all parties partook of it. Disregarding
+totally the circumstances which led to the rupture, except the order
+which had been given to the French minister to leave London, and
+disregarding equally the fact that actual hostilities were first
+commenced by France, the war was confidently and generally pronounced
+a war of aggression on the part of Great Britain, undertaken with the
+sole purpose of imposing a monarchical government on the French
+people. The few who did not embrace these opinions, and they were
+certainly very few, were held up as objects of public detestation; and
+were calumniated as the tools of Britain, and the satellites of
+despotism.</p>
+
+<p>Yet the disposition to engage in the war, was far from being general.
+The inclination of the public led to a full indulgence of the most
+extravagant partiality; but not many were willing to encounter the
+consequences which that indulgence would infallibly produce. The
+situation of America was precisely that, in which the wisdom and
+foresight of a prudent and enlightened government, was indispensably
+necessary to prevent the nation from inconsiderately precipitating
+itself into calamities, which its reflecting judgment would avoid.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as intelligence of the rupture between France and Britain was
+received in the United States, indications were given in some of the
+seaports, of a disposition to engage in the unlawful business of
+privateering on the commerce of the belligerent powers. The President
+was firmly determined to suppress these practices, and immediately
+requested the attention of the heads of departments to this
+interesting subject.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Queries put by the president to his cabinet in relation to
+the conduct proper to be adopted by the American government in
+consequence of this event.</div>
+
+<p><a name="p9">As</a> the new and difficult situation in which the United States were
+placed suggested many delicate inquiries, he addressed a circular
+letter to the cabinet ministers, inclosing for their consideration a
+well digested series of questions, the answers to which would form a
+complete system by which to regulate the conduct of the executive in
+the arduous situations which were approaching.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p>
+
+<p>These queries, with some of the answers of them, though submitted only
+to the cabinet, found their way to the leading members of the
+opposition; and were among the unacknowledged but operating pieces of
+testimony, on which the charge against the administration, of
+cherishing dispositions unfriendly to the French republic, was
+founded. In taking a view of the whole ground, points certainly
+occurred, and were submitted to the consideration of the cabinet, on
+which neither the chief magistrate nor his ministers felt any doubt.
+But the introduction of questions relative to these points, among
+others with which they were intimately connected, would present a more
+full view of the subject, and was incapable of producing any
+mischievous effect, while they were confined to those for whom alone
+they were intended.</p>
+
+<p>In the meeting of the heads of departments and the attorney general,
+which was held in consequence of this letter, it was unanimously
+agreed, that a proclamation ought to issue, forbidding the citizens of
+the United States to take part in any hostilities on the seas, with,
+or against, any of the belligerent powers; warning them against
+carrying to any of those powers articles deemed contraband according
+to the modern usages of nations; and enjoining them from all acts
+inconsistent with the duties of a friendly nation towards those at
+war.</p>
+
+<p>With the same unanimity, the President was advised to receive a
+minister from the republic of France; but, on the question respecting
+a qualification to his reception, a division was perceived. The
+secretary of state and the attorney general were of opinion, that no
+cause existed for departing in the present instance from the usual
+mode of acting on such occasions. The revolution in France, they
+conceived, had produced no change in the relations between the two
+nations; nor was there any thing in the alteration of government, or
+in the character of the war, which would impair the right of France to
+demand, or weaken the duty of the United States faithfully to comply
+with the engagements which had been solemnly formed.</p>
+
+<p>The secretaries of the treasury, and of war, held a different opinion.
+Admitting in its fullest latitude the right of a nation to change its
+political institutions according to its own will, they denied its
+right to involve other nations, <i>absolutely and unconditionally</i>, in
+the consequences of the changes which it may think proper to make.
+They maintained the right of a nation to absolve itself from the
+obligations even of real treaties, when such a change of circumstances
+takes place in the internal situation of the other contracting party,
+as so essentially to alter the existing state of things, that it may
+with good faith be pronounced to render a continuance of the connexion
+which results from them, disadvantageous or dangerous.</p>
+
+<p>They reviewed the most prominent of those transactions which had
+recently taken place in France, and noticed the turbulence, the fury,
+and the injustice with which they were marked. The Jacobin club at
+Paris, whose influence was well understood, had even gone so far,
+previous to the meeting of the convention, as to enter into measures
+with the avowed object of purging that body of those persons,
+favourers of royalty, who might have escaped the attention of the
+primary assemblies. This review was taken, to show that the course of
+the revolution had been attended with circumstances which militate
+against a full conviction of its having been brought to its present
+stage, by such a free, regular, and deliberate act of the nation, as
+ought to silence all scruples about the validity of what had been
+done. They appeared to doubt whether the present possessors of power
+ought to be considered as having acquired it with the real consent of
+France, or as having seized it by violence;&#8212;whether the existing
+system could be considered as permanent, or merely temporary.</p>
+
+<p>They were therefore of opinion, not that the treaties should be
+annulled or absolutely suspended, but that the United States should
+reserve, for future consideration and discussion, the question whether
+the operation of those treaties ought not to be deemed temporarily and
+provisionally suspended. Should this be the decision of the
+government, they thought it due to a spirit of friendly and candid
+procedure, in the most conciliating terms, to apprize the expected
+minister of this determination.</p>
+
+<p>On the questions relative to the application of the clause of
+guarantee to the existing war, some diversity of sentiment also
+prevailed. The secretary of state and the attorney general conceived,
+that no necessity for deciding thereon existed, while the secretaries
+of the treasury, and of war, were of opinion that the treaty of
+alliance was plainly defensive, and that the clause of guarantee did
+not apply to a war which, having been commenced by France, must be
+considered as offensive on the part of that power.</p>
+
+<p>Against convening congress, the opinion appears to have been
+unanimous.</p>
+
+<p>The cabinet being thus divided on an important part of the system
+which, in the present critical posture of affairs, ought to be adopted
+by the executive, the President signified his desire that the
+ministers would respectively state to him in writing the opinions they
+had formed, together with the reasoning and authorities by which those
+opinions were supported.</p>
+
+<p>The written arguments which were presented on this occasion, while
+they attest the labour, and reflect honour on the talents of those by
+whom they were formed, and evince the equal sincerity and zeal with
+which the opinions on each side were advanced, demonstrate an
+opposition of sentiment respecting the French revolution, which
+threatened to shed its influence on all measures connected with that
+event, and to increase the discord which already existed in the
+cabinet.</p>
+
+<p>So far as respected the reception of a minister from the French
+republic without qualifying that act by any explanations, and the
+continuing obligation of the treaties, the President appears to have
+decided in favour of the opinions given by the secretary of state and
+the attorney general.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Proclamation of neutrality.</div>
+
+<p>The proclamation of neutrality which was prepared by the attorney
+general, in conformity with the principles which had been adopted, was
+laid before the cabinet; and, being approved, was signed by the
+President, and ordered to be published.</p>
+
+<p>This measure derives importance from the consideration, that it was
+the commencement of that system to which the American government
+afterwards inflexibly adhered, and to which much of the national
+prosperity is to be ascribed. It is not less important in another
+view. Being at variance with the prejudices, the feelings, and the
+passions of a large portion of the society, and being founded on no
+previous proceedings of the legislature, it presented the first
+occasion, which was thought a fit one, for openly assaulting a
+character, around which the affections of the people had thrown an
+armour theretofore deemed sacred, and for directly criminating the
+conduct of the President himself. It was only by opposing passions to
+passions, by bringing the feeling in favour of France, into conflict
+with those in favour of the chief magistrate, that the enemies of the
+administration could hope to obtain the victory.</p>
+
+<p>For a short time, the opponents of this measure treated it with some
+degree of delicacy. The opposition prints occasionally glanced at the
+executive; considered all governments, including that of the United
+States, as naturally hostile to the liberty of the people; and
+ascribed to this disposition, the combination of European governments
+against France, and the apathy with which this combination was
+contemplated by the executive. At the same time, the most vehement
+declamations were published, for the purpose of inflaming the
+resentments of the people against Britain; of enhancing the
+obligations of America to France; of confirming the opinions, that the
+coalition of European monarchs was directed, not less against the
+United States, than against that power to which its hostility was
+avowed, and that those who did not avow this sentiment were the
+friends of that coalition, and equally the enemies of America and
+France.</p>
+
+<p>These publications, in the first instance, sufficiently bitter,
+quickly assumed a highly increased degree of acrimony.</p>
+
+<p><a name="p15">As</a> soon as the commotions which succeeded the deposition of Louis XVI.
+had, in some degree, subsided, the attention of the French government
+was directed to the United States, and the resolution was taken to
+recall the minister who had been appointed by the king; and to replace
+him with one who might be expected to enter, with more enthusiasm,
+into the views of the republic.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p>
+
+<p>The citizen Genet, a gentleman of considerable talents, and of an
+ardent temper, was selected for this purpose.</p>
+
+<p>The letters he brought to the executive of the United States, and his
+instructions, which he occasionally communicated, were, in a high
+degree, flattering to the nation, and decently respectful to its
+government. But Mr. Genet was also furnished with private
+instructions, which the course of subsequent events tempted him to
+publish. These indicate that, if the American executive should not be
+found sufficiently compliant with the views of France, the resolution
+had been taken to employ with the people of the United States the same
+policy which was so successfully used with those of Europe; and thus
+to affect an object which legitimate negotiations might fail to
+accomplish.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Arrival of Mr. Genet as minister from France.<br />His conduct.</div>
+
+<p>Mr. Genet possessed many qualities which were peculiarly adapted to
+the objects of his mission; but he seems to have been betrayed by the
+flattering reception which was given him, and by the universal fervour
+expressed for his republic, into a too speedy disclosure of his
+intentions.</p>
+
+<p>On the eighth of April he arrived, not at Philadelphia, but at
+Charleston, in South Carolina, a port whose contiguity to the West
+Indies would give it peculiar convenience as a resort for privateers.
+He was received by the governor of that state, and by its citizens,
+with an enthusiasm well calculated to dissipate every doubt he might
+previously have entertained, concerning the dispositions on which he
+was to operate. At this place he continued for several days, receiving
+extravagant marks of public attachment, during which time, he
+undertook to authorize the fitting and arming of vessels in that port,
+enlisting men, and giving commissions to cruise and commit hostilities
+on nations with whom the United States were at peace. The captures
+made by these cruisers were brought into port, and the consuls of
+France were assuming, under the authority of Mr. Genet, to hold courts
+of admiralty on them, to try, condemn, and authorize their sale.</p>
+
+<p>From Charleston, Mr. Genet proceeded by land to Philadelphia,
+receiving on his journey, at the different towns through which he
+passed, such marks of enthusiastic attachment as had never before been
+lavished on a foreign minister. On the 16th of May, he arrived at the
+seat of government, preceded by the intelligence of his transactions
+in South Carolina. This information did not diminish the extravagant
+transports of joy with which he was welcomed by the great body of the
+inhabitants. Means had been taken to render his entry pompous and
+triumphal; and the opposition papers exultingly stated that he was met
+at Gray's ferry by &quot;crowds who flocked from every avenue of the city,
+to meet the republican ambassador of an allied nation.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The day succeeding his arrival, he received addresses of
+congratulation from particular societies, and from the citizens of
+Philadelphia, who waited on him in a body, in which they expressed
+their fervent gratitude for the &quot;zealous and disinterested aids,&quot;
+which the French people had furnished to America, unbounded exultation
+at the success with which their arms had been crowned, and a positive
+conviction that the safety of the United States depended on the
+establishment of the republic. The answers to these addresses were
+well calculated to preserve the idea of a complete fraternity between
+the two nations; and that their interests were identified.</p>
+
+<p>The day after being thus accredited by the citizens of Philadelphia,
+he was presented to the President, by whom he was received with
+frankness, and with expressions of a sincere and cordial regard for
+his nation. In the conversation which took place on this occasion, Mr.
+Genet gave the most explicit assurances that, in consequence of the
+distance of the United States from the theatre of action, and of other
+circumstances, France did not wish to engage them in the war, but
+would willingly leave them to pursue their happiness and prosperity in
+peace. The more ready faith was given to these declarations, because
+it was believed that France might derive advantages from the
+neutrality of America, which would be a full equivalent for any
+services which she could render as a belligerent.</p>
+
+<p>Before the ambassador of the republic had reached the seat of
+government, a long catalogue of complaints, partly founded on his
+proceedings in Charleston, had been made by the British minister to
+the American executive.</p>
+
+<p>This catalogue was composed of the assumptions of sovereignty already
+mentioned;&#8212;assumptions calculated to render America an instrument of
+hostility to be wielded by France against those powers with which she
+might be at war.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Illegal proceedings of the French cruisers.</div>
+
+<p>These were still further aggravated by the commission of actual
+hostilities within the territories of the United States. The ship
+Grange, a British vessel which had been cleared out from Philadelphia,
+was captured by the French frigate L'Ambuscade within the capes of the
+Delaware, while on her way to the ocean.</p>
+
+<p>The prizes thus unwarrantly made, being brought within the power of
+the American government, Mr. Hammond, among other things, demanded a
+restitution of them.</p>
+
+<p>On many of the points suggested by the conduct of Mr. Genet, and by
+the memorials of the British minister, it would seem impossible that
+any difference of opinion could exist among intelligent men, not under
+the dominion of a blind infatuation. Accordingly it was agreed in the
+cabinet, without a dissenting voice, that the jurisdiction of every
+independent nation, within the limits of its own territory, being of a
+nature to exclude the exercise of any authority therein by a foreign
+power, the proceedings complained of, not being warranted by any
+treaty, were usurpations of national sovereignty, and violations of
+neutral rights, a repetition of which it was the duty of the
+government to prevent.</p>
+
+<p>It was also agreed that the efficacy of the laws should be tried
+against those citizens of the United States who had joined in
+perpetrating the offence.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Opinions of the Cabinet in relation thereto.</div>
+
+<p>The question of restitution, except as to the Grange, was more
+dubious. The secretary of state and the attorney general contended
+that, if the commissions granted by Mr. Genet were invalid, the
+captures were totally void, and the courts would adjudge the property
+to remain in the former owners. In this point of view, therefore,
+there being a regular remedy at law, it would be irregular for the
+government to interpose.</p>
+
+<p>If, on the contrary, the commissions were good, then, the captures
+having been made on the high seas, under a valid commission from a
+power at war with Great Britain, the original right of the British
+owner was, by the laws of war, transferred to the captor.</p>
+
+<p>The legal right being in the captor, it could only be taken from him
+by an act of force, that is to say, of reprisal for the offence
+committed against the United States in the port of Charleston.
+Reprisal is a very serious thing, ought always to be preceded by a
+demand and refusal of satisfaction, is generally considered as an act
+of war, and never yet failed to produce it in the case of a nation
+able to make war.</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center">&#160;</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a name="image02">
+<img src="images/020.jpg" width="366" height="442" alt="Martha Washington" /></a></p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center"><b>Martha Washington</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: center"><i>From the portrait by James Sharples</i></p>
+
+<p><i>This is one of the three Sharples portraits of the Washington family
+and the only good profile of Martha Washington that was painted from
+life. Martha, who was a few months younger than her husband, is
+described as having been &quot;amiable in character and lovely in person.&quot;
+By the courtesy of the period she was called Lady Washington, and
+whether in her own home or at the &quot;federal court,&quot; she presided with
+marked dignity and grace. She died at Mount Vernon, May 22, 1802,
+having survived her husband two and a half years.</i></p>
+
+<p>Courtesy Herbert L. Pratt</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#160;</p>
+
+<p>Admitting the case to be of sufficient importance to require reprisal,
+and to be ripe for that step, the power of taking it was vested by the
+constitution in congress, not in the executive department of the
+government.</p>
+
+<p>Of the reparation for the offence committed against the United States,
+they were themselves the judges, and could not be required by a
+foreign nation, to demand more than was satisfactory to themselves. By
+disavowing the act, by taking measures to prevent its repetition, by
+prosecuting the American citizens who were engaged in it, the United
+States ought to stand justified with Great Britain; and a demand of
+further reparation by that power would be a wrong on her part.</p>
+
+<p>The circumstances under which these equipments had been made, in the
+first moments of the war, before the government could have time to
+take precautions against them, and its immediate disapprobation of
+those equipments, must rescue it from every imputation of being
+accessory to them, and had placed it with the offended, not the
+offending party.</p>
+
+<p>Those gentlemen were therefore of opinion, that the vessels which had
+been captured on the high seas, and brought into the United States, by
+privateers fitted out and commissioned in their ports, ought not to be
+restored.</p>
+
+<p>The secretaries of the treasury, and of war, were of different
+opinion. They urged that a neutral, permitting itself to be made an
+instrument of hostility by one belligerent against another, became
+thereby an associate in the war. If land or naval armaments might be
+formed by France within the United States, for the purpose of carrying
+on expeditions against her enemy, and might return with the spoils
+they had taken, and prepare new enterprises, it was apparent that a
+state of war would exist between America and those enemies, of the
+worst kind for them: since, while the resources of the country were
+employed in annoying them, the instruments of this annoyance would be
+occasionally protected from pursuit, by the privileges of an
+ostensible neutrality. It was easy to see that such a state of things
+could not be tolerated longer than until it should be perceived.</p>
+
+<p>It being confessedly contrary to the duty of the United States, as a
+neutral nation, to suffer privateers to be fitted in their ports to
+annoy the British trade, it seemed to follow that it would comport
+with their duty, to remedy the injury which may have been sustained,
+when it is in their power so to do.</p>
+
+<p>That the fact had been committed before the government could provide
+against it might be an excuse, but not a justification. Every
+government is responsible for the conduct of all parts of the
+community over which it presides, and is supposed to possess, at all
+times, the means of preventing infractions of its duty to foreign
+nations. In the present instance, the magistracy of the place ought to
+have prevented them. However valid this excuse might have been, had
+the privateers expedited from Charleston been sent to the French
+dominions, there to operate out of the reach of the United States, it
+could be of no avail when their prizes were brought into the American
+ports, and the government, thereby, completely enabled to administer a
+specific remedy for the injury.</p>
+
+<p>Although the commissions, and the captures made under them, were valid
+as between the parties at war, they were not so as to the United
+States. For the violation of their rights, they had a claim to
+reparation, and might reasonably demand, as the reparation to which
+they were entitled, restitution of the property taken, with or without
+an apology for the infringement of their sovereignty. This they had a
+right to demand as a species of reparation consonant with the nature
+of the injury, and enabling them to do justice to the party in
+injuring whom they had been made instrumental. It could be no just
+cause of complaint on the part of the captors that they were required
+to surrender a property, the means of acquiring which took their
+origin in a violation of the rights of the United States.</p>
+
+<p>On the other hand, there was a claim on the American government to
+arrest the effects of the injury or annoyance to which it had been
+made accessory. To insist therefore on the restitution of the property
+taken, would be to enforce a right, in order to the performance of a
+duty.</p>
+
+<p>These commissions, though void as to the United States, being valid as
+between the parties, the case was not proper for the decision of the
+courts of justice. The whole was an affair between the governments of
+the parties concerned, to be settled by reasons of state, not rules of
+law. It was the case of an infringement of national sovereignty to the
+prejudice of a third party, in which the government was to demand a
+reparation, with the double view of vindicating its own rights, and of
+doing justice to the suffering party.</p>
+
+<p>They, therefore, were of opinion that, in the case stated for their
+consideration, restitution ought to be made.</p>
+
+<p>On the point respecting which his cabinet was divided, the President
+took time to deliberate. Those principles on which a concurrence of
+sentiment had been manifested being considered as settled, the
+secretary of state was desired to communicate them to the ministers of
+France and Britain; and circular letters were addressed to the
+executives of the several states, requiring their co-operation, with
+force if necessary, in the execution of the rules which were
+established.</p>
+
+<p>The citizen Genet was much dissatisfied with these decisions of the
+American government. He thought them contrary to natural right, and
+subversive of the treaties by which the two nations were connected. In
+his exposition of these treaties, he claimed, for his own country, all
+that the two nations were restricted from conceding to others, thereby
+converting negative limitations into an affirmative grant of
+privileges to France.</p>
+
+<p>Without noticing a want of decorum in some of the expressions which
+Mr. Genet had employed, he was informed that the subjects on which his
+letter treated had, from respect to him, been reconsidered by the
+executive; but that no cause was perceived for changing the system
+which had been adopted. He was further informed that, in the opinion
+of the President, the United States owed it to themselves, and to the
+nations in their friendship, to expect, as a reparation for the
+offence of infringing their sovereignty, that the vessels, thus
+illegally equipped, would depart from their ports.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Genet was not disposed to acquiesce in these decisions. Adhering
+to his own construction of the existing treaty, he affected to
+consider the measures of the American government as infractions of it,
+which no power in the nation had a right to make, unless the United
+States in congress assembled should determine that their solemn
+engagements should no longer be performed. Intoxicated with the
+sentiments expressed by a great portion of the people, and
+unacquainted with the firm character of the executive, he seems to
+have expected that the popularity of his nation would enable him to
+overthrow that department, or to render it subservient to his views.
+It is difficult otherwise to account for his persisting to disregard
+its decisions, and for passages with which his letters abound, such as
+the following:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Every obstruction by the government of the United States to the
+arming of French vessels must be an attempt on the rights of man, upon
+which repose the independence and laws of the United States; a
+violation of the ties which unite the people of France and America;
+and even a manifest contradiction of the system of neutrality of the
+President; for, in fact, if our merchant vessels,<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> or others, are
+not allowed to arm themselves, when the French alone are resisting the
+league of all the tyrants against the liberty of the people, they will
+be exposed to inevitable ruin in going out of the ports of the United
+States, which is certainly not the intention of the people of America.
+Their fraternal voice has resounded from every quarter around me, and
+their accents are not equivocal. They are pure as the hearts of those
+by whom they are expressed, and the more they have touched my
+sensibility, the more they must interest in the happiness of America
+the nation I represent;&#8212;the more I wish, sir, that the federal
+government should observe, as far as in their power, the public
+engagements contracted by both nations; and that, by this generous and
+prudent conduct, they will give at least to the world, the example of
+a true neutrality, which does not consist in the cowardly abandonment
+of their friends in the moment when danger menaces them, but in
+adhering strictly, if they can do no better, to the obligations they
+have contracted with them. It is by such proceedings that they will
+render themselves respectable to all the powers; that they will
+preserve their friends and deserve to augment their numbers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A few days previous to the reception of the letter from which the
+above is an extract, two citizens of the United States, who had been
+engaged by Mr. Genet in Charleston to cruise in the service of France,
+were arrested by the civil magistrate, in pursuance of the
+determination formed by the executive for the prosecution of persons
+having thus offended against the laws. Mr. Genet demanded their
+release in the following extraordinary terms:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have this moment been informed that two officers in the service of
+the republic of France, citizen Gideon Henfield and John Singletary,
+have been arrested on board the privateer of the French republic, the
+Citizen Genet, and conducted to prison. The crime laid to their
+charge&#8212;the crime which my mind can not conceive, and which my pen
+almost refuses to state,&#8212;is the serving of France, and defending with
+her children the common glorious cause of liberty.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Being ignorant of any positive law or treaty which deprives Americans
+of this privilege, and authorizes officers of police arbitrarily to
+take mariners in the service of France from on board their vessels, I
+call upon your intervention, sir, and that of the President of the
+United States, in order to obtain the immediate releasement of the
+above mentioned officers, who have acquired, by the sentiments
+animating them, and by the act of their engagement, anterior to every
+act to the contrary, the right of French citizens, if they have lost
+that of American citizens.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This lofty offensive style could not fail to make a deep impression on
+a mind penetrated with a just sense of those obligations by which the
+chief magistrate is bound to guard the dignity of his government, and
+to take care that his nation be not degraded in his person. Yet, in no
+single instance, did the administration, in its communications with
+Mr. Genet, permit itself to be betrayed into the use of one
+intemperate expression. The firmness with which the extravagant
+pretensions of that gentleman were resisted, proceeding entirely from
+a sense of duty and conviction of right, was unaccompanied with any
+marks of that resentment which his language and his conduct were alike
+calculated to inspire.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">State of parties.</div>
+
+<p>Mr. Genet appears to have been prevented from acquiescing in a line of
+conduct thus deliberately adopted and prudently pursued, by a belief
+that the sentiments of the people were in direct opposition to the
+measures of their government. So excessive, and so general, were the
+demonstrations of enthusiastic devotion to France; so open were their
+expressions of outrage and hostility towards all the powers at war
+with that republic; so thin was the veil which covered the chief
+magistrate from that stream of malignant opprobrium directed against
+every measure which thwarted the views of Mr. Genet; that a person
+less sanguine than that minister might have cherished the hope of
+being able ultimately to triumph over the opposition to his designs.
+Civic festivals, and other public assemblages of people, at which the
+ensigns of France were displayed in union with those of America; at
+which the red cap, as a symbol of French liberty and fraternity,
+triumphantly passed from head to head; at which toasts were given
+expressive of a desire to identify the people of America with those of
+France; and, under the imposing guise of adhering to principles not to
+men, containing allusions to the influence of the President which
+could not be mistaken; appeared to Mr. Genet to indicate a temper
+extremely favourable to his hopes, and very different from that which
+would be required for the preservation of an honest neutrality.
+Through the medium of the press, these sentiments were communicated to
+the public, and were represented as flowing from the hearts of the
+great body of the people. In various other modes, that important
+engine contributed its powerful aid to the extension of opinions,
+calculated, essentially, to vary the situation of the United States.
+The proclamation of neutrality which was treated as a royal edict, was
+not only considered as assuming powers not belonging to the executive,
+and, as evidencing the monarchical tendencies of that department, but
+as demonstrating the disposition of the government to break its
+connexions with France, and to dissolve the friendship which united
+the people of the two republics. The declaration that &quot;the duty and
+interest of the United States required that they should with sincerity
+and good faith adopt and pursue a conduct friendly and impartial
+towards the belligerent powers,&quot; gave peculiar umbrage. The scenes of
+the revolutionary war were brought into review; the object and effect
+of British hostility were painted in glowing colours; and the
+important aids afforded by France were drawn with a pencil not less
+animated. That the conduct of Britain, since the treaty of peace had
+furnished unequivocal testimony of enmity to the United States, was
+strongly pressed. With this continuing enmity was contrasted the
+amicable dispositions professed by the French republic; and it was
+asked with indignation, whether the interests of the United States
+required that they should pursue &quot;a line of conduct entirely impartial
+between these two powers? That the services of the one as well as the
+injuries of the other, should be forgotten? that a friend and an enemy
+should be treated with equal favour? and that neither gratitude nor
+resentment should constitute a feature of the American character?&quot; The
+supposed freedom of the French was opposed to the imagined slavery of
+the English; and it was demanded whether &quot;the people of America were
+alike friendly to republicanism and to monarchy? to liberty and to
+despotism?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>With infectious enthusiasm it was contended, that there was a natural
+and inveterate hostility between monarchies and republics; that the
+present combination against France was a combination against liberty
+in every part of the world; and that the destinies of America were
+inseparably linked with those of the French republic.</p>
+
+<p>On the various points of controversy which had arisen between the
+executive and Mr. Genet, this active and powerful party openly and
+decidedly embraced the principles for which that minister contended.
+It was assumed that his demands were sanctioned by subsisting
+treaties, and that his exposition of those instruments was perfectly
+correct. The conduct of the executive in withholding privileges to
+which France was said to be entitled by the most solemn engagements,
+was reprobated with extreme acrimony; was considered as indicative of
+a desire to join the coalesced despots in their crusade against
+liberty; and as furnishing to the French republic such just motives
+for war, that it required all her moderation and forbearance to
+restrain her from declaring it against the United States.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Genet was exhorted not to relax in his endeavours to maintain the
+just rights of his country; and was assured that, in the affections of
+the people, he would find a firm and certain support.</p>
+
+<p>These principles and opinions derived considerable aid from the
+labours and intrigues of certain societies, who had constituted
+themselves the guardians of American liberty.</p>
+
+<p>The manner in which that attention of the conduct of those invested
+with the power which is essential in balanced governments, may safely
+be employed, had been so misconceived, that temporary and detached
+clubs of citizens had occasionally been formed in different parts of
+the United States, for the avowed purpose of watching the conduct of
+their rulers. After the adoption of the constitution, some slight use
+was made, by its enemies, of this weapon; and, in the German
+Republican Society particularly, many of the most strenuous opponents
+of the administration were collected.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Democratic societies formed.</div>
+
+<p>The force and power of these institutions had been fully developed,
+and their efficacy in prostrating existing establishments clearly
+ascertained by the revolution in France. The increased influence which
+they derived from corresponding with each other, had been
+unequivocally demonstrated; and soon after the arrival of Mr. Genet, a
+democratic society was formed in Philadelphia on the model of the
+Jacobin club in Paris. An anxious solicitude for the preservation of
+freedom, the very existence of which was menaced by a &quot;European
+confederacy transcendent in power and unparalleled in iniquity;&quot; which
+was endangered also by &quot;the pride of wealth and arrogance of power,&quot;
+displayed within the United States; was the motive assigned for the
+association. &quot;A constant circulation of useful information, and a
+liberal communication of republican sentiments, were thought to be the
+best antidotes to any political poison with which the vital principle
+of civil liberty might be attacked:&quot; and to give the more extensive
+operation to their labours, a corresponding committee was appointed,
+through whom they would communicate with other societies, which might
+be established on similar principles, throughout the United States.</p>
+
+<p>Faithful to their founder, and true to the real objects of their
+association, these societies continued, during the term of their
+existence, to be the resolute champions of all the encroachments
+attempted by the agents of the French republic on the government of
+the United States, and the steady defamers of the views and measures
+of the American executive.</p>
+
+<p>Thus strongly supported, Mr. Genet persisted in his construction of
+the treaties between the two nations; and, in defiance of the positive
+determination of the government, continued to act according to that
+construction.</p>
+
+<p>The President was called to Mount Vernon by urgent business, which
+detained him less than three weeks; and, in his absence, the heads of
+departments superintended the execution of those rules which had been
+previously established.</p>
+
+<p>In this short interval, a circumstance occurred, strongly marking the
+rashness of the minister of France, and his disrespect to the
+executive of the United States.</p>
+
+<p>The Little Sarah, an English merchantman, had been captured by a
+French frigate, and brought into the port of Philadelphia, where she
+was completely equipped as a privateer, and was just about to sail on
+a cruise under the name of <i>le petit Democrat</i>, when the secretary of
+the treasury communicated her situation to the secretaries of state
+and of war; in consequence of which, Governor Mifflin was desired to
+cause an examination of the fact. The warden of the port was directed
+to institute the proper inquiries; and late in the evening of the
+sixth of July, he reported her situation, and that she was to sail the
+next day.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Genet calculates upon the partialities of the American
+people for France and openly insults their government.</div>
+
+<p>In pursuance of the instructions which had been given by the
+President, the governor immediately sent Mr. Secretary Dallas for the
+purpose of prevailing on Mr. Genet to relieve him from the employment
+of force, by detaining the vessel in port until the arrival of the
+President, who was then on his way from Mount Vernon. Mr. Dallas
+communicated this message to the French minister in terms as
+conciliatory as its nature would permit. On receiving it, he gave a
+loose to the most extravagant passion. After exclaiming with vehemence
+against the measure, he complained, in strong terms, and with many
+angry epithets, of the ill treatment which he had received from some
+of the officers of the general government, which he contrasted with
+the cordial attachment that was expressed by the people at large for
+his nation. He ascribed the conduct of those officers to principles
+inimical to the cause of France, and of liberty. He insinuated that,
+by their influence, the President had been misled; and observed with
+considerable emphasis, that the President was not the sovereign of
+this country. The powers of peace and war being vested in congress, it
+belonged to that body to decide those questions growing out of
+treaties which might involve peace or war; and the President,
+therefore, ought to have assembled the national legislature before he
+ventured to issue his proclamation of neutrality, or to prohibit, by
+his instructions to the state governors, the enjoyment of the
+particular rights which France claimed under the express stipulations
+of the treaty of commerce. The executive construction of that treaty
+was neither just nor obligatory; and he would make no engagement which
+might be construed into a relinquishment of rights which his
+constituents deemed indispensable. In the course of this vehement and
+angry declamation, he spoke of publishing his correspondence with the
+officers of government, together with a narrative of his proceedings;
+and said that, although the existing causes would warrant an abrupt
+departure, his regard for the people of America would induce him to
+remain here, amidst the insults and disgusts that he daily suffered in
+his official character from the public officers, until the meeting of
+congress; and if that body should agree in the opinions and support
+the measures of the President, he would certainly withdraw, and leave
+the dispute to be adjusted between the two nations themselves. His
+attention being again called by Mr. Dallas to the particular subject,
+he peremptorily refused to enter into any arrangements for suspending
+the departure of the privateer, and cautioned him against any attempt
+to seize her, as she belonged to the republic; and, in defence of the
+honour of her flag, would unquestionably repel force by force.</p>
+
+<p>On receiving the report of Mr. Dallas, Governor Mifflin ordered out
+one hundred and twenty militia, for the purpose of taking possession
+of the privateer; and communicated the case, with all its
+circumstances, to the officers of the executive government. On the
+succeeding day, Mr. Jefferson waited on Mr. Genet, in the hope of
+prevailing on him to pledge his word that the privateer should not
+leave the port until the arrival of the President. The minister was
+not less intemperate with Mr. Jefferson than he had been with Mr.
+Dallas. He indulged himself, in a repetition of nearly the same
+passionate language, and again spoke, with extreme harshness, of the
+conduct of the executive. He persisted in refusing to make any
+engagements for the detention of the vessel; and, after his rage had
+in some degree spent itself, he entreated that no attempt might be
+made to take possession of her, as her crew was on board, and force
+would be repelled by force.</p>
+
+<p>He then also said that she was not ready to sail immediately. She
+would change her position, and fall down the river a small distance on
+that day; but was not yet ready to sail.</p>
+
+<p>In communicating this conversation to Governor Mifflin, Mr. Jefferson
+stated his conviction that the privateer would remain in the river
+until the President should decide on her case; in consequence of
+which, the governor dismissed the militia, and requested the advice of
+the heads of departments on the course which it would be proper for
+him to pursue. Both the governor and Mr. Jefferson stated, that in
+reporting the conversation between Mr. Genet and himself, Mr. Dallas
+had said that Mr. Genet threatened, in express terms, &quot;to appeal from
+the President to the people.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Thus braved and insulted in the very heart of the American empire, the
+secretaries of the treasury, and of war, were of opinion that it was
+expedient to take immediate provisional measures for establishing a
+battery on Mud Island, under cover of a party of militia, with
+directions, that if the vessel should attempt to depart before the
+pleasure of the President should be known concerning her, military
+coercion should be employed to arrest her progress.</p>
+
+<p>The secretary of state dissenting from this opinion, the measure was
+not adopted. The vessel fell down to Chester before the arrival of the
+President, and sailed on her cruise before the power of the government
+could be interposed.</p>
+
+<p>On the 11th of July the President reached Philadelphia, and requested
+that his cabinet ministers would convene at his house the next day at
+nine in the morning.</p>
+
+<p>Among the papers placed in his hands by the secretary of state, which
+required immediate attention, were those which related to the Little
+Democrat. On reading them, a messenger was immediately despatched for
+the secretary, but he had retired, indisposed, to his seat in the
+country. Upon hearing this, the President instantly addressed a letter
+to him, of which the following is an extract. &quot;What is to be done in
+the case of the Little Sarah, now at Chester? Is the minister of the
+French republic to set the acts of this government at defiance <i>with
+impunity</i>&#8212;and then threaten the executive with an appeal to the
+people? What must the world think of such conduct? and of the
+government of the United States in submitting to it?</p>
+
+<p>&quot;These are serious questions&#8212;circumstances press for decision;&#8212;and
+as you have had time to consider them, (upon me they come
+unexpectedly,) I wish to know your opinion upon them even before
+to-morrow&#8212;for the vessel may then be gone.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In answer to this letter, the secretary stated the assurances which
+had on that day been given to him by Mr. Genet, that the vessel would
+not sail before the President's decision respecting her should be
+made. In consequence of this information, immediate coercive measures
+were suspended; and in the council of the succeeding day it was
+determined to retain in port all<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> privateers which had been equipped
+by any of the belligerent powers within the United States. This
+determination was immediately communicated to Mr. Genet; but, in
+contempt of it, the Little Democrat proceeded on her cruise.</p>
+
+<p><a name="p40">In</a> this, as in every effort made by the executive to maintain the
+neutrality of the United States, that great party which denominated
+itself &quot;THE PEOPLE,&quot; could perceive only a settled hostility to France
+and to liberty, a tame subserviency to British policy, and a desire,
+by provoking France, to engage America in the war, for the purpose of
+extirpating republican principles.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p>
+
+<p>The administration received strong additional evidence of the
+difficulty that would attend an adherence to the system which had been
+commenced, in the acquittal of Gideon Henfield.</p>
+
+<p>A prosecution had been instituted against this person who had enlisted
+in Charleston on board a French privateer equipped in that port, which
+had brought her prizes into the port of Philadelphia. This prosecution
+had been directed under the advice of the attorney general, who was of
+opinion, that persons of this description were punishable for having
+violated subsisting treaties, which, by the constitution, are the
+supreme law of the land; and that they were also indictable at common
+law, for disturbing the peace of the United States.</p>
+
+<p>It could not be expected that the democratic party would be
+inattentive to an act so susceptible of misrepresentation. Their
+papers sounded the alarm; and it was universally asked, &quot;what law had
+been offended, and under what statute was the indictment supported?
+Were the American people already prepared to give to a proclamation
+the force of a legislative act, and to subject themselves to the will
+of the executive? But if they were already sunk to such a state of
+degradation, were they to be punished for violating a proclamation
+which had not been published when the offence was committed, if indeed
+it could be termed an offence to engage with France, combating for
+liberty against the combined despots of Europe?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As the trial approached, a great degree of sensibility was displayed;
+and the verdict in favour of Henfield was celebrated with extravagant
+marks of joy and exultation. It bereaved the executive of the strength
+to be derived from an opinion, that punishment might be legally
+inflicted on those who should openly violate the rules prescribed for
+the preservation of neutrality; and exposed that department to the
+obloquy of having attempted a measure which the laws would not
+justify.</p>
+
+<p>About this time, a question growing out of the war between France and
+Britain, the decision of which would materially affect the situation
+of the United States, was presented to the consideration of the
+executive.</p>
+
+<p>It will be recollected that during the war which separated America
+from Britain, the celebrated compact termed the <i>armed neutrality</i> was
+formed in the north of Europe, and announced to the belligerent
+powers. A willingness to acquiesce in the principles it asserted, one
+of which was that free bottoms should make free goods, was expressed
+by the governments engaged in the war, with the single exception of
+Great Britain. But, however favourably the United States, as a
+belligerent, might view a principle which would promote the interests
+of inferior maritime powers, they were not willing, after the
+termination of hostilities, to enter into engagements for its support
+which might endanger their future peace; and, in this spirit,
+instructions were given to their ministers in Europe.</p>
+
+<p>This principle was ingrafted into the treaty of commerce with France;
+but no stipulation on the subject had been made with England. It
+followed, that, with France, the character of the bottom was imparted
+to the cargo; but with Britain, the law of nations was the rule by
+which the respective rights of the belligerent and neutral were to be
+decided.</p>
+
+<p>Construing this rule to give security to the goods of a friend in the
+bottoms of an enemy, and to subject the goods of an enemy to capture
+in the bottoms of a friend, the British cruisers took French property
+out of American vessels, and their courts condemned it as lawful
+prize.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Genet had remonstrated against the acquiescence of the American
+executive in this exposition of the law of nations, in such terms as
+he was accustomed to employ; and on the 9th of July, in the moment of
+the contest respecting the Little Democrat, he had written a letter
+demanding an immediate and positive answer to the question, what
+measures the President had taken, or would take, to cause the American
+flag to be respected? He observed, that &quot;as the English would continue
+to carry off, with impunity, French citizens, and French property
+found on board of American vessels, without embarrassing themselves
+with the philosophical principles proclaimed by the President of the
+United States,&quot; and as the embarrassing engagements of France deprived
+her of the privileges of making reprisals at every point, it was
+necessary for the interests of both nations, quickly to agree on
+taking other measures.</p>
+
+<p>Not receiving an immediate answer, Mr. Genet, towards the close of
+July, again addressed the secretary of state on the subject. In this
+extraordinary letter, after complaining of the insults offered to the
+American flag by seizing the property of Frenchmen confided to its
+protection, he added, &quot;your political rights are counted for nothing.
+In vain do the principles of neutrality establish, that friendly
+vessels make friendly goods; in vain, sir, does the President of the
+United States endeavour, by his proclamation, to reclaim the
+observation of this maxim; in vain does the desire of preserving peace
+lead to sacrifice the interests of France to that of the moment; in
+vain does the thirst of riches preponderate over honour in the
+political balance of America: all this management, all this
+condescension, all this humility, end in nothing; our enemies laugh at
+it; and the French, too confident, are punished for having believed
+that the American nation had a flag, that they had some respect for
+their laws, some conviction of their strength, and entertained some
+sentiment of their dignity. It is not possible for me, sir, to paint
+to you all my sensibility at this scandal which tends to the
+diminution of your commerce, to the oppression of ours, and to the
+debasement and vilification of republics. It is for Americans to make
+known their generous indignation at this outrage; and I must confine
+myself to demand of you a second time, to inform me of the measures
+which you have taken, in order to obtain restitution of the property
+plundered from my fellow citizens, under the protection of your flag.
+It is from our government they have learnt that the Americans were our
+allies, that the American nation was sovereign, and that they knew how
+to make themselves respected. It is then under the very same sanction
+of the French nation, that they have confided their property and
+persons to the safeguard of the American flag; and on her, they submit
+the care of causing those rights to be respected. But if our fellow
+citizens have been deceived, if you are not in a condition to maintain
+the sovereignty of your people, speak; we have guaranteed it when
+slaves, we shall be able to render it formidable, having become
+freemen.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>On the day preceding the date of this offensive letter, the secretary
+of state had answered that of the 9th of July; and, without noticing
+the unbecoming style in which the decision of the executive was
+demanded, had avowed and defended the opinion, that &quot;by the general
+law of nations, the goods of an enemy found in the vessels of a friend
+are lawful prize.&quot; This fresh insult might therefore be passed over in
+silence.</p>
+
+<p>While a hope remained that the temperate forbearance of the executive,
+and the unceasing manifestations of its friendly dispositions towards
+the French republic, might induce the minister of that nation to
+respect the rights of the United States, and to abstain from
+violations of their sovereignty, an anxious solicitude not to impair
+the harmony which he wished to maintain between the two republics, had
+restrained the President from adopting those measures respecting Mr.
+Genet, which the conduct of that gentleman required. He had seen a
+foreign minister usurp within the territories of the United States
+some of the most important rights of sovereignty, and persist, after
+the prohibition of the government, in the exercise of those rights. In
+asserting this extravagant claim, so incompatible with national
+independence, the spirit in which it originated had been pursued, and
+the haughty style of a superior had been substituted for the
+respectful language of diplomacy. He had seen the same minister
+undertake to direct the civil government; and to pronounce, in
+opposition to the decisions of the executive, in what departments of
+the constitution of the United States had placed certain great
+national powers. To render this state of things more peculiarly
+critical and embarrassing, the person most instrumental in producing
+it, had, from his arrival, thrown himself into the arms of the people,
+stretched out to receive him; and was emboldened by their favour, to
+indulge the hope of succeeding in his endeavours, either to overthrow
+their government, or to bend it to his will. But the full experiment
+had now been made; and the result was a conviction not to be resisted,
+that moderation would only invite additional injuries, and that the
+present insufferable state of things could be terminated only by
+procuring the removal of the French minister, or by submitting to
+become, in his hands, the servile instrument of hostility against the
+enemies of his nation. Information was continually received from every
+quarter, of fresh aggressions on the principles established by the
+government; and, while the executive was thus openly disregarded and
+contemned, the members of the administration were reproached in all
+the papers of an active and restless opposition, as the violators of
+the national faith, the partisans of monarchy, and the enemies of
+liberty and of France.</p>
+
+<p><a name="p47">The</a> unwearied efforts of that department to preserve that station in
+which the various treaties in existence had placed the nation, were
+incessantly calumniated<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> as infractions of those treaties, and
+ungrateful attempts to force the United States into the war against
+France.</p>
+
+<p>The judgment of the President was never hastily formed; but, once made
+up, it was seldom to be shaken. Before the last letter of Mr. Genet
+was communicated to him, he seems to have determined to take decisive
+measures respecting that minister.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Rules laid down by the executive in relation to the powers
+at war within the ports of the United States.<br />The president requests the recall of Genet.</div>
+
+<p><a name="p48">That</a> the course to be pursued might be well considered, the secretary
+of state was requested to collect all the correspondence with him, to
+be laid before a cabinet council about to be held for the purpose of
+adjusting a complete system of rules to be observed by the
+belligerents in the ports of the United States. These rules were
+discussed at several meetings, and finally, on the third of August,
+received the unanimous approbation of the cabinet. They<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> evidence
+the settled purpose of the executive, faithfully to observe all the
+national engagements, and honestly to perform the duties of that
+neutrality in which the war found them, and in which those engagements
+left them free to remain.</p>
+
+<p>In the case of the minister of the French republic, it was unanimously
+agreed that a letter should be written to Mr. Morris, the minister of
+the United States at Paris, stating the conduct of Mr. Genet, resuming
+the points of difference which had arisen between the government and
+that gentleman, assigning the reasons for the opinion of the former,
+desiring the recall of the latter, and directing that this letter,
+with those which had passed between Mr. Genet and the secretary of
+state, should be laid before the executive of the French government.</p>
+
+<p>To a full view of the transactions of the executive with Mr. Genet,
+and an ample justification of its measures, this able diplomatic
+performance adds assurances of unvarying attachment to France,
+expressed in such terms of unaffected sensibility, as to render
+it impossible to suspect the sincerity of the concluding
+sentiment&#8212;&quot;that, after independence and self-government, there was
+nothing America more sincerely wished than perpetual friendship with
+them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>An adequate idea of the passion it excited in Mr. Genet, who received
+the communication in September, at New York, can be produced only by a
+perusal of his letter addressed, on that occasion, to the secretary of
+state. The asperity of his language was not confined to the President,
+whom he still set at defiance, whom he charged with transcending the
+limits prescribed by the constitution, and of whose accusation before
+congress he spoke as an act of justice &quot;which the American people,
+which the French people, which all free people were interested to
+reclaim:&quot; nor to those &quot;gentlemen who had been painted to him so often
+as aristocrats, partisans of monarchy, partisans of England, and
+consequently enemies of the principles which all good Frenchmen had
+embraced with a religious enthusiasm.&quot; Its bitterness was also
+extended to the secretary of state himself, whom he had been induced
+to consider as his personal friend, and who had, he said, &quot;initiated
+him into mysteries which had inflamed his hatred against all those who
+aspire to an absolute power.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>During these deliberations, Mr. Genet was received in New York with
+the same remarks of partiality to his nation, and of flattering regard
+to himself, which had been exhibited in the more southern states. At
+this place too, he manifested the same desire to encourage discontent
+at the conduct of the government, and to embark America in the
+quarrel, by impressing an opinion that the existence of liberty
+depended on the success of the French republic, which he had uniformly
+avowed. In answer to an address from the republican citizens of New
+York, who had spoken of the proclamation of neutrality as relating
+only to acts of open hostility, not to the feelings of the heart; and
+who had declared that they would &quot;exultingly sacrifice a liberal
+portion of their dearest interests could there result, on behalf of
+the French republic, an adequate advantage;&quot; he said&#8212;&quot;in this respect
+I can not but interpret as you have done the declaration of your
+government. They must know that the strict performance of treaties is
+the best and safest policy; they must know that good faith alone can
+inspire respectability to a nation; that a pusillanimous conduct
+provokes insult, and brings upon a country those very dangers which it
+weakly means to avert.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There is indeed too much reason to fear that you are involved in the
+general conspiracy of tyrants against liberty. They never will, they
+never can forgive you for having been the first to proclaim the rights
+of man. But you will force them to respect you by pursuing with
+firmness the only path which is consistent with your national honour
+and dignity.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The cause of France is the cause of all mankind, and no nation is
+more deeply interested than you are in its success. Whatever fate
+awaits her, you are ultimately to share. But the cause of liberty is
+great and it shall prevail.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And if France, under a despotic yoke, has been able so successfully
+to assert your rights, they can never again be endangered while she is
+at liberty to exert, in your support, that powerful arm which now
+defies the combined efforts of a whole world.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>While these exertions were successfully making to give increased
+force, and a wider extent, to opinions which might subvert the system
+adopted by the executive, Mr. Jay, the chief justice of the United
+States, and Mr. King, a senator representing the state, arrived in New
+York from Philadelphia. They had been preceded by a report, which was
+whispered in private circles, that the French minister had avowed a
+determination to appeal from the President to the people. The
+confidential intercourse subsisting between these gentlemen and a part
+of the administration rendering it probable that this declaration, if
+made, had been communicated to them, they were asked, whether the
+report was true; having received the information through a channel<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a>
+which was entitled to the most implicit faith, they answered that it
+was.</p>
+
+<p>Their having said so was controverted; and they were repeatedly
+required, in the public papers, to admit or deny that they had made
+such an assertion. Thus called upon, they published a certificate
+avowing that they had made the declaration imputed to them.</p>
+
+<p>On reflecting men this communication made a serious impression. The
+recent events in Poland, whose dismemberment and partition were easily
+traced to the admission of foreign influence, gave additional
+solemnity to the occurrence, and led to a more intent consideration of
+the awful causes which would embolden a foreign minister to utter such
+a threat.</p>
+
+<p>That party, which in the commencement of the contests respecting the
+constitution was denominated federal, had generally supported the
+measures of the administration.</p>
+
+<p>That which was denominated anti-federal, had generally opposed those
+measures. South of the Potomac especially, there was certainly many
+important exceptions to this arrangement of parties; yet as a general
+arrangement, it was unquestionably correct.</p>
+
+<p>In the common partialities for France, in the common hope that the
+revolution in that country would be crowned with success, and would
+produce important benefits to the human race, they had equally
+participated; but in the course to be pursued by the United States,
+the line of separation between the two parties was clear and distinct.
+The federalists were universally of opinion that, in the existing war,
+America ought to preserve a neutrality as impartial as was compatible
+with her treaties; and that those treaties had been fairly and justly
+construed by the executive. Seduced however by their wishes, and by
+their affections, they at first yielded implicit faith to the
+assurances given by Mr. Genet of the disinclination of the French
+republic to draw them from this eligible position; and from this
+belief, they receded slowly and reluctantly.</p>
+
+<p>They were inclined to ascribe the bitter invectives which were
+pronounced against the executive to an inveterate hostility to the
+government, and to those who administered it; and, when at length they
+were compelled to perceive that the whole influence of Mr. Genet was
+employed in stimulating and pointing these invectives, they fondly
+indulged the hope that his nation would not countenance his conduct.
+Adding to their undiminished attachment to the chief magistrate, a
+keen sense of the disgrace, the humiliation, and the danger of
+permitting the American government to be forced into any system of
+measures by the machinations of a foreign minister with the people,
+they had occasionally endeavoured, through the medium of the press, to
+keep the public mind correct; and, when it was announced that an
+appeal to themselves was threatened, they felt impelled by the
+strongest sentiments of patriotism and regard for national honour, to
+declare the indignation which the threat had inspired. In every
+quarter of the union, the people assembled in their districts, and the
+strength of parties was fully tried. The contest was warm and
+strenuous. But public opinion appeared to preponderate greatly in
+favour of neutrality, and of the proclamation by which its observance
+was directed. It was apparent too, that the American bosom still
+glowed with ardent affection for their chief magistrate; and that,
+however successful might have been the shafts directed against some of
+those who shared his confidence, the arrows aimed at himself had
+missed their mark.</p>
+
+<p>Yet it was not to be concealed that the indiscreet arrogance of Mr.
+Genet, the direct insults to the President, and the attachment which
+many, who were in opposition to the general measures of the
+administration, still retained for the person of that approved
+patriot, contributed essentially to the prevalence of the sentiment
+which was called forth by the occasion.</p>
+
+<p>In the resolutions expressing the strongest approbation of the
+measures which had been adopted, and the greatest abhorrence of
+foreign influence, a decided partiality for France was frequently
+manifested; while in those of a contrary description, respect for the
+past services of the President, and a willingness to support the
+executive in the exercises of its constitutional functions, seemed,
+when introduced, to be reluctantly placed among the more agreeable
+declarations of detestation for those who sought to dissolve the union
+between America and France, and of the devotion with which the French
+revolution ought to be espoused by all the friends of liberty.</p>
+
+<p>The effect which the certificate of Mr. Jay and Mr. King might
+possibly produce was foreseen; and Mr. Genet sought to avoid its
+influence by questioning its veracity. Not only had it never been
+alleged that the exceptionable expressions were used to the President
+personally, but it was certain that they had not been uttered in his
+presence. Affecting not to have adverted to this obvious circumstance,
+the minister, on the 13th of August, addressed a letter to the chief
+magistrate, which, being designed for publication, was itself the act
+he had threatened, in which he subjoined to a detail of his
+accusations against the executive, the demand of an explicit
+declaration that he had never intimated to him an intention to appeal
+to the people.</p>
+
+<p>On the 16th this letter was answered by the secretary of state, who,
+after acknowledging its receipt by the President, added, &quot;I am desired
+to observe to you that it is not the established course for the
+diplomatic characters residing here to have any direct correspondence
+with him. The secretary of state is the organ through which their
+communications should pass.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The President does not conceive it to be within the line of propriety
+or duty, for him to bear evidence against a declaration, which,
+whether made to him or others, is perhaps immaterial; he therefore
+declines interfering in the case.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Seldom has more conclusive testimony been offered of the ascendency
+which, in the conflicts of party, the passions maintain over reason,
+than was exhibited, on this occasion, by the zealous partisans of the
+French minister. It might have been expected that, content with
+questioning the fact, or with diverting the obloquy attending it from
+the French nation, no American would have been found hardy enough to
+justify it; and but few, to condemn those gentlemen by whose means it
+had reached the public ear. Nothing could be farther removed from this
+expectation, than the conduct that was actually observed. The censure
+merited by the expressions themselves fell, not upon the person who
+had used them, but upon those who had communicated them to the public.
+Writers of considerable political eminence, charged them as being
+members of a powerful faction who were desirous of separating America
+from France, and connecting her with England, for the purpose of
+introducing the British constitution.</p>
+
+<p>As if no sin could equal the crime of disclosing to the people a truth
+which, by inducing reflection, might check the flood of that passion
+for France which was deemed the surest test of patriotism, the darkest
+motives were assigned for the disclosure, and the reputation of those
+who made it has scarcely been rescued by a lapse of years, and by a
+change of the subjects of controversy, from the peculiar party odium
+with which they were at the time overwhelmed.</p>
+
+<p>Sentiments of a still more extraordinary nature were openly avowed. In
+a republican country, it was said, the people alone were the basis of
+government. All powers being derived from them, might, by them, be
+withdrawn at pleasure. They alone were the authors of the law, and to
+them alone, must the ultimate decision on the interpretation belong.
+From these delicate and popular truths, it was inferred, that the
+doctrine that the sovereignty of the nation resided in the departments
+of government was incompatible with the principles of liberty; and
+that, if Mr. Genet dissented from the interpretation given by the
+President to existing treaties, he might rightfully appeal to the real
+sovereign whose agent the President was, and to whom he was
+responsible for his conduct. Is the President, it was asked, a
+<i>consecrated</i> character, that an appeal from his decisions must be
+considered criminal? or are the people in such a state of monarchical
+degradation, that to speak of consulting them is an offence as great,
+as if America groaned under a dominion equally tyrannical with the old
+monarchy of France?</p>
+
+<p>It was soon ascertained that Mr. Dallas, to whom this threat of
+appealing to the people had been delivered, did not admit that the
+precise words had been used. Mr. Genet then, in the coarsest terms,
+averred the falsehood of the certificate which had been published, and
+demanded from the attorney general, and from the government, that Mr.
+Jay and Mr. King should be indicted for a libel upon himself and his
+nation. That officer accompanied his refusal to institute this
+information with the declaration that any other gentleman of the
+profession, who might approve and advise the attempt, could be at no
+loss to point out a mode which would not require his intervention.</p>
+
+<p>While the minister of the French republic thus loudly complained of
+the unparalleled injury he received from being charged with employing
+a particular exceptionable phrase, he seized every fair occasion to
+carry into full execution the threat which he denied having made. His
+letters, written for the purpose of publication, and actually
+published by himself, accused the executive, before the tribunal of
+the people, on those specific points, from its decisions respecting
+which he was said to have threatened the appeal. As if the offence
+lay, not in perpetrating the act, but in avowing an intention to
+perpetrate it, this demonstration of his designs did not render his
+advocates the less vehement in his support, nor the less acrimonious
+in reproaching the administration, as well as Mr. Jay and Mr. King.</p>
+
+<p>Whilst insult was thus added to insult, the utmost vigilance of the
+executive officers was scarcely sufficient to maintain an observance
+of the rules which had been established for preserving neutrality in
+the American ports. Mr. Genet persisted in refusing to acquiesce in
+those rules; and fresh instances of attempts to violate them were
+continually recurring. Among these, was an outrage committed in
+Boston, too flagrant to be overlooked.</p>
+
+<p>A schooner, brought as a prize into the port of Boston by a French
+privateer, was claimed by the British owner; who instituted
+proceedings at law against her, for the purpose of obtaining a
+decision on the validity of her capture. She was rescued from the
+possession of the marshal, by an armed force acting under the
+authority of Mr. Duplaine, the French consul, which was detached from
+a frigate then lying in port. Until the frigate sailed, she was
+guarded by a part of the crew; and, notwithstanding the determination
+of the American government that the consular courts should not
+exercise a prize jurisdiction within the territories of the United
+States, Mr. Duplaine declared his purpose to take cognizance of the
+case.</p>
+
+<p>To this act of open defiance, it was impossible for the President to
+submit. The facts being well attested, the exequatur which had been
+granted to Mr. Duplaine was revoked, and he was forbidden further to
+exercise the consular functions. It will excite surprise that even
+this necessary measure could not escape censure. The self-proclaimed
+champions of liberty discovered in it a violation of the constitution,
+and a new indignity to France.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Genet did not confine his attempts to employ the force of America
+against the enemies of his country to maritime enterprises. On his
+first arrival, he is understood to have planned an expedition against
+the Floridas, to be carried on from Georgia; and another against
+Louisiana, to be carried on from the western parts of the United
+States. Intelligence was received that the principal officers were
+engaged; and the temper of the people inhabiting the western country
+was such as to furnish some ground for the apprehension, that the
+restraints which the executive was capable of imposing, would be found
+too feeble to prevent the execution of this plan. The remonstrances of
+the Spanish commissioners on this subject, however, were answered with
+explicit assurances that the government would effectually interpose to
+defeat any expedition from the territories of the United States
+against those of Spain; and the governor of Kentucky was requested to
+co-operate in frustrating this improper application of the military
+resources of his state.</p>
+
+<p>It was not by the machinations of the French minister alone that the
+neutrality of the United States was endangered. The party which, under
+different pretexts, urged measures the inevitable tendency of which
+was war, derived considerable aid, in their exertions to influence the
+passions of the people, from the conduct of others of the belligerent
+powers. The course pursued both by Britain and Spain rendered the task
+of the executive still more arduous, by furnishing weapons to the
+enemies of neutrality, capable of being wielded with great effect.</p>
+
+<p>The resentment excited by the rigour with which the maritime powers of
+Europe retained the monopoly of their colonial commerce, had, without
+the aid of those powerful causes which had lately been brought into
+operation, been directed peculiarly against Great Britain. These
+resentments had been greatly increased. That nation had not mitigated
+the vexations and inconveniences which war necessarily inflicts on
+neutral trade, by any relaxations in her colonial policy.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Decree of the national convention relative to neutral
+commerce.</div>
+
+<p>To this rigid and repulsive system, that of France presented a perfect
+contrast. Either influenced by the politics of the moment, or
+suspecting that, in a contest with the great maritime nations of
+Europe, her commerce must search for security in other bottoms than
+her own, she opened the ports of her colonies to every neutral flag,
+and offered to the United States a new treaty, in which it was
+understood that every mercantile distinction between Americans and
+Frenchmen should be totally abolished.</p>
+
+<p>With that hasty credulity which, obedient to the wishes, can not await
+the sober and deliberate decisions of the judgment, the Americans
+ascribed this change, and these propositions, to the liberal genius of
+freedom; and expected the new commercial and political systems to be
+equally durable. As if, in the term <span class="smcap">republic</span>, the avaricious spirit of
+commercial monopoly would lose its influence over men; as if the
+passions were to withdraw from the management of human affairs, and
+leave the helm to the guidance of reason, and of disinterested
+philanthropy; a vast proportion of the American people believed this
+novel system to be the genuine offspring of new-born liberty; and
+consequently expected that, from the success of the republican arms, a
+flood of untried good was to rush upon the world.</p>
+
+<p>The avidity with which the neutral merchants pressed forward to reap
+the rich and tempting harvest offered to them by the regulations and
+the wants of France, presented a harvest not less rich and tempting to
+the cruisers of her enemies. Captures to a great extent were made,
+some with, others without, justifiable cause; and the irritations
+inseparable from disappointment in gathering the fruits of a gainful
+traffic, were extensively communicated to the agricultural part of
+society.</p>
+
+<p>The vexations on the ocean to which neutrals are commonly exposed
+during war, were aggravated by a measure of the British cabinet, which
+war was not admitted to justify.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">British order of 1793.</div>
+
+<p>The vast military exertions of the French republic had carried many
+hands from their usual occupations, to the field; and the measures of
+government, added to the internal commotions, had discouraged labour
+by rendering its profits insecure. These causes, aided perhaps by
+unfavourable seasons, had produced a scarcity which threatened famine.
+This state of things suggested to their enemies the policy of
+increasing the internal distress, by cutting off the external supply.
+In execution of this plan, the British cruisers were instructed &quot;to
+stop all vessels loaded wholly or in part with corn, flour, or meal,
+bound to any port in France, or any port occupied by the armies of
+France, and to send them to such ports as shall be most convenient, in
+order that such corn, meal, or flour, may be purchased on behalf of
+his majesty's government, and the ships be relieved after such
+purchase, and after a due allowance for freight; or that the masters
+of such ships on giving due security, to be approved by the court of
+admiralty, be permitted to proceed to dispose of their cargoes of
+corn, meal, or flour, in the ports of any country in amity with his
+majesty.&quot;</p>
+
+<p><a name="p64">In</a> the particular character of the war, and in the general expressions
+of some approved modern writers on the law of nations, the British
+government sought a justification of this strong measure. But by
+neutrals generally, it was deemed an unwarrantable invasion of their
+rights; and the remonstrances made against it by the American
+government in particular, were serious and earnest. This attempt to
+make a principle, which was understood to be applicable only to
+blockaded places, subservient to the impracticable plan of starving an
+immense agricultural nation, was resisted with great strength of
+reasoning by the administration; and added, not inconsiderably, to the
+resentment felt by the body of the people.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p>
+
+<p>Hostilities on the ocean disclosed still another source of irritation,
+which added its copious stream to the impetuous torrent which
+threatened to sweep America into the war that desolated Europe.</p>
+
+<p>The British government had long been accustomed to resort to the
+practice of manning their fleet by impressment. The exercise of this
+prerogative had not been confined to the land. Merchantmen in their
+ports, and even at sea, were visited, and mariners were taken out of
+them, to be employed in the royal navy. The profits of trade enabling
+neutral merchants to give high wages, British sailors were tempted, in
+great numbers, to enter their service; but the neutral ship furnished
+no protection. Disregarding the bottom in which they sailed, the
+officers of the navy impressed them wherever found, often leaving
+scarcely hands enough to navigate the vessel into port.</p>
+
+<p>The Americans were peculiarly exposed to the abuse to which such
+usages are liable. Descended from the same ancestors and speaking the
+same language, the distinction between them and the English, though in
+general sufficiently marked, was not always so visible as to prevent
+unintentional error; nor were the captains of ships of war, at all
+times, very solicitous to avoid mistake. Native Americans, therefore,
+were frequently impressed, and compelled to serve against the French
+republic.</p>
+
+<p>The British cabinet disclaimed all pretensions to the impressment of
+real American citizens, and declared officially a willingness to
+discharge them, on the establishment of their citizenship. But time
+was necessary to procure the requisite testimonials; and those
+officers who had notoriously offended in this respect, were not so
+discountenanced by their government as to be deterred from a
+repetition of the offence. There was too, one class of citizens,
+concerning whose rights a difference of opinion prevailed, which has
+not even yet been adjusted. These were British subjects who had
+migrated to, and been adopted by, the United States.</p>
+
+<p>The continuance of the Indian war added still another item to this
+catalogue of discontents.</p>
+
+<p>The efforts of the United States to make a treaty with the savages of
+the Miamis had proved abortive. The Indians insisted on the Ohio as
+the boundary between them and the whites; and, although the American
+commissioners expressed a willingness to relinquish some of the lands
+purchased at the treaty of fort Harmar, and pressed them to propose
+some line between the boundary established by that treaty and the
+Ohio, they adhered inflexibly to their original demand.</p>
+
+<p>It was extensively believed in America, and information collected from
+the Indians countenanced the opinion, that they were encouraged by the
+government of Canada to persevere in this claim, and that the treaty
+was defeated by British influence. The conviction was universal that
+this influence would continue so long as the posts south of the lakes
+should be occupied by British troops; and the uneasiness which the
+detention of those posts created, daily acquired strength.
+Unfortunately, the original pretext for detaining them was not yet
+removed. The courts of the United States had not yet declared that
+British debts contracted before the war, were recoverable. In one of
+the circuits, a decision had been recently made, partly favourable,
+and partly unfavourable, to the claim of the creditor. To this
+decision writs of error had been brought, and the case was pending
+before the supreme court. The motives therefore originally assigned
+for holding the posts on the lakes still remained; and, as it was a
+maxim with the executive &quot;to place an adversary clearly in the wrong,&quot;
+and it was expected that the existing impediments to the fulfilment of
+the treaty on the part of the United States would soon be done away,
+it was thought unadviseable, had the military force of the union been
+equal to the object, to seize those posts, until their surrender could
+be required in consequence of a complete execution of the treaty. In
+the mean time, the British minister was earnestly pressed upon the
+subject.</p>
+
+<p>This prudent conduct was far from being satisfactory to the people.
+Estimating at nothing, infractions made by themselves, and rating
+highly those committed by the opposite party, they would, in any state
+of things, have complained loudly of this act of the British
+government. But, agitated as they were by the various causes which
+were perpetually acting on their passions, it is not wonderful that an
+increased influence was given to this measure; that it should be
+considered as conclusive testimony of British hostility, and should
+add to the bitterness with which the government was reproached for
+attempting a system &quot;alike friendly and impartial to the belligerent
+powers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The causes of discontent which were furnished by Spain, though less
+the theme of public declamation, continued to be considerable.</p>
+
+<p>The American ministers at Madrid could make no progress in their
+negotiation. The question of limits remained unsettled, and the
+Mississippi was still closed against the Americans. In addition to
+these subjects of disquiet, the southern states were threatened with
+war from the Creeks and Cherokees, who were, with good reason,
+believed to be excited to hostility by the Spanish government. Of
+these irritating differences, that which related to the Mississippi
+was far the most operative, and embarrassing. The imagination,
+especially when warmed by discontent, bestows on a good which is
+withheld, advantages much greater than the reality will justify; and
+the people of the western country were easily persuaded to believe
+that the navigation of the Mississippi was a mine of wealth which
+would at once enrich them. That jealousy which men so readily
+entertain of the views of those with whom they do not associate, had
+favoured the efforts made by the enemies of the administration, to
+circulate the opinion that an opposition of interests existed between
+the eastern and the western people, and that the endeavours of the
+executive to open their great river were feeble and insincere. At a
+meeting of the Democratic Society in Lexington, in Kentucky, this
+sentiment was unanimously avowed in terms of peculiar disrespect to
+the government; and a committee was appointed to open a correspondence
+with the inhabitants of the whole western country, for the purpose of
+uniting them on this all important subject, and of preparing on it a
+remonstrance to the President and congress of the United States, to be
+expressed &quot;in the bold, decent and determined language, proper to be
+used by injured freemen when they address the servants of the people.&quot;
+They claimed much merit for their moderation in having thus long, out
+of regard to their government, and affection for their fellow citizens
+on the Atlantic, abstained from the use of those means which they
+possessed for the assertion of what they termed a natural and
+unalienable right; and seemed to indicate the opinion that this
+forbearance could not be long continued. Without regarding the
+determination of Spain in the case or the poverty of the means placed
+in the hands of the executive for inducing a change in this
+determination, they demanded from the government the free use of the
+Mississippi, as if only an act of the will was necessary to insure it
+to them. Not even the probability that the public and intemperate
+expression of these dangerous dispositions would perpetuate the evil,
+could moderate them. This restless uneasy temper gave additional
+importance to the project of an expedition against Louisiana, which
+had been formed by Mr. Genet.</p>
+
+<p>These public causes for apprehending hostilities<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> with Spain, were
+strengthened by private communications. The government had received
+intelligence from their ministers in Europe that propositions had been
+made by the cabinet of Madrid to that of London, the object of which
+was the United States. The precise nature of these propositions was
+not ascertained, but it was understood generally, that their tendency
+was hostile.</p>
+
+<p>Thus unfavourable to the pacific views of the executive were the
+circumstances under which congress was to assemble.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><b>Meeting of congress.... President's speech.... His message
+on the foreign relations of the United States.... Report of
+the Secretary of State on the commerce of the United
+States.... He resigns.... Is succeeded by Mr. Randolph....
+Mr. Madison's resolutions founded on the above report....
+Debate thereon.... Debates on the subject of a navy.... An
+embargo law.... Mission of Mr. Jay to Great Britain....
+Inquiry into the conduct of the Secretary of the Treasury,
+terminates honourably to him.... Internal taxes.... Congress
+adjourns.</b></p></div>
+
+<p>&#160;</p>
+
+
+<div class="sidenotey">1793</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Meeting of Congress.</div>
+
+<p><span class="lgsmcap">A malignant</span> fever, believed to be infectious, had, through part of the
+summer and autumn, severely afflicted the city of Philadelphia, and
+dispersed the officers of the executive government. Although the fear
+of contagion was not entirely dispelled when the time for the meeting
+of congress arrived, yet, such was the active zeal of parties, and
+such the universal expectation that important executive communications
+would be made, and that legislative measures not less important would
+be founded on them, that both houses were full on the first day, and a
+joint committee waited on the President with the usual information
+that they were ready to receive his communications.</p>
+
+<p>On the fourth of December, at twelve, the President met both houses in
+the senate chamber. His speech was moderate, firm, dignified, and
+interesting. It commenced with his own re-election, his feelings at
+which were thus expressed&#8212;</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">President's speech.</div>
+
+<p>&quot;Since the commencement of the term for which I have been again called
+into office, no fit occasion has arisen for expressing to my
+fellow-citizens at large, the deep and respectful sense which I feel
+of the renewed testimony of public approbation. While on the one hand,
+it awakened my gratitude for all those instances of affectionate
+partiality with which I have been honoured by my country; on the
+other, it could not prevent an earnest wish for that retirement, from
+which no private consideration could ever have torn me. But,
+influenced by the belief that my conduct would be estimated according
+to its real motives, and that the people, and the authorities derived
+from them, would support exertions having nothing personal for their
+object, I have obeyed the suffrage which commanded me to resume the
+executive power; and I humbly implore that Being on whose will the
+fate of nations depends, to crown with success our mutual endeavours
+for the general happiness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Passing to those measures which had been adopted by the executive for
+the regulation of its conduct towards the belligerent nations, he
+observed, &quot;as soon as the war in Europe had embraced those powers with
+whom the United States have the most extensive relations, there was
+reason to apprehend that our intercourse with them might be
+interrupted, and our disposition for peace drawn into question by
+suspicions too often entertained by belligerent nations. It seemed
+therefore to be my duty to admonish our citizens of the consequence of
+a contraband trade, and of hostile acts to any of the parties; and to
+obtain, by a declaration of the existing state of things, an easier
+admission of our rights to the immunities belonging to our situation.
+Under these impressions the proclamation which will be laid before you
+was issued.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In this posture of affairs, both new and delicate, I resolved to
+adopt general rules which should conform to the treaties, and assert
+the privileges of the United States. These were reduced into a system,
+which shall be communicated to you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>After suggesting those legislative provisions on this subject, the
+necessity of which had been pointed out by experience, he proceeded to
+say,</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I can not recommend to your notice measures for the fulfilment of
+<i>our</i> duties to the rest of the world, without again pressing upon you
+the necessity of placing ourselves in a condition of complete defence,
+and of exacting from <i>them</i> the fulfilment of their duties towards us.
+The United States ought not to indulge a persuasion that, contrary to
+the order of human events, they will forever keep at a distance those
+painful appeals to arms with which the history of every nation
+abounds. 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&#8212;one of the most powerful instruments of
+our prosperity&#8212;it must be known that we are, at all times, ready for
+war.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>These observations were followed by a recommendation to augment the
+supply of arms and ammunition in the magazines, and to improve the
+militia establishment.</p>
+
+<p>After referring to a communication to be subsequently made for
+occurrences relative to the connexion of the United States with
+Europe, which had, he said, become extremely interesting; and after
+reviewing Indian affairs, he particularly addressed the house of
+representatives. Having presented to them in detail some subjects of
+which it was proper they should be informed, he added;&#8212;&quot;no pecuniary
+consideration is more urgent than the regular redemption and discharge
+of the public debt; on none can delay be more injurious, or an economy
+of time more valuable.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The productiveness of the public revenues hitherto has continued to
+be equal to the anticipations which were formed of it; but it is not
+expected to prove commensurate with all the objects which have been
+suggested. Some auxiliary provisions will therefore, it is presumed,
+be requisite; and it is hoped that these may be made consistently with
+a due regard to the convenience of our citizens, who can not but be
+sensible of the true wisdom of encountering a small present addition
+to their contributions, to obviate a future accumulation of burdens.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The speech was concluded with the following impressive exhortation:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The several subjects to which I have now referred, open a wide range
+to your deliberations, and involve some of the choicest interests of
+our common country. Permit me to bring to your remembrance the
+magnitude of your task. Without an unprejudiced coolness, the welfare
+of the government may be hazarded; without harmony, as far as consists
+with freedom of sentiment, its dignity may be lost. But, as the
+legislative proceedings of the United States will never, I trust, be
+reproached for the want of temper, or of candour, so shall not the
+public happiness languish from the want of my strenuous and warmest
+co-operation.&quot;</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">His message on the subject of the foreign relations of the
+United States.</div>
+
+<p>The day succeeding that on which this speech was delivered, a special
+message was sent to both houses, containing some of the promised
+communications relative to the connexion of the United States with
+foreign powers.</p>
+
+<p>After suggesting as a motive for this communication that it not only
+disclosed &quot;matter of interesting inquiry to the legislature,&quot; but,
+&quot;might indeed give rise to deliberations to which they alone were
+competent;&quot; the President added&#8212;&quot;the representative and executive
+bodies of France have manifested generally a friendly attachment to
+this country; have given advantages to our commerce and navigation;
+and have made overtures for placing these advantages on permanent
+ground. A decree, however, of the national assembly, subjecting
+vessels laden with provisions to be carried into their ports, and
+making enemy goods lawful prize in the vessel of a friend, contrary to
+our treaty, though revoked at one time as to the United States, has
+been since extended to their vessels also, as has been recently stated
+to us. Representations on the subject will be immediately given in
+charge to our minister there, and the result shall be communicated to
+the legislature.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is with extreme concern I have to inform you that the person whom
+they have unfortunately appointed their minister plenipotentiary here,
+has breathed nothing of the friendly spirit of the nation which sent
+him. Their tendency on the contrary has been to involve us in a war
+abroad and discord and anarchy at home. So far as his acts, or those
+of his agents, have threatened an immediate commitment in the war, or
+flagrant insult to the authority of the laws, their effect has been
+counteracted by the ordinary cognizance of the laws, and by an
+exertion of the powers confided to me. Where their danger was not
+imminent, they have been borne with, from sentiments of regard to his
+nation, from a sense of their friendship towards us, from a conviction
+that they would not suffer us to remain long exposed to the actions of
+a person who has so little respected our mutual dispositions, and, I
+will add, from a reliance on the firmness of my fellow-citizens in
+their principles of peace and order. In the mean time I have respected
+and pursued the stipulations of our treaties, according to what I
+judged their true sense; and have withheld no act of friendship which
+their affairs have called for from us, and which justice to others
+left us free to perform. I have gone further. Rather than employ force
+for the restitution of certain vessels which I deemed the United
+States bound to restore, I thought it more adviseable to satisfy the
+parties by avowing it to be my opinion, that, if restitution were not
+made, it would be incumbent on the United States to make
+compensation.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The message next proceeded to state that inquiries had been instituted
+respecting the vexations and spoliations committed on the commerce of
+the United States, the result of which when received would be
+communicated.</p>
+
+<p>The order issued by the British government on the 8th of June, and the
+measures taken by the executive of the United States in consequence
+thereof, were briefly noticed; and the discussions which had taken
+place in relation to the non-execution of the treaty of peace were
+also mentioned. The message was then concluded with a reference to the
+negotiations with Spain. &quot;The public good,&quot; it was said, &quot;requiring
+that the present state of these should be made known to the
+legislature in confidence only, they would be the subject of a
+separate and subsequent communication.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This message was accompanied with copies of the correspondence between
+the secretary of state and the French minister, on the points of
+difference which subsisted between the two governments, together with
+several documents necessary for the establishment of particular facts;
+and with the letter written by Mr. Jefferson to Mr. Morris, which
+justified the conduct of the United States by arguments too clear to
+be misunderstood, and too strong ever to be encountered.</p>
+
+<p>The extensive discussions which had taken place relative to the
+non-execution of the treaty of peace, and the correspondence produced
+by the objectionable measures which had been adopted by the British
+government during the existing war, were also laid before the
+legislature.</p>
+
+<p>In a popular government, the representatives of the people may
+generally be considered as a mirror, reflecting truly the passions and
+feelings which govern their constituents. In the late elections, the
+strength of parties had been tried; and the opposition had derived so
+much aid from associating the cause of France with its own principles,
+as to furnish much reason to suspect that, in one branch of the
+legislature at least, it had become the majority. The first act of the
+house of representatives served to strengthen this suspicion. By each
+party a candidate for the chair was brought forward; and Mr.
+Muhlenberg, who was supported by the opposition, was elected by a
+majority of ten votes, against Mr. Sedgewick, whom the federalists
+supported.</p>
+
+<p>The answer, however, to the speech of the President, wore no tinge of
+that malignant and furious spirit which had infused itself into the
+publications of the day. Breathing the same affectionate attachment to
+his person and character which had been professed in other times, and
+being approved by every part of the house, it indicated that the
+leaders, at least, still venerated their chief magistrate, and that no
+general intention as yet existed, to involve him in the obloquy
+directed against his measures.</p>
+
+<p>Noticing that unanimous suffrage by which he had been again called to
+his present station, &quot;it was,&quot; they said, &quot;with equal sincerity and
+promptitude they embraced the occasion for expressing to him their
+congratulations on so distinguished a testimony of public approbation,
+and their entire confidence in the purity and patriotism of the
+motives which had produced this obedience to the voice of his country.
+It is,&quot; proceeded the address, &quot;to virtues which have commanded long
+and universal reverence, and services from which have flowed great and
+lasting benefits that the tribute of praise may be paid without the
+reproach of flattery; and it is from the same sources that the fairest
+anticipations may be derived in favour of the public happiness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The proclamation of neutrality was approved in guarded terms, and the
+topics of the speech were noticed in a manner which indicated
+dispositions cordially to co-operate with the executive.</p>
+
+<p>On the part of the senate also, the answer to the speech was
+unfeignedly affectionate. In warm terms they expressed the pleasure
+which the re-election of the President gave them. &quot;In the unanimity,&quot;
+they added, &quot;which a second time marks this important national act, we
+trace with particular satisfaction, besides the distinguished tribute
+paid to the virtues and abilities which it recognizes, another proof
+of that discernment, and constancy of sentiments and views, which have
+hitherto characterized the citizens of the United States.&quot; Speaking of
+the proclamation, they declared it to be &quot;a measure well timed and
+wise, manifesting a watchful solicitude for the welfare of the nation,
+and calculated to promote it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In a few days, a confidential message was delivered, communicating the
+critical situation of affairs with Spain. The negotiations attempted
+with that power in regard to the interesting objects of boundary,
+navigation, and commerce, had been exposed to much delay and
+embarrassment, in consequence of the changes which the French
+revolution had effected in the political state of Europe. Meanwhile,
+the neighborhood of the Spanish colonies to the United States had
+given rise to various other subjects of discussion, one of which had
+assumed a very serious aspect.</p>
+
+<p>Having the best reason to suppose that the hostility of the southern
+Indians was excited by the agents of Spain, the President had directed
+the American commissioners at Madrid to make the proper
+representations on the subject, and to propose that each nation
+should, with good faith, promote the peace of the other with their
+savage neighbours.</p>
+
+<p>About the same time, the Spanish government entertained, or affected
+to entertain, corresponding suspicions of like hostile excitements by
+the agents of the United States, to disturb their peace with the same
+nations. The representations which were induced by these real or
+affected suspicions, were accompanied with pretensions, and made in a
+style, to which the American executive could not be inattentive. His
+Catholic Majesty asserted these claims as a patron and protector of
+those Indians. He assumed a right to mediate between them and the
+United States, and to interfere in the establishment of their
+boundaries. At length, in the very moment when those savages were
+committing daily inroads on the American frontier, at the instigation
+of Spain, as was believed, the representatives of that power,
+complaining of the aggressions of American citizens on the Indians,
+declared &quot;that the continuation of the peace, good harmony, and
+perfect friendship of the two nations, was very problematical for the
+future, unless the United States should take more convenient measures,
+and of greater energy than those adopted for a long time past.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the zeal and enthusiasm with which the pretensions of
+the French republic, as asserted by their minister, continued to be
+supported out of doors, they found no open advocate in either branch
+of the legislature. That this circumstance is, in a great measure, to
+be ascribed to the temperate conduct of the executive, and to the
+convincing arguments with which its decisions were supported, ought
+not to be doubted. But when it is recollected that the odium which
+these decisions excited, sustained no diminution; that the accusation
+of hostility to France and to liberty, which originated in them, was
+not retracted; that, when afterwards many of the controverted claims
+were renewed by France, her former advocates still adhered to her; it
+is not unreasonable to suppose that other considerations mingled
+themselves with the conviction which the correspondence laid before
+the legislature was calculated to produce.</p>
+
+<p>An attack on the administration could be placed on no ground more
+disadvantageous than on its controversy with Mr. Genet. The conduct
+and language of that minister were offensive to reflecting men of all
+parties. The President had himself taken so decisive a part in favour
+of the measures which had been adopted, that they must be ascribed to
+him, not to his cabinet; and, of consequence, the whole weight of his
+personal character must be directly encountered, in an attempt to
+censure those measures. From this censure it would have been difficult
+to extricate the person who was contemplated by the party in
+opposition as its chief; for the secretary of state had urged the
+arguments of the administration with a degree of ability and
+earnestness, which ought to have silenced the suspicion that he might
+not feel their force.</p>
+
+<p>The expression of a legislative opinion, in favour of the points
+insisted on by the French minister, would probably have involved the
+nation in a calamitous war, the whole responsibility for which would
+rest on them.</p>
+
+<p>To these considerations was added another which could not be
+disregarded. The party in France, to which Mr. Genet owed his
+appointment, had lost its power; and his fall was the inevitable
+consequence of the fall of his patrons. That he would probably be
+recalled was known in America; and that his conduct had been
+disapproved by his government was generally believed. The future
+system of the French republic, with regard to the United States, could
+not be foreseen; and it would be committing something to hazard, not
+to wait its development.</p>
+
+<p>These objections did not exist to an indulgence of the partialities
+and prejudices of the nation towards the belligerent powers, in
+measures suggested by its resentment against Great Britain. But,
+independent of these considerations, it is scarcely possible to doubt
+that congress really approved the conduct of the executive with regard
+to France, and was also convinced that a course of hostility had been
+pursued by Great Britain, which the national interest and the national
+honour required them to repel. In the irritable state of the public
+temper, it was not difficult to produce this opinion.</p>
+
+<p>In addition to the causes of dissatisfaction with Great Britain which
+have already been suggested, others soon occurred. Under her auspices,
+a truce for one year had been lately negotiated between Portugal and
+the Regency of Algiers, which, by withdrawing a small squadron
+stationed during the war, by the former power, in the Streights,
+opened a passage into the Atlantic to the cruisers of the latter. The
+capture of American merchantmen, which was the immediate consequence
+of this measure, was believed, in the United States, to have been its
+motive. Not admitting the possibility that a desire to extricate
+Portugal from a war unproductive of any advantages, and to leave her
+maritime force free to act elsewhere, could have induced this
+interposition of England, the Americans ascribed it, exclusively, to
+that enmity to their commerce, and to that jealousy of its prosperity,
+which had, as they conceived, long marked the conduct of those who
+administered the affairs of that nation.</p>
+
+<p>This transaction was afterwards explained by England, and was ascribed
+to her desire to serve an ally, and to enable that ally to act more
+efficaciously in a common cause.</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center">&#160;</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a name="image03">
+<img src="images/084.jpg" width="370" height="586" alt="George Washington" /></a></p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center"><b>George Washington</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p style="text-align: center"><i>From the painting by Charles Willson Peale.</i></p>
+
+<p><i>In June, 1783, Washington spent some time in Princeton, New Jersey,
+whither the Continental Congress had adjourned from Philadelphia in
+consequence of a mutiny among the unpaid troops stationed there. On
+leaving Princeton the American Commander-in-Chief donated 50 guineas
+to the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University. The trustees
+spent the money on this portrait and had it put in the frame formerly
+occupied by a picture of King George III, which was destroyed by a
+cannon ball in the Battle of Princeton. This canvas still hangs in the
+Princeton Faculty room.</i></p>
+
+<p>By Courtesy of Princeton University</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#160;</p>
+
+<p>From governments accustomed to trust rather to artifice, than to force
+or to reason, and influenced by vindictive passions which they have
+not strength or courage to gratify, hostility may be expected to exert
+itself in a cruel insidious policy, which unfeelingly dooms
+individuals to chains, and involves them in ruin, without having a
+tendency to effect any national object. But the British character
+rather wounds by its pride, and offends by its haughtiness, and open
+violence, than injures by the secret indulgence of a malignant, but a
+paltry and unprofitable revenge: and, certainly, such unworthy motives
+ought not lightly to be imputed to a great and magnanimous nation,
+which dares to encounter a world, and risk its existence, for the
+preservation of its station in the scale of empires, of its real
+independence, and of its liberty.</p>
+
+<p>But, in believing the views of the British cabinet to be unfriendly to
+the United States, America was perhaps not entirely mistaken. Indeed,
+dispositions of a different nature could not reasonably have been
+expected. It may be denied, but can not be disguised, that the
+sentiments openly expressed by a great majority of the American
+people, warranted the opinion that, notwithstanding the exertions of
+the administration, they were about to arrange themselves, in the war,
+on the side of France. In a government like that of the United States,
+no firmness on the part of the chief magistrate can long resist the
+current of popular opinion; and that opinion, without professing it,
+unquestionably led to war.</p>
+
+<p>If the character of the British minister at Philadelphia is to be
+collected from his intercourse with the executive of the country to
+which he was deputed, there is reason to suppose that his
+communications to his own government did not diminish the impression
+which the evidence furnished on this subject, by the American people
+themselves, was calculated to make. It is therefore not improbable,
+whatever may be the permanent views of England respecting the
+commercial prosperity of the United States, that the measures of the
+British cabinet, about this time, were taken in the belief that war
+between the two nations was a probable event.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Report of the secretary of state in relation to the
+commerce of the United States.</div>
+
+<p>Early in the session a report was made by the secretary of state, in
+pursuance of a resolution of the house of representatives passed on
+the 23d of February, 1791, requiring him &quot;to report to congress the
+nature and extent of the privileges and restrictions of the commercial
+intercourse of the United States with foreign nations, and the
+measures which he should think proper to be adopted for the
+improvement of the commerce and navigation of the same.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This report stated the exports of the United States in articles of
+their own produce and manufacture at nineteen millions, five hundred
+and eighty-seven thousand, and fifty-five dollars; and the imports at
+nineteen millions, eight hundred and twenty-three thousand, and sixty
+dollars.</p>
+
+<p>Of the exports, nearly one-half was carried to the kingdom of Great
+Britain and its dominions; of the imports, about four-fifths were
+brought from the same countries. The American shipping amounted to two
+hundred and seventy-seven thousand, five hundred and nineteen tons, of
+which not quite one-sixth was employed in the trade with Great Britain
+and its dominions.</p>
+
+<p>In all the nations of Europe, most of the articles produced in the
+United States were subjected to heavy duties, and some of them were
+prohibited. In England, the trade of the United States was in the
+general on as good a footing as the trade of other countries; and
+several articles were more favoured than the same articles of the
+growth of other countries.</p>
+
+<p>The statements and arguments of this report tended to enforce the
+policy of making discriminations which might favour the commerce of
+the United States with France, and discourage that with England; and
+which might promote the increase of American navigation as a branch of
+industry, and a resource of defence.</p>
+
+<p>This was the last official act of the secretary of state. Early in the
+preceding summer, he had signified to the President his intention to
+retire in September from the public service; and had, with some
+reluctance, consented to postpone the execution of this intention to
+the close of the year. Retaining his purpose, he resigned his office
+on the last day of December.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">He resigns.</div>
+
+<p>This gentleman withdrew from political station at a moment when he
+stood particularly high in the esteem of his countrymen. His
+determined opposition to the financial schemes which had been proposed
+by the secretary of the treasury, and approved by the legislative and
+executive departments of the government; his ardent and undisguised
+attachment to the revolutionary party in France; the dispositions
+which he was declared to possess in regard to Great Britain; and the
+popularity of his opinions respecting the constitution of the United
+States; had devoted to him that immense party whose sentiments were
+supposed to comport with his, on most, or all of these interesting
+subjects. To the opposite party he had, of course, become particularly
+unacceptable. But the publication of his correspondence with Mr. Genet
+dissipated much of the prejudice which had been excited against him.
+He had, in that correspondence, maintained with great ability the
+opinions embraced by the federalists on those points of difference
+which had arisen between the two republics; and which, having become
+universally the subjects of discussion, had in some measure displaced
+those topics on which parties were previously divided. The partiality
+for France that was conspicuous through the whole of it, detracted
+nothing from its merit in the opinion of the friends of the
+administration, because, however decided their determination to
+support their own government in a controversy with any nation
+whatever, they felt all the partialities for that republic which the
+correspondence expressed. The hostility of his enemies therefore was,
+for a time, considerably lessened, without a corresponding diminution
+of the attachment of his friends. It would have been impracticable, in
+office, long to preserve these dispositions. And it would have been
+difficult to maintain that ascendency which he held over the minds of
+those who had supported, and probably would continue to support, every
+pretension of the French republic, without departing from principles
+and measures which he had openly and ably defended.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Is succeeded by Mr. Randolph.</div>
+
+<p>He was immediately succeeded by Mr. Edmund Randolph; and the office of
+attorney general was filled by Mr. William Bradford, a gentleman of
+considerable eminence in Pennsylvania.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenotey">1794</div>
+
+<p><a name="p90">On</a> the fourth of January, the house resolved itself into a committee
+of the whole, on the report of the secretary of state, relative to the
+privileges and restrictions of the commerce of the United States; when
+Mr. Madison, after some prefatory observations, laid on the table a
+series of resolutions<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> for the consideration of the members.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Mr. Madison's resolutions founded on the above report.</div>
+
+<p>These memorable resolutions embraced almost completely the idea of the
+report. They imposed an additional duty on the manufactures, and on
+the tonnage of vessels, of nations having no commercial treaty with
+the United States; while they reduced the duties already imposed by
+law, on the tonnage of vessels belonging to nations having such
+commercial treaty: and they reciprocated the restrictions which were
+imposed on American navigation.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Debate thereon.</div>
+
+<p>On the 13th of January they were taken into consideration, when the
+debate was opened by Mr. Smith of South Carolina.</p>
+
+<p>After noticing the importance of the subject to the best interests of
+the United States, he observed that, being purely commercial in its
+nature, he would exclude from the view he should take of it, those
+political considerations which some might think connected with it. He
+imagined it would be right to dismiss, for the present, all questions
+respecting the Indians, Algerines, and western posts. There would be a
+time for these questions; and then he should give his opinion upon
+them with firmness, and according to what he conceived to be the true
+interests of his country. The regulation of commerce gave of itself
+sufficient scope for argument, without mixing it with extraneous
+matter.</p>
+
+<p>After some general observations on the delicacy of the crisis, and on
+the claims of the resolutions to dispassionate investigation, he
+proceeded to consider the report on which they were founded.</p>
+
+<p>The great object of that report being to establish a contrast between
+France and Britain, he would request the attention of the committee to
+an accurate statement of facts, which, being compared with the report,
+would enable them to decide on the justness of its inferences.</p>
+
+<p>In the opinion that any late relaxations of the French republic were
+produced by interests too momentary and fluctuating to be taken as the
+basis of calculations for a permanent system, he should present a
+comparative view of the commerce of the United States to those
+countries, as it stood anterior to the revolution of France. For this
+purpose, he produced a table which had been formed by a person whose
+commercial information was highly respectable, from which he said it
+would appear, notwithstanding the plaudits so generally bestowed on
+the justice and liberality of the one nation, and the reproaches
+uttered against the other, that, with the exception of the trifling
+article of fish oil, the commerce of the United States was not more
+favoured in France than in Great Britain, and was, in many important
+articles, more favoured by the latter power, than that of other
+nations.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Smith then reviewed, in detail, the advantages and disadvantages
+attending the sale of the great products of America in the ports of
+each nation, which, he conceived, were more encouraged by the British
+than by the French market.</p>
+
+<p>A comparative statement, he added, of the value of the exports of the
+two countries, would assist in confirming this opinion.</p>
+
+<p>The value of the exports to Great Britain, at the close of the year
+ending with September, 1789, was nearly double those made to France in
+the same period: and even the average of the years 1790, 1791 and
+1792, gave an annual excess to the exports to Great Britain of three
+millions, seven hundred and fifty-two thousand, seven hundred and
+sixty dollars.</p>
+
+<p>The great amount of merchandise imported from Britain, instead of
+being a grievance, demonstrated, in the opinion of Mr. Smith, the
+utility of the trade with that country. For the extent of the
+intercourse between the two nations, several obvious reasons might be
+assigned. Britain was the first manufacturing country in the world,
+and was more able, than any other, to supply an assortment of those
+articles which were required in the United States. She entitled
+herself, too, to the preference which was given her, by the extensive
+credit she afforded. To a young country wanting capital, credit was of
+immense advantage. It enabled them to flourish by the aid of foreign
+capital, the use of which had, more than any other circumstance,
+nourished the industry of America.</p>
+
+<p>By the advocates for forcing a trade with France, it was asserted that
+she could supply the wants of America on better terms than Great
+Britain. To do this, she must not only sell cheaper, but give credit,
+which, it was known her merchants either could not, or would not give.</p>
+
+<p>The very necessity of laying a duty on British manufactures, in order
+to find a sale for those of other countries, was a proof that the
+first could be purchased on better terms, or were better adapted to
+the market.</p>
+
+<p>If the object of the resolutions were the encouragement of domestic
+manufactures, there might be some semblance of argument in their
+favour. But this is not contemplated. Their avowed object is to turn
+the course of trade from one nation to another, by means which would
+subject the citizens of the United States to great inconvenience.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Smith next proceeded to consider the subject with a view to
+navigation.</p>
+
+<p>The trade of the United States to Great Britain, for the
+transportation of their own produce, was as free in American as in
+British bottoms, a few trifling port charges excepted. In France, they
+enjoyed the advantages granted to the most favoured nation. Thus far
+the comparison was in favour of Great Britain. In the West Indies, he
+admitted the existence of a different state of things. All American
+bottoms were excluded from the British islands, with the exception of
+Turks island. In the French islands, vessels under sixty tons were
+admitted, but this advantage was common to all other nations.</p>
+
+<p>The effect of the difference in the regulations of the two rival
+nations in respect of navigation, was not so considerable as the
+secretary of state had supposed. He had stated the tonnage employed in
+the intercourse with France and her colonies, at 116,410 tons; and
+that employed in the commerce with Great Britain at 43,580 tons. The
+secretary was led into this miscalculation by taking for his guide,
+the actual entries of American bottoms from the dominions of each
+country in the year. As four voyages are made to the West Indies,
+while only two are made to Europe, the vessels employed in the former
+traffic will be counted four times in the year, and those employed in
+the latter will be counted only twice in the same period. The
+deceptiveness of the calculations made from these data had induced a
+call on the secretary of the treasury for an account of the actual
+tonnage employed in trade with foreign nations for one year. This
+account shows that France employs 82,510 tons, and Great Britain
+66,582 tons, of American shipping; leaving in favour of France, an
+excess of 15,928, instead of 72,830 tons, as reported by the secretary
+of state.</p>
+
+<p>From this comparative view taken of the regulations of the two
+nations, Mr. Smith conceived himself justified in saying, that the
+commercial system of Great Britain towards the United States, far from
+being hostile, was friendly; and that she made many discriminations in
+their favour. France, on the contrary, placed them on a better
+situation than her rival, only in one solitary instance, the
+unimportant article of fish oil.</p>
+
+<p>If this be a true picture of the existing state of things, and he
+could not perceive in what it was defective, was it not time, he
+asked, that the deceptions practised on the people by the eulogists of
+France and the revilers of Great Britain, should be removed?</p>
+
+<p>The resolutions were supported by Mr. Madison, Mr. Findley, Mr.
+Nicholas, Mr. Clarke, Mr. Smiley, Mr. Moore, and Mr. Giles.</p>
+
+<p>They admitted the subject before the committee to be of a commercial
+nature, but conceived it to be impracticable to do justice to the
+interests of the United States, without some allusions to politics.
+The question was in some measure general. They were to inquire how far
+it was the interest of this country by commercial regulations to vary
+the state of commerce now existing. They were of opinion that most of
+the injuries proceeding from Great Britain were inflicted for the
+promotion of her commercial objects, and were to be remedied by
+commercial resistance. The Indian war, and the Algerine attack,
+originated both in commercial views, or Great Britain must stand
+without excuse for instigating the most horrid cruelties. The
+propositions before the committee were the strongest weapon America
+possessed, and would, more probably than any other, restore her to all
+her political and commercial rights. They professed themselves the
+friends of free trade, and declared the opinion that it would be to
+the general advantage, if all commerce was free. But this rule was not
+without its exceptions. The navigation act of Great Britain was a
+proof of the effect of one exception on the prosperity of national
+commerce. The effect produced by that act was equally rapid and
+extensive.</p>
+
+<p>There is another exception to the advantages of a free trade, where
+the situation of a country is such with respect to another, that by
+duties on the commodities of that other, it shall not only invigorate
+its own means of rivalship, but draw from that other the hands
+employed in the production of those commodities. When such an effect
+can be produced, it is so much clear gain, and is consistent with the
+general theory of national rights.</p>
+
+<p>The effect of leaving commerce to regulate itself is to submit it to
+the regulation of other nations. If the United States had a commercial
+intercourse with one nation only, and should permit a free trade,
+while that nation proceeded on a monopolizing system, would not the
+carrying trade be transferred to that nation, and with it, the
+maritime strength it confers be heaped upon a rival? Then, in the same
+proportion to the freedom granted to the vessels of other nations in
+the United States, and to the burdens other nations impose on American
+vessels, will be the transfer of those maritime resources.</p>
+
+<p>The propositions before the committee should be examined as they
+concern navigation, manufactures, and the just principles of
+discrimination that ought to prevail in their policy to nations having
+treaties with them.</p>
+
+<p>With respect to navigation, it was conceded that they were not placed
+upon the same footing by the two nations with whom they had the
+greatest commercial intercourse. British vessels could bring the
+produce of all countries into any port of the United States; while
+American vessels could carry to the ports of Britain only their own
+commodities, and those only to a part of her dominions. From her ports
+in the West Indies they were entirely excluded.</p>
+
+<p>To exhibit at a glance the effect of the British navigation act, it
+was sufficient to compare the quantity of American and British tonnage
+employed in their intercourse with each other. The former in 1790
+amounted to 43,000 tons, and the latter to 240,000 tons. The effect of
+British policy would be further shown by showing the proportion of
+domestic tonnage employed at the same time in the intercourse with
+other European nations. With Spain the American was to the Spanish as
+five to one, with Portugal six to one, Netherlands fifteen to one,
+Denmark twelve to one, France five to one, Great Britain one to five.
+This ratio had by particular circumstances been somewhat changed. From
+calculations founded on the documents last introduced into the house,
+it appeared that, at present, the proportion of American to foreign
+tonnage employed in the American trade was, with Spain as sixteen to
+one, Portugal seventeen to one, Netherlands twenty-six to one, Denmark
+fifteen to one, Russia fourteen to one, France between four and five
+to one, and Great Britain one to three.</p>
+
+<p>The situation of American commerce was the more mortifying when the
+nature and amount of their exports came to be considered. They were
+not only necessaries of life, or necessaries for manufactures, and
+therefore of life to the manufacturer, but their bulkiness gave them
+an advantage over the exports of every other country. If America, to
+increase her maritime strength, should secure to herself the
+transportation of her own commodities, leaving to other nations the
+transportation of theirs, it would greatly augment the proportion of
+her shipping and of her sailors.</p>
+
+<p>In relation to manufactures, the regulations existing between the
+United States and Great Britain were not more equal. Out of the whole
+amount of manufactured articles imported into this country, which was
+stated in round numbers at fifteen millions, two hundred and ninety
+thousand dollars, Great Britain furnished thirteen millions, nine
+hundred and sixty thousand. In the same period, in the year 1789-90,
+the articles which the United States received from France, a country
+which actually consumed more of their produce, amounted only to one
+hundred and fifty-five thousand dollars. The balance of trade, at the
+same epoch, was greatly in favour of the United States with every
+other nation, and greatly against them with Britain. Although it might
+happen in some cases, that other advantages might be derived from an
+intercourse with a particular nation, which might compensate for an
+unfavourable balance of trade, it was impossible that this could
+happen in the intercourse with Great Britain. Other nations, however,
+viewed a balance of trade against them as a real evil; and Great
+Britain, in particular, was careful to prevent it. What then must be
+the feelings of a nation, between whom and the United States the most
+friendly relations existed, when she saw, not only the balance of
+trade against her, but that what was thus obtained from her, flowed in
+the same manner into the coffers of one of her most jealous rivals,
+and inveterate enemies?</p>
+
+<p>The propriety of discriminating between nations having treaties with
+the United States, and those having none, was admitted in some states
+before the establishment of the present government, and was sanctioned
+by that house during their sittings in New York. It was the practice
+of nations to make such a discrimination. It was necessary to give
+value to treaties.</p>
+
+<p>The disadvantages of depending on a single nation for articles of
+necessary consumption was strongly pressed; and it was added as an
+evil of most serious magnitude, more truly alarming than any other of
+its features, that this commercial dependence produced an influence in
+their councils which enabled it, the more inconvenient it became by
+its constant growth, to throw the more obstacles in the way of a
+necessary remedy.</p>
+
+<p>They entertained no apprehensions of injurious consequences from
+adopting the proposed resolutions. The interests of Great Britain
+would not suffer her to retaliate: and the intercourse between the two
+countries would not be interrupted further than was required by the
+convenience and the interests of the United States. But if Great
+Britain should retaliate, the effects of a commercial conflict would
+be felt by her, much more sensibly, than by the United States. Its
+effects would be felt in the shipping business, by the merchants, and
+above all by the manufacturer.</p>
+
+<p>Calculations were offered, by comparing the total amount of British
+exports with those to the United States, to prove, that three hundred
+thousand British manufacturers would be suddenly thrown out of
+employment, by withdrawing the trade carried on between America and
+that country. In the complication of distress to which such a measure
+would reduce them, they would consider the United States as a natural
+asylum from wretchedness. But whether they remained in discontent at
+home, or sought their fortune abroad, the evil would be considered and
+felt by the British government as equally great, and they would surely
+beware of taking any step that might provoke it.</p>
+
+<p>On the advantages of America in such a contest with a populous and
+manufacturing country, they dwelt with peculiar earnestness. She
+produced all the necessaries of life within herself, and could
+dispense with the articles received from others. But Great Britain,
+not producing them in sufficient abundance, was dependent on the
+United States for the supply of her most essential wants. Again, the
+manufacturer of that country was dependent on this for the sale of his
+merchandise which was to purchase his bread. Thus was produced a
+double dependence of Great Britain on the United States. She was also
+dependent on them for the raw materials which formed the basis of her
+manufactures. Her West Indies were almost completely dependent. This
+country furnished the best market for their productions, and was
+almost the only one which could supply them with the necessaries of
+life. The regulation excluding the provisions of other foreign
+countries was entitled to no consideration. It was of ancient date,
+and had remained untouched because there was no other foreign country
+by which provisions could be supplied.</p>
+
+<p>That the commercial regulations of Great Britain were as favourable to
+the United States as to other nations, ought not to satisfy America.
+If other nations were willing to bear impositions, or were unable to
+retaliate, their examples were not worthy of imitation. America was in
+a condition to insist, and ought to insist, on perfect commercial
+equality.</p>
+
+<p>It was denied that any real advantage was derived from the extensive
+credit given by the merchants of Great Britain. On the contrary, the
+use made of British capital was pronounced a great political evil. It
+increased the unfavourable balance of trade, discouraged domestic
+manufactures, and promoted luxury. But its greatest mischief was, that
+it favoured a system of British influence, which was dangerous to
+their political security.</p>
+
+<p>As the debate advanced, the expressions of exasperation against
+Britain became stronger; and occasionally allusions were made to those
+party questions which had long agitated the public mind, with a
+bitterness which marked their intimate connexion with the conduct of
+the United States to foreign countries.</p>
+
+<p>It was said to be proper in deciding the question under debate, to
+take into view political, as well as commercial considerations. Ill
+will and jealousy had at all times been the predominant features of
+the conduct of England to the United States. That government had
+grossly violated the treaty of peace, had declined a commercial
+treaty, had instigated the Indians to raise the tomahawk and scalping
+knife against American citizens, had let loose the Algerines upon
+their unprotected commerce, and had insulted their flag, and pillaged
+their trade in every quarter of the world. These facts being
+notorious, it was astonishing to hear gentlemen ask how had Britain
+injured their commerce?</p>
+
+<p>The conduct of France, on the contrary, had been warm and friendly.
+That nation respected American rights, and had offered to enter into
+commercial arrangements on the liberal basis of perfect reciprocity.</p>
+
+<p>The period which Mr. Smith had taken as that at which the systems of
+the two nations should be compared with each other, was reprobated
+with peculiar severity. It was insinuated to proceed from a wish that
+the United States should directly countenance the restoration of
+despotism; and much regret was expressed that a distrust of the
+permanency of the French revolution should be avowed. It was hoped and
+believed that the present was the settled state of things; and that
+the old order of things was unsettled for ever: that the French
+revolution was as much more permanent than had been the French
+despotism, as was the great fabric of nature, than the petty plastic
+productions of art. To exclude the period since the revolution, would
+be to exclude some of the strongest evidences of the friendship of one
+nation, and the enmity of the other.</p>
+
+<p>The animadversions which had been made on the report of the secretary
+of state were retorted with acrimony. It was declared that he would
+not suffer by a comparison in point of intelligence, accuracy, and
+patriotism, either with the laborious compiler of the table produced
+by Mr. Smith, or with the gentleman who had been judiciously selected
+for its interpreter. Some explanations were given of the inaccuracies
+which had been alleged; and the facts omitted were declared to be
+immaterial circumstances, which, if inserted, would have swelled the
+report, without adding to the information it communicated.</p>
+
+<p>In reply to the argument which stated that Great Britain did not, in
+common years, raise a sufficient quantity of grain for her own
+consumption, and would consequently afford an increasing market for
+American wheat and flour, it was remarked that this not only
+established the all important position of the dependence of that
+country on this, but suggested a very interesting reflection. It was
+that the continual increase of debt and paper machinery, will not
+produce a correspondent increase of ability in the nation to feed
+itself. That an infinity of paper will not produce an infinity of
+food.</p>
+
+<p>In contrasting the ability of the two nations to support a commercial
+conflict, it was said, &quot;Great Britain, tottering under the weight of a
+king, a court, a nobility, a priesthood, armies, navies, debts, and
+all the complicated machinery of oppression which serves to increase
+the number of unproductive, and lessen the number of productive hands;
+at this moment engaged in a foreign war; taxation already carried to
+the ultimatum of financial device; the ability of the people already
+displayed in the payment of taxes, constituting a political
+phenomenon; all prove the debility of the system, and the decreptitude
+of old age. On the other hand, the United States, in the flower of
+youth; increasing in hands; increasing in wealth; and, although an
+imitative policy had unfortunately prevailed in the erection of a
+funded debt, in the establishment of an army, the anticipation of a
+navy,<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> and all the paper machinery for increasing the number of
+unproductive, and lessening the number of productive hands; yet the
+operation of natural causes has, as yet, in some degree, countervailed
+their influence, and still furnish a great superiority in comparison
+with Great Britain.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>An attempt was made to liken the present situation of America to that
+in which she stood at the commencement of her revolutionary war; and
+the arguments drawn from the inconvenience to which a privation of
+British manufactures would expose the people at large were answered by
+observing&#8212;&quot;This was not the language of America at the time of the
+non-importation association; this was not her language at the time of
+the declaration of independence. Whence then this change of American
+sentiment? Has America less ability than she then had? Is she less
+prepared for a national trial than she then was? This can not be
+pretended. There is, it is true, one great change in her political
+situation. America has now a funded debt: she had no funded debt at
+those glorious epochs. May not this change of sentiment, therefore, be
+looked for in her change of situation in this respect? May it not be
+looked for in the imitative sympathetic organization of our funds with
+the British funds? May it not be looked for in the indiscriminate
+participation of citizens and foreigners in the emoluments of the
+funds? May it not be looked for in the wishes of some to assimilate
+the government of the United States to that of Great Britain? or at
+least, in wishes for a more intimate connexion?</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If these causes exist, it is not difficult to find the source of the
+national debility. It is not difficult to see that the interests of
+the few, who receive and disburse the public contributions, are more
+respected than the interest of the great majority of the society, who
+furnish the contributions. It is not difficult to see that the
+government, instead of legislating for a few millions, is legislating
+for a few thousands; and that the sacredness of their rights is the
+great obstacle to a great national exertion.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In addition to Mr. Smith, of South Carolina, the resolutions were
+opposed by Mr. Smith, of Maryland, Mr. Goodhue, Mr. Lea, Mr. Dexter,
+Mr. Ames, Mr. Dayton, Mr. Hartley, Mr. Tracy, Mr. Hillhouse, Mr.
+Forest, Mr. Fitzsimmons, and Mr. Foster.</p>
+
+<p>If, it was said, the United States had sustained political wrongs from
+Great Britain, they should feel as keenly as any persons for the
+prostrated honour of their country; but this was not the mode of
+redressing them. When that subject should be brought before congress,
+they would not be slow in taking such measures as the actual state of
+things might require. But they did not approve of retaliating injuries
+under the cloak of commercial regulations. Independent of other
+objections, it would derogate from the dignity of the American
+character.</p>
+
+<p>The resolutions, it was said, ought to be contemplated commercially;
+and the influence they would probably have on the United States,
+deliberately weighed. If they were adopted, it ought to be because
+they would promote the interests of America, not because they would
+benefit one foreign nation, and injure another. It was an old adage
+that there was no friendship in trade. Neither ought there to be any
+hatred. These maxims should not be forgotten in forming a judgment on
+the propositions before the committee. Their avowed objects were to
+favour the navigation and the manufactures of the United States, and
+their probable operation on these objects ought to be considered.</p>
+
+<p>It had been said that the American tonnage ought to bear the same
+proportion to the foreign tonnage employed in her trade, as exists
+between the bulk of her exports and imports. But the correctness of
+this principle was not admitted. The fact was otherwise, and it was
+not believed to be an evil.</p>
+
+<p>Great Britain carries for other nations from necessity. Her situation
+is calculated for navigation. Her country is fully peopled, so full
+that the ground is not sufficient to furnish bread for the whole.
+Instead, therefore, of ploughing the earth for subsistence, her
+subjects are obliged to plough the ocean. The defence of their coasts
+has been another cause which obliges them to abandon the more
+lucrative pursuits of agriculture, to provide for their defence. They
+have been compelled to sacrifice profit to safety.</p>
+
+<p>The United States possessed a fertile, extensive, and unsettled
+country; and it might well be questioned how far their real interests
+would be promoted by forcing a further acceleration of the growth of
+their marine, by impelling their citizens from the cultivation of the
+soil to the navigation of the ocean. The measures already adopted had
+been very operative; and it was by no means certain that an additional
+stimulus would be advantageous. The increased duty on foreign tonnage,
+and on goods imported in foreign bottoms, had already been attended
+with sensible effects. In 1790, the American tonnage was one-half the
+whole tonnage employed in their trade: in 1791, it was three-fifths:
+in 1792, it had increased to two-thirds. This growth was believed to
+be sufficiently rapid. It was more rapid than the growth of British
+tonnage had ever been under the fostering care of their celebrated
+navigation act. Let the existing system be left to its natural
+operation, and it was believed that it would give to the United States
+that share in the carriage of their commodities, which it was their
+interest to take.</p>
+
+<p>But if a different opinion prevailed, and it was conceived that
+additional encouragement ought to be given to navigation, then let the
+duty on all foreign bottoms be increased, and let the particular
+disabilities to which American vessels are subjected in any country,
+be precisely retaliated. The discriminations proposed, instead of
+increasing American navigation, were calculated to encourage the
+navigation of one foreign nation at the expense of another.</p>
+
+<p>The United States did not yet possess shipping sufficient for the
+exportation of their produce. The residue must reach a market in
+foreign bottoms, or rot upon their hands. They were advancing to a
+different state of things; but, in the mean time, they ought to pursue
+their interest, and employ those vessels which would best answer their
+purpose. The attempt to make it their interest to employ the vessels
+of France rather than those of Britain, by discriminating duties which
+must enhance the price of freight, was a premium to the vessels of the
+favourite nation, paid by American agriculture.</p>
+
+<p>The navigation act of Great Britain had been made a subject of heavy
+complaint. But that act was not particularly directed against the
+United States. It had been brought into operation while they were yet
+colonies, and was not more unfavourable to them than to others. To its
+regulations, Great Britain was strongly attached; and it was not
+probable that America could compel her to relinquish them.
+Calculations were made on the proportion of British manufactures
+consumed in America, from which it was inferred that her trade, though
+important, was not sufficiently important to force that nation to
+abandon a system which she considered as the basis of her grandeur. In
+the contest, considerable injury would be unquestionably sustained;
+and nothing was perceived in the situation of the United States, which
+should induce them to stand forth the champions of the whole
+commercial world, in order to compel the change of a system, in which
+all other nations had acquiesced. But if they were to engage in such a
+contest, it was by a similar act, by opposing disabilities to
+disabilities, that it ought to be carried on. Upon this point, several
+members who were opposed to the resolutions, avowed an opinion
+favourable to an American navigation act, and expressed their
+willingness to concur in framing regulations which meet the
+prohibitions imposed on their vessels with corresponding prohibitions.
+Thus far they were ready to go; but they were not ready to engage in a
+contest injurious to themselves, for the benefit of a foreign nation.</p>
+
+<p>Another avowed object of the resolutions was to favour the
+manufactures of the United States. But certainly it was not by
+discriminating duties, by endeavouring to shift commerce from one
+channel to another, that American manufactures were to be promoted.
+This was to be done by pursuing the course already adopted, by laying
+protecting duties on selected articles, in the manufacture of which
+America had made some progress; and by a prohibitory duty on others,
+of which a sufficient domestic supply could be afforded. But the
+proposed measure only went to the imposition of a tax on their own
+citizens, for the benefit of a foreign nation.</p>
+
+<p>If the British market afforded an assortment of goods best suited to
+their consumption, and could give them cheaper, a prohibitory duty
+imposed upon those goods would only drive their citizens to seek them
+in another market, less able to supply their wants, and at a dearer
+rate. There was nothing in this tending to encourage manufactures.</p>
+
+<p>If the United States were prepared to manufacture to the whole amount
+of their wants, the importation of all rival articles might be
+prohibited. But this they were not prepared to do. Their manufactures
+must advance by slow degrees; and they were not to enter into a
+measure of this kind, for the purpose of retaliating on a nation which
+had not commercially injured them.</p>
+
+<p>The resolutions then were adapted to the encouragement neither of the
+navigation, nor the manufactures of the United States, but of a
+foreign nation. Their effect would obviously be to force trade to
+change its natural course, by discriminations against a nation which
+had in no instance discriminated against the United States, but had
+favoured them in many points of real importance. By what commercial
+considerations could such a system be recommended?</p>
+
+<p>That it would be attended with great immediate inconveniences must be
+admitted; but for these, ample compensation, it had been said, was to
+be found in its remote advantages. These were, a diminution of
+American commerce with one nation, by its proportional augmentation
+with another; and a repeal of the navigation act, and of the colonial
+system of Great Britain.</p>
+
+<p>On the subject of forcing trade from one nation to another, which is,
+of necessity, so complicated in principle, so various and invisible in
+consequence, the legislature should never act but with the utmost
+caution. They should constantly keep in view, that trade will seek its
+own markets, find its own level, and regulate itself much better than
+it could be regulated by law. Although the government might embarrass
+it, and injure their own citizens, and even foreign nations, for a
+while, it would eventually rise above all the regulations they could
+make. Merchants, if left to themselves, would always find the best
+markets. They would buy as cheap and sell as dear as possible. Why
+drive them from those markets into others which were less
+advantageous? If trade with Britain was less free, or less profitable,
+than with France, the employment of coercive means to force it into
+French channels would be unnecessary. It would voluntarily run in
+them. That violence must be used in order to change its course,
+demonstrated that it was in its natural course.</p>
+
+<p>It was extraordinary to hear gentlemen complaining of British
+restrictions on American commerce, and at the same time stating her
+proportion of that commerce as a national grievance, and that the
+trade was so free as to become an injury. The very circumstance that
+she retained so large a share of it, was evidence that it did not
+experience in her ports unusual burdens. Whenever greater advantages
+were offered by other countries, there would be no need of legislative
+interference to induce the merchants to embrace them. That portion of
+trade would go to each country, for which the circumstances of each
+were calculated. If Great Britain purchased more American produce than
+she consumed, it was because, all circumstances considered, it was the
+interest of America to sell her more than she consumed. While this
+interest continued, no mischief could result from the fact; when the
+cause should cease, the effect would cease also, without the
+intervention of the legislature.</p>
+
+<p>It was very improbable that the resolutions under consideration would
+effect their other avowed object, a repeal of the British navigation
+act.</p>
+
+<p>The season, it was said, was peculiarly unfavourable to such
+experiments. The internal convulsions of France had laid her
+manufactures in ruins. She was not in a condition to supply her own
+wants, much less those of the United States. The superb column erected
+at Lyons could furnish no stimulus to the industry of her
+manufacturers.</p>
+
+<p>But the attempt to stop the natural intercourse between the United
+States and Great Britain, though incapable of producing on the latter
+the full effect which was desired, might inflict deep and lasting
+wounds on the most essential interests of the former. The injuries
+which their agriculture would sustain from the measure, might be long
+and severely felt.</p>
+
+<p>It had been proudly stated, that while America received articles which
+might be dispensed with, she furnished in return the absolute
+necessaries of life; she furnished bread, and raw materials for
+manufactures. &quot;One would think,&quot; said Mr. Tracy, &quot;to hear the
+declarations in this house, that all men were fed at the opening of
+our hand; and, if we shut that hand, the nations starve, and if we but
+shake the fist after it is shut, they die.&quot; And yet one great
+objection to the conduct of Britain was, her prohibitory duty on the
+importation of bread stuff while it was under a certain price.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing could be more deceptive than the argument founded on the
+nature of American exports. What, it was asked, would be done with the
+surplus produce of the United States? Was it to remain in the country,
+and rot upon the hands of those who raised it? If not, if it was to be
+exported, it would find its way to the place of demand. Food would
+search out those who needed it; and the raw material would be carried
+to the manufacturer whose labour could give it value.</p>
+
+<p>But there was a much more serious aspect in which this subject ought
+to be placed. The products of America grew in other soils than hers.
+The demands for them might be supplied by other countries. Indeed, in
+some instances, articles usually obtained from the United States would
+be excluded by a fair competition with the same articles furnished by
+other countries. The discriminations made in their favour enabled them
+to obtain a preference in the British market. By withholding those
+which were of the growth of the United States, Great Britain would not
+lose the article, but America would lose the market; and a formidable
+rival would be raised up, who would last much longer than the
+resolutions under consideration. It is easy by commercial regulations
+to do much mischief, and difficult to retrieve losses. It is
+impossible to foresee all evils which may arise out of such measures;
+and their effects may last after the cause is removed.</p>
+
+<p>The opponents of the resolutions persisted to consider the credit
+given by British merchants, as a solid advantage to any country which,
+like the United States, was defective in commercial capital; but they
+denied that, from that source, any political influence had arisen.
+&quot;If,&quot; said Mr. Tracy, &quot;we may argue from a great state, Virginia, to
+the union, this is not true; for although that state owes immense
+debts, her representatives come forward with great spirit to bring
+Great Britain to her feet. The people to the eastward do not owe the
+English merchants, and are very generally opposed to these
+regulations. These facts must convince us that the credit given by
+Great Britain, does not operate to produce a fear, and a dependence,
+which can be alarming to government.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If,&quot; said Mr. Dexter, &quot;I have a predilection for any country besides
+my own, that bias is in favour of France, the place of my father's
+sepulture. No one, more than myself, laments the spasm of patriotism
+which convulses that nation, and hazards the cause of freedom; but I
+shall not suffer the torrent of love or hatred to sweep me from my
+post. I am sent neither to plead the cause of France nor England, but
+am delegated as a guardian of the rights and interests of America.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The speakers against the resolutions universally laboured to exclude
+from all weight in the decision on them, considerations which were
+foreign to the interests of the United States. &quot;The discussion of this
+subject,&quot; said Mr. Tracy, &quot;has assumed an appearance which must be
+surprising to a stranger, and painful in the extreme to ourselves. The
+supreme legislature of the United States is seriously deliberating,
+not upon the welfare of our own citizens, but upon the relative
+circumstances of two European nations; and this deliberation has not
+for its object, the relative benefits of their markets to us, but
+which form of government is best and most like our own, which people
+feel the greatest affection for us, and what measures we can adopt
+which will best humble one and exalt the other.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The primary motive of these resolutions, as acknowledged by their
+defenders, is, not the increase of our agriculture, manufactures, or
+navigation, but to humble Great Britain and build up France; and
+although it is said our manufactures and navigation may receive some
+advantage, it is only mentioned as a substitute in case of failure as
+to the great object.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The discussion in favour of these resolutions has breathed nothing
+but hostility and revenge against the English; and yet <i>they</i> put on
+the mild garb of commercial regulations. Legislatures, always cautious
+of attempting to force trade from its own channels and habits, should
+certainly be peculiarly cautious, when they do undertake such
+business, to set about it with temperance and coolness; but in this
+debate, we are told of the inexecution of a former treaty, withholding
+western posts, insults and dominations of a haughty people, that
+through the agency of Great Britain the savages are upon us on one
+side, and the Algerines on the other. The mind is roused by a group of
+evils, and then called upon to consider a statement of duties on goods
+imported from foreign countries. If the subject is commercial, why not
+treat it commercially, and attend to it with coolness? if it is a
+question of political hostility, or of war, a firmer tone may be
+adopted.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>On this side of the question, the conduct of Great Britain, if as
+hostile as it was represented to be, was spoken of with high
+indignation. &quot;If,&quot; said Mr. Tracy, &quot;these statements are founded in
+fact, I can not justify myself to my constituents, or my conscience,
+in saying the adoption of the regulations of commerce, a navigation
+act, or the whole parade of shutting ports, and freeing trade from its
+shackles, is in any degree calculated to meet or remedy the evil.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Although I deprecate war as the worst of calamities for my country,
+yet I would inquire seriously whether we had on our part, fulfilled
+the treaty with Great Britain, and would do complete justice to them
+first. I would negotiate as long and as far as patience ought to go;
+and, if I found an obstinate denial of justice, I would then lay the
+hand of force upon the western posts, and would teach the world that
+the United States were no less prompt in commanding justice to be done
+them, than they had been patient and industrious in attempting to
+obtain it by fair and peaceable means. In this view of the subject I
+should be led to say, away with your milk and water regulations; they
+are too trifling to effect objects of such importance. Are the
+Algerines to be frightened with paper resolves, or the Indians to be
+subdued, or the western posts taken, by commercial regulations? when
+we consider the subject merely as a commercial one, it goes too far,
+and attempts too much; but when considered as a war establishment, it
+falls infinitely short of the mark, and does too little.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This earnest and interesting debate was protracted to a great length,
+and was conducted on both sides with great spirit and eloquence. At
+length, on the third of February, the question was taken on the first
+resolution, which was carried by a majority of five. The further
+consideration of the resolutions was then postponed until the first
+Monday in March.</p>
+
+<p>This animated debate was succeeded by another, on a question which
+also brought into full view, the systems that were embraced by the
+opposite parties, on some of those great national subjects which give
+a character to an administration.</p>
+
+<p>On the second of January, a resolution was agreed to in the house of
+representatives declaring &quot;that a naval force adequate to the
+protection of the commerce of the United States against the Algerine
+corsairs, ought to be provided.&quot; The force proposed was to consist of
+six frigates; four of forty-four, and two of thirty-six guns.</p>
+
+<p>This measure was founded on the communications of the President,
+representing the improbability of being able to negotiate a peace with
+the dey of Algiers; and on undoubted information that the corsairs of
+that regency had, during their first short cruise in the Atlantic,
+captured eleven American merchantmen, and made upwards of one hundred
+prisoners; and were preparing to renew their attack on the unprotected
+vessels of the United States.</p>
+
+<p>In every stage of its progress this bill was most strenuously opposed.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Debates on the subject of a navy.</div>
+
+<p>The measure was viewed simply as a present protection to commerce, and
+then as the commencement of a permanent naval establishment. In both
+characters it was reprobated with extreme severity.</p>
+
+<p>As a measure of protection, it was declared to be altogether
+incompetent to the attainment of its object, because the force
+contemplated was insufficient, and because it could not be brought
+into immediate use. The measure, therefore, would be totally
+inefficacious.</p>
+
+<p>But the object might be effected by other means, more eligible, and
+less expensive. By proper management, and a due attention to time and
+circumstances, a peace might be procured with money.</p>
+
+<p>Nations possessing a naval force greatly superior to the proposed
+armament, had found it to their advantage to purchase the friendship
+of the Algerines. That mode of procuring peace was recommended both by
+its efficacy, and its economy. Unless the object was obtained, the
+money would not be expended.</p>
+
+<p>Another mode of giving security to their commerce, preferable to the
+plan in the bill, was to purchase the protection of foreign powers.
+This might be acquired at a less expense than would be incurred in
+fitting out the proposed armament, and its utility would be immediate.</p>
+
+<p>But the measure was also to be considered as the commencement of a
+permanent navy. The question which this view of it presented, was one
+of the most important that could engage the consideration of the
+house. The adoption of the principle would involve a complete
+dereliction of the policy of discharging the public debt. History
+afforded no instance of a nation which continued to increase its navy,
+and at the same time to decrease its debt.</p>
+
+<p>To the expensiveness of the navy system were ascribed the oppression
+under which the people of England groaned, the overthrow of the French
+monarchy, and the dangers which threatened that of Great Britain. The
+expensiveness of the government was the true ground of the oppression
+of the people. The king, the nobility, the priesthood, the <i>army</i>, and
+above all, the navy. All this machinery lessens the number of
+productive, and increases the number of unproductive hands in the
+nation.</p>
+
+<p>The United States had already advanced full far enough in this system.
+In addition to the civil list, they had funded a debt on the
+principles of duration, had raised an army at an immense expense, and
+now a proposition was made for a navy.</p>
+
+<p>The system of governing by debts, was the most refined system of
+tyranny. It seemed to be a contrivance devised by politicians to
+succeed the old system of feudal tenures. Both were tyrannical, but
+the objects of their tyranny were different. The one operated on the
+person, the other operates on the pockets of the individual. The
+feudal lord was satisfied with the acknowledgment of the tenant that
+he was a slave, and the rendition of a pepper corn as an evidence of
+it; the product of his labour was left for his own support. The system
+of debts affords no such indulgence. Its true policy is to devise
+objects of expense, and to draw the greatest possible sum from the
+people in the least visible mode. No device can facilitate the system
+of debts and expense so much as a navy; and they should hold the
+liberty of the American people at a lower rate, should this policy be
+adopted.</p>
+
+<p>Another great objection to the establishment of a navy was, that until
+the United States should be able to contend with the great maritime
+powers on the ocean, it would be a hostage, to its full value, for
+their good behaviour. It would increase rather than lessen their
+dependence.</p>
+
+<p>In reply, it was said that if it had been the intention of the house
+to incur a vast expense in the establishment of a navy for vain
+parade, there might be force in some of the objections which had been
+made. But this was not the case. It was a measure, not of choice, but
+of necessity. It was extorted by the pressure of unavoidable events.</p>
+
+<p>It being universally admitted that their commerce required protection
+against the Algerine corsairs, the question was, simply, whether the
+plan proposed in the bill was the best mode of affording that
+protection.</p>
+
+<p>To decide this question, it would be proper to consider the
+substitutes which had been offered; and then to review the objections
+which had been made to the measure.</p>
+
+<p>The substitutes were, first, to purchase a peace; and secondly, to
+subsidize other nations to protect commerce.</p>
+
+<p>On the first substitute, it was said that the late communications must
+satisfy every person who had attended to them, that all hope of
+purchasing a peace must be abandoned, unless there was a manifestation
+of some force which might give effect to negotiation. So long as the
+vessels of the United States remained an easy and tempting prey to the
+cupidity of those corsairs, it would be vain to expect that they would
+sell a peace for the price the government would be willing to give, or
+that a peace would be of any duration. If the executive had
+experienced such difficulties while the Algerine cruisers had captured
+only one or two vessels, and were confined to the Mediterranean by a
+Portuguese squadron, how much less prospect was there of success after
+they had captured a considerable number of ships, were likely to
+capture many more, and were at liberty to cruise on the Atlantic to
+the very coasts of the United States? Even that little prospect of
+success would be diminished, when the dey of Algiers should understand
+that the United States would take no measures to protect their trade,
+and were afraid of the expense of a small armament.</p>
+
+<p>It was to be understood that they did not rely solely on the
+operations of the armament. They still looked forward to negotiation,
+and were willing to provide the means for purchasing a peace. But the
+former measure was necessary to give success to the latter, and the
+armament might be employed to advantage should negotiation fail.</p>
+
+<p>The other substitute was to subsidize foreign powers. The national
+dishonour of depending upon others for that protection which the
+United States were able to afford themselves, was strongly urged. But
+there were additional objections to this project. Either the nations
+in contemplation were at peace or at war with the regency of Algiers.
+If the former, it was not to be expected that they would relinquish
+that peace for any indemnification the United States could make them.
+If the latter, they had sufficient inducements to check the
+depredations of their enemies without subsidies. Such a protection
+would be hazardous, as it would be, at any time, in the power of the
+nation that should be employed, to conclude a truce with Algiers, and
+leave the trade of the United States at the mercy of her corsairs.
+While the expense of protection was perpetually to be incurred, it
+would never furnish the strength which that expense ought to give.</p>
+
+<p>With a navy of her own, America might co-operate to advantage with any
+power at war with Algiers, but it would be risking too much to depend
+altogether on any foreign nation.</p>
+
+<p>To the argument that the force was incompetent to the object, it was
+answered, that, from the documents before them, and from the diligent
+inquiries of a large committee, the number and strength of the
+Algerine corsairs had been ascertained, and the armament contemplated
+in the bill was believed to be sufficient. If gentlemen thought
+differently, it was surprising that they did not move to augment it.</p>
+
+<p>The expense of the frigates had been strongly urged. But the saving in
+insurance, in ships and cargoes, and in the ransom of seamen, was more
+than equivalent to this item. &quot;But are not the slavery of our fellow
+citizens, and the national disgrace resulting from it, to be taken
+into the account? these are considerations beyond all calculation. Who
+can, after reading the affecting narratives of the unfortunate, sit
+down contented with cold calculations and syllogisms? their narratives
+ought to excite every possible exertion, not only to procure the
+release of the captured, but to prevent the increase of the number of
+these unhappy victims.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>That a bill providing six frigates, to exist during the war with the
+Algerines, should excite apprehensions of a large permanent navy, and
+of an immense debt, was truly astonishing. But even if the bill had
+not contained a clause enabling the President to discontinue the
+armament provided peace should be concluded with the regency of
+Algiers, the weight of the objection was denied. America was
+peculiarly fitted for a navy; she abounded in all kinds of naval
+resources, and had within herself, those means which other nations
+were obliged to obtain from abroad. Her situation, and the
+dispositions of a considerable proportion of her citizens, evinced
+still more the propriety of a naval establishment. Perhaps the country
+was not yet mature for such an establishment to any great extent. But
+the period was not far distant when it would be. The United States had
+an increasing population, much individual wealth, and considerable
+national resources. It was not believed that the expense of equipping
+a small naval armament for the protection of their commerce, would be
+insupportable.</p>
+
+<p>It was, however, matter of surprise, that gentlemen who had deemed the
+improvement of American navigation, as a source of defence, an object
+of so much importance as to be anxious to wage an immediate commercial
+war with Great Britain for that purpose, should avow such a fixed
+determination against resorting to that resource in any degree
+whatever, under circumstances the most urgent.</p>
+
+<p>The original resolution was carried only by a majority of two voices;
+but as the bill advanced, several members who were accustomed to vote
+in the opposition gave it their support; and, on the final question, a
+majority of eleven appeared in its favour. The other branch of the
+legislature concurred, and it received the cordial assent of the
+President.</p>
+
+<p>Pending these discussions, the irritations in which they commenced
+were greatly aggravated by accounts, that captures of American vessels
+by British cruisers were made to an extent altogether unprecedented;
+and early in March, an authentic paper was received which proved that
+those captures were not unauthorized.</p>
+
+<p>On the sixth of November, 1793, additional instructions had been
+issued to the ships of war and privateers of Great Britain, requiring
+them to stop and detain all ships, laden with goods the produce of any
+colony belonging to France, or carrying provisions or other supplies
+to any such colony, and to bring the same, with their cargoes, to
+legal adjudication, in the British courts of admiralty.</p>
+
+<p>These instructions made a serious impression on the most reflecting
+and moderate men in the United States. It was believed that they
+originated in a spirit of hostility which must lead to war; and that
+it had now become the part of prudence to prepare for that event.</p>
+
+<p>On the 12th of March, Mr. Sedgewick moved several resolutions, the
+objects of which were to raise a military force, and to authorize the
+President to lay an embargo. The armament was to consist of fifteen
+thousand men, who should be brought into actual service in case of war
+with any European power, but not until war should break out. In the
+mean time, they were to receive pay while assembled for the purpose of
+discipline, which was not to exceed twenty-four days in each year.</p>
+
+<p>After stating the motives which led to the introduction of these
+resolutions, they were laid on the table for the consideration of the
+members. Two days afterwards, a motion was made to take up that which
+related to an embargo; but this motion was negatived for the purpose
+of resuming the consideration of the commercial regulations which had
+been offered by Mr. Madison. On the motion of Mr. Nicholas, those
+resolutions were amended so as to subject the manufactures of Great
+Britain alone, instead of those of all nations having no commercial
+treaties with the United States, to the proposed augmentation of
+duties. They were again debated with great earnestness, but no
+decision on them was made.</p>
+
+<p>In addition to the objections urged against them as forming a
+commercial system in time of peace, they were said to be particularly
+inapplicable to the present moment. If, as was believed, the United
+States were about to be forced into a war, the public counsels ought
+to be directed to measures of defence. In that event, the resolutions
+would, at best, be useless. But the greater the danger of war, the
+more incumbent was it on the government to unite public opinion in
+support of it; and this would best be effected by observing a line of
+conduct which would furnish no just cause of hostility. The commercial
+discriminations proposed were of a hostile and irritating nature,
+might render war certain, would be considered by many as unnecessary,
+and might impair that unanimity in which the great strength of the
+country consisted. It was submitted to the gentlemen to decide whether
+it was wise to press their system through, with so small a majority as
+was in its favour.</p>
+
+<p>The resolutions were defended on the principle, that though not in
+themselves contributing to the national defence, they would not
+prevent the adoption of such other measures as the state of things
+might render necessary. If war should take place, they could do no
+harm. But war must at some time be succeeded by peace: and they would
+form a valuable basis for negotiation.<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">An embargo law.</div>
+
+<p>On the 21st of March, Mr. Sedgewick's motion authorizing the President
+to lay an embargo was negatived by a majority of two voices; but in a
+few days, the consideration of that subject was resumed, and a
+resolution passed, prohibiting all trade from the United States to any
+foreign port or place for the space of thirty days, and empowering the
+President to carry the resolution into effect.</p>
+
+<p>This resolution was accompanied with vigorous provisional measures for
+defence, respecting the adoption of which, no considerable division of
+sentiment was avowed.</p>
+
+<p>While the measures of congress indicated that expectation of war, a
+public document made its appearance which seemed to demonstrate that
+Great Britain also was preparing for that event. This was the answer
+of Lord Dorchester, on the 10th of February, to a speech delivered by
+the deputies of a great number of Indian tribes assembled at Quebec.
+In this answer, his lordship had openly avowed the opinion, founded,
+as he said, on the conduct of the American people, that a war between
+Great Britain and the United States, during the present year, was
+probable, and that a new line between the two nations must then be
+drawn by the sword.</p>
+
+<p>This document was not authentic; but it obtained general belief, and
+contributed to confirm the opinion that war was scarcely to be
+avoided.</p>
+
+<p>On the 27th of March, Mr. Dayton moved a resolution for sequestering
+all debts due to British subjects, and for taking means to secure
+their payment into the treasury, as a fund out of which to indemnify
+the citizens of the United States for depredations committed on their
+commerce by British cruisers, in violation of the laws of nations.</p>
+
+<p>The debate on this resolution was such as was to be expected from the
+irritable state of the public mind. The invectives against the British
+nation were uttered with peculiar vehemence, and were mingled with
+allusions to the exertions of the government for the preservation of
+neutrality, censuring strongly the system which had been pursued.</p>
+
+<p>Before any question was taken on the proposition for sequestering
+British debts, and without a decision on those proposed by Mr.
+Madison, Mr. Clarke moved a resolution, which in some degree suspended
+the commercial regulations that had been so earnestly debated. This
+was to prohibit all intercourse with Great Britain until her
+government should make full compensation for all injuries done to the
+citizens of the United States by armed vessels, or by any person or
+persons acting under the authority of the British king; and until the
+western posts should be delivered up.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></p>
+
+<p>On the fourth of April, before any decision was made on the several
+propositions which have been stated, the President laid before
+congress a letter just received from Mr. Pinckney, the minister of the
+United States at London, communicating additional instructions to the
+commanders of British armed ships, which were dated the eighth of
+January. These instructions revoked those of the sixth of November;
+and, instead of bringing in for adjudication all neutral vessels
+trading with the French islands, British cruisers were directed to
+bring in those only which were laden with cargoes the produce of the
+French islands, and were on a direct voyage from those islands to
+Europe.</p>
+
+<p>The letter detailed a conversation with Lord Grenville on this
+subject, in which his lordship explained the motives which had
+originally occasioned the order of the sixth of November, and gave to
+it a less extensive signification than it had received in the courts
+of vice admiralty.</p>
+
+<p>It was intended, he said, to be temporary, and was calculated to
+answer two purposes. One was, to prevent the abuses which might take
+place in consequence of the whole of the St. Domingo fleet having gone
+to the United States; the other was, on account of the attack designed
+upon the French West India islands by the armament under Sir John
+Jarvis and Sir Charles Grey; but it was now no longer necessary to
+continue the regulations for those purposes. His lordship added, that
+the order of the sixth of November did not direct the confiscation of
+all vessels trading with the French islands, but only that they should
+be brought in for legal adjudication; and he conceived that no vessel
+would be condemned under it, which would not have been previously
+liable to the same sentence.</p>
+
+<p>The influence of this communication on the party in the legislature
+which was denominated federal, was very considerable. Believing that
+the existing differences between the two nations still admitted of
+explanation and adjustment, they strenuously opposed all measures
+which were irritating in their tendency, or which might be construed
+into a dereliction of the neutral character they were desirous of
+maintaining; but they gave all their weight to those which, by putting
+the nation in a posture of defence, prepared it for war, should
+negotiation fail.</p>
+
+<p>On the opposite party, no change of sentiment or of views appears to
+have been produced. Their system seems to have been matured, and not
+to have originated in the feelings of the moment. They adhered to it
+therefore with inflexible perseverance; but seemed not anxious to
+press an immediate determination of the propositions which had been
+made. These propositions were discussed with great animation; but,
+notwithstanding an ascertained majority in their favour, were
+permitted to remain undecided, as if their fate depended on some
+extrinsic circumstance.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, great exertions were made to increase the public agitation,
+and to stimulate the resentments which were felt against Great
+Britain. The artillery of the press was played with unceasing fury on
+the minority of the house of representatives; and the democratic
+societies brought their whole force into operation. Language will
+scarcely afford terms of greater outrage than were employed against
+those who sought to stem the torrent of public opinion, and to
+moderate the rage of the moment. They were denounced as a British
+faction, seeking to impose chains on their countrymen. Even the
+majority was declared to be but half roused; and to show little of
+that energy and decision which the crisis required.</p>
+
+<p>Unequivocal evidence, it was said, had been obtained of the
+liberticide intentions of Great Britain; and only the successes of
+freedom against tyranny, the triumphs of their magnanimous French
+brethren over slaves, had been the means of once more guaranteeing the
+independence of this country. The glorious example of France ought to
+animate the American people to every exertion to raise their prostrate
+character; and every tie of gratitude and interest should lead them to
+cement their connexion with that great republic. The proclamation of
+neutrality, though admitted to have originated in the best motives on
+the part of the President, was declared to be not only questionable in
+a constitutional point of view, but eventually to have proved
+impolitic. Being falsely construed by Great Britain into a
+manifestation of a pusillanimous disposition, it served to explain the
+aggressions of that nation. Experience now urged the abandonment of a
+line of conduct, which had fed the pride and provoked the insults of
+their unprincipled and implacable enemy; and was derogatory to the
+honour, inconsistent with the interest, and hostile to the liberties
+of their country.</p>
+
+<p>Their tameness under British aggressions was declared to furnish just
+cause of offence to France; since every infringement of right
+submitted to by a neutral, inflicted a correspondent injury on the
+nation at war with the offending power.</p>
+
+<p>The proceedings of the legislature continued to manifest a fixed
+purpose to pursue the system which had been commenced; and the public
+sentiment seemed to accord with that system. That the nation was
+advancing rapidly to a state of war, was firmly believed by many
+intelligent men, who doubted the necessity, and denied the policy of
+abandoning the neutral position which had been thus long maintained.
+In addition to the extensive calamities which must, in any state of
+things, result to the United States from a rupture with a nation which
+was the mistress of the ocean, and which furnished the best market for
+the sale of their produce, and the purchase of manufactures of
+indispensable necessity, there were considerations belonging
+exclusively to the moment, which, though operating only in a narrow
+circle, were certainly entitled to great respect.</p>
+
+<p>That war with Britain, during the continuance of the passionate and
+almost idolatrous devotion of a great majority of the people to the
+French republic, would throw America so completely into the arms of
+France as to leave her no longer mistress of her own conduct, was not
+the only fear which the temper of the day suggested. That the spirit
+which triumphed in that nation, and deluged it with the blood of its
+revolutionary champions, might cross the Atlantic, and desolate the
+hitherto safe and peaceful dwellings of the American people, was an
+apprehension not so entirely unsupported by appearances, as to be
+pronounced chimerical. With a blind infatuation, which treated reason
+as a criminal, immense numbers applauded a furious despotism,
+trampling on every right, and sporting with life, as the essence of
+liberty; and the few who conceived freedom to be a plant which did not
+flourish the better for being nourished with human blood, and who
+ventured to disapprove the ravages of the guillotine, were execrated
+as the tools of the coalesced despots, and as persons who, to weaken
+the affection of America for France, became the calumniators of that
+republic. Already had an imitative spirit, captivated with the
+splendour, but copying the errors of a great nation, reared up in
+every part of the continent self created corresponding societies, who,
+claiming to be the people, assumed a control over the government, and
+were loosening its bands. Already were the mountain,<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> and a
+revolutionary tribunal, favourite toasts; and already were principles
+familiarly proclaimed which, in France, had been the precursors of
+that tremendous and savage despotism, which, in the name of the
+people, and by the instrumentality of affiliated societies, had spread
+its terrific sway over that fine country, and had threatened to
+extirpate all that was wise and virtuous. That a great majority of
+those statesmen who conducted the opposition would deprecate such a
+result, furnished no security against it. When the physical force of a
+nation usurps the place of its wisdom, those who have produced such a
+state of things no longer control it.</p>
+
+<p>These apprehensions, whether well or ill founded, produced in those
+who felt them, an increased solicitude for the preservation of peace.
+Their aid was not requisite to confirm the judgment of the President
+on this interesting subject. Fixed in his purpose of maintaining the
+neutrality of the United States, until the aggressions of a foreign
+power should clearly render neutrality incompatible with honour; and
+conceiving, from the last advices received from England, that the
+differences between the two nations had not yet attained that point,
+he determined to make one decisive effort, which should either remove
+the ostensible causes of quarrel, or demonstrate the indisposition of
+Great Britain to remove them. This determination was executed by the
+nomination of an envoy extraordinary to his Britannic majesty, which
+was announced to the senate on the 16th of April in the following
+terms:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The communications which I have made to you during your present
+session, from the despatches of our minister in London, contain a
+serious aspect of our affairs with Great Britain. But as peace ought
+to be pursued with unremitted zeal, before the last resource which has
+so often been the scourge of nations, and can not fail to check the
+advanced prosperity of the United States, is contemplated, I have
+thought proper to nominate, and do hereby nominate John Jay, as envoy
+extraordinary of the United States, to his Britannic majesty.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Mr. Jay appointed envoy extraordinary to Great Britain.</div>
+
+<p>&quot;My confidence in our minister plenipotentiary in London continues
+undiminished. But a mission like this, while it corresponds with the
+solemnity of the occasion, will announce to the world a solicitude for
+the friendly adjustment of our complaints, and a reluctance to
+hostility. Going immediately from the United States, such an envoy
+will carry with him a full knowledge of the existing temper and
+sensibility of our country; and will thus be taught to vindicate our
+rights with firmness, and to cultivate peace with sincerity.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>To those who believed the interests of the nation to require a rupture
+with England, and a still closer connexion with France, nothing could
+be more unlooked for, or more unwelcome, than this decisive measure.
+That it would influence the proceedings of congress could not be
+doubted; and it would materially affect the public mind was probable.
+Evincing the opinion of the executive that negotiation, not
+legislative hostility, was still the proper medium for accommodating
+differences with Great Britain, it threw on the legislature a great
+responsibility, if they should persist in a system calculated to
+defeat that negotiation. By showing to the people that their President
+did not yet believe war to be necessary, it turned the attention of
+many to peace; and, by suggesting the probability, rekindled the
+almost extinguished desire, of preserving that blessing.</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely has any public act of the President drawn upon his
+administration a greater degree of censure than this. That such would
+be its effect, could not be doubted by a person who had observed the
+ardour with which opinions that it thwarted were embraced, or the
+extremity to which the passions and contests of the moment had carried
+all orders of men. But it is the province of real patriotism to
+consult the utility, more than the popularity of a measure; and to
+pursue the path of duty, although it may be rugged.</p>
+
+<p>In the senate, the nomination was approved by a majority of ten
+voices; and, in the house of representatives, it was urged as an
+argument against persevering in the system which had been commenced.
+On the 18th of April, a motion for taking up the report of the
+committee of the whole house on the resolution for cutting off all
+commercial intercourse with Great Britain, was opposed, chiefly on the
+ground that, as an envoy had been nominated to the court of that
+country, no obstacle ought to be thrown in his way. The adoption of
+the resolution would be a bar to negotiation, because it used the
+language of menace, and manifested a partiality to one of the
+belligerents which was incompatible with neutrality. It was also an
+objection to the resolution that it prescribed the terms on which
+alone a treaty should be made, and was consequently an infringement of
+the right of the executive to negotiate, and an indelicacy to that
+department.</p>
+
+<p>In support of the motion, it was said, that the measure was strictly
+within the duty of the legislature, they having solely the right to
+regulate commerce. That, if there was any indelicacy in the clashing
+of the proceedings of the legislature and executive, it was to the
+latter, not to the former, that this indelicacy was to be imputed. The
+resolution which was the subject of debate had been several days
+depending in the house, before the nomination of an envoy
+extraordinary had been made. America having a right, as an independent
+nation, to regulate her own commerce, the resolution could not lead to
+war; on the contrary, it was the best means of bringing the
+negotiation to a happy issue.</p>
+
+<p>The motion for taking up the report was carried in the affirmative.
+Some embarrassment was produced by an amendment offered by Mr. Smith
+of South Carolina, who proposed to add another condition to the
+restoration of intercourse between the two countries. This was,
+compensation for the negroes carried away in violation of the treaty
+of peace. The house avoided this proposition by modifying the
+resolutions so as to expunge all that part of it which prescribed the
+conditions on which the intercourse might be restored. A bill was
+brought in conforming to this resolution, and carried by a
+considerable majority. In the senate, it was lost by the casting vote
+of the Vice President. The system which had been taken up in the house
+of representatives was pressed no further.</p>
+
+<p>The altercations between the executive and the minister of the French
+republic, had given birth to many questions which had been warmly
+agitated in the United States, and on which a great diversity of
+sentiment prevailed.</p>
+
+<p>The opinion of the administration that the relations produced by
+existing treaties, and indeed by a state of peace independent of
+treaty, imposed certain obligations on the United States, an
+observance of which it was the duty of the executive to enforce, had
+been reprobated with extreme severity. It was contended, certainly by
+the most active, perhaps by the most numerous part of the community,
+not only that the treaties had been grossly misconstrued, but also
+that, under any construction of them, the interference of the
+executive acquired the sanction of legislative authority; that, until
+the legislature should interpose and annex certain punishments to
+infractions of neutrality, the natural right possessed by every
+individual to do any act not forbidden by express law, would furnish a
+secure protection against those prosecutions which a tyrannical
+executive might direct for the crime of disregarding its illegal
+mandates. The right of the President to call out the militia for the
+detention of privateers about to violate the rules he had established,
+was, in some instances, denied; attempts to punish those who had
+engaged, within the United States, to carry on expeditions against
+foreign nations, were unsuccessful; and a grand jury had refused to
+find a bill of indictment against Mr. Duplaine, for having rescued,
+with an armed force, a vessel which had been taken into custody by an
+officer of justice. Of consequence, however decided the opinion of the
+executive might be with respect to its constitutional powers and
+duties, it was desirable to diminish the difficulties to be
+encountered in performing those duties, by obtaining the sanction of
+the legislature to the rules which had been established for the
+preservation of neutrality. The propriety of legislative provision for
+the case was suggested by the President at the commencement of the
+session, and a bill was brought into the senate, &quot;in addition to the
+act for punishing certain crimes against the United States.&quot; This bill
+prohibited the exercise, within the American territory, of those
+various rights of sovereignty which had been claimed by Mr. Genet, and
+subjected any citizen of the United States who should be convicted of
+committing any of the offences therein enumerated, to fine and
+imprisonment. It also prohibited the condemnation and sale within the
+United States, of prizes made from the citizens or subjects of nations
+with whom they were at peace.</p>
+
+<p>Necessary as this measure was, the whole strength of the opposition in
+the senate was exerted to defeat it. Motions to strike out the most
+essential clause were successively repeated, and each motion was
+negatived by the casting vote of the Vice President. It was only by
+his voice that the bill finally passed.<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p>
+
+<p>In the house of representatives also, this bill encountered a serious
+opposition. The sections which prohibited the sale of prizes in the
+United States, and that which declared it to be a misdemeanour to
+accept a commission from a foreign power within the territory of the
+United States, to serve against a nation with whom they were at peace,
+were struck out; but that which respected the acceptance of
+commissions was afterwards reinstated.</p>
+
+<p>In the course of the session, several other party questions were
+brought forward, which demonstrated, at the same time, the strength,
+and the zeal of the opposition. The subject of amending the
+constitution was revived; and a resolution was agreed to in both
+houses for altering that instrument, so far as to exempt states from
+the suits of individuals. While this resolution was before the senate,
+it was also proposed to render the officers of the bank, and the
+holders of stock, ineligible to either branch of the legislature; and
+this proposition, so far as respected officers in the bank, was
+negatived by a majority of only one vote.<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> A bill to sell the
+shares of the United States in the bank was negatived by the same
+majority.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Inquiry into the conduct of the secretary of the treasury
+terminates honourably to him.</div>
+
+<p><a name="p147">In</a> both houses inquiries were set on foot respecting the treasury
+department, which obviously originated in the hope of finding some
+foundation for censuring that officer, but which failed entirely. In a
+similar hope, as respected the minister of the United States at Paris,
+the senate passed a vote requesting the President to lay before that
+body, his correspondence with the French republic, and also with the
+department of state.<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p>
+
+<p>The preparations for an eventual war, which the aspect of public
+affairs rendered it imprudent to omit, and a heavy appropriation of a
+million, which, under the title of foreign intercourse, was made for
+the purpose of purchasing peace from Algiers, and liberating the
+Americans who were in captivity, created demands upon the treasury
+which the ordinary revenues were insufficient to satisfy.</p>
+
+<p>That the imposition of additional taxes had become indispensable, was
+a truth too obvious to be controverted with the semblance of reason;
+but the subjects of taxation afforded at all times an ample field for
+discussion.</p>
+
+<p>The committee of ways and means reported several resolutions for
+extending the internal duties to various objects which were supposed
+capable of bearing them, and also proposed an augmentation of the
+impost on foreign goods imported into the United States, and a direct
+tax. It was proposed to lay a tax on licenses to sell wines and
+spirituous liquors, on sales at auction, on pleasure carriages, on
+snuff manufactured, and on sugar refined in the United States, and
+also to lay a stamp duty.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Internal taxes laid.</div>
+
+<p>The direct tax was not even supported by the committee. Only thirteen
+members voted in its favour. The augmentation of the duty on imposts
+met with no opposition. The internal duties were introduced in
+separate bills, that each might encounter only those objections which
+could be made to itself; and that the loss of one might not involve
+the loss of others. The resolution in favour of stamps was rejected:
+the others were carried, after repeated and obstinate debates. The
+members of the opposition were in favour of raising the whole sum
+required by additional burdens on trade, and by direct taxes.</p>
+
+<p>While these measures were depending before congress, memorials and
+resolutions against them were presented by the manufacturers, which
+were expressed in terms of disrespect that evidenced the sense in
+which numbers understood the doctrine, <i>that the people were
+sovereign, and those who administered the government, their servants</i>.
+This opportunity for charging the government with tyranny and
+oppression, with partiality and injustice, was too favourable not to
+be embraced by the democratic societies, those self proclaimed
+watchful sentinels over the rights of the people. A person
+unacquainted with those motives which, in the struggle of party, too
+often influence the conduct of men, would have supposed a direct tax
+to be not only in itself more eligible, but to be more acceptable to
+the community than those which were proposed. To the more judicious
+observers of the springs of human action, the reverse was known to be
+the fact.</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center">&#160;</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a name="image04">
+<img src="images/148.jpg" width="586" height="340" alt="Washington's Bedroom" /></a></p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center"><b>George Washington's Bedroom at Mount Vernon</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p><i>It was in this room that Washington expired, December 14, 1799. Two
+days previously he was exposed in the saddle, for several hours, to
+cold and snow, and contracted acute laryngitis for which he was
+ineffectually treated in the primitive manner of the period. A short
+time before ceasing to breathe, he said: &quot;I die hard; but I am not
+afraid to go. I believed from my first attack that I should not
+survive it. My breath cannot last long.&quot; A little later he murmured:
+&quot;I feel myself going. I thank you for your attentions; but I pray you
+to take no more trouble about me. Let me go off quietly. I cannot last
+long.&quot; After giving some instructions about his burial he became
+easier, felt his own pulse, and died without a struggle.</i></p>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#160;</p>
+
+<p>The friends of the administration supported the proposed system
+against every objection to it, because they believed it to be more
+productive, and less unpopular, than a direct tax. It is not
+impossible that what recommended the system to one party, might
+constitute a real objection to it with those who believed that the
+public interest required a change<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> in the public councils.</p>
+
+<p>On the ninth of June, this active and stormy session was closed by an
+adjournment to the first Monday in the succeeding November.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Congress adjourns.</div>
+
+<p>The public was not less agitated than the legislature had been, by
+those interesting questions which had occasioned some of the most
+animated and eloquent discussions that had ever taken place on the
+floor of the house of representatives. Mr. Madison's resolutions
+especially, continued to be the theme of general conversation; and,
+for a long time, divided parties throughout the United States. The
+struggle for public opinion was ardent; and each party supported its
+pretensions, not only with those arguments which each deemed
+conclusive, but also by those reciprocal criminations which, perhaps,
+each, in part, believed.</p>
+
+<p>The opposition declared that the friends of the administration were an
+aristocratic and corrupt faction, who, from a desire to introduce
+monarchy, were hostile to France, and under the influence of Britain;
+that they sought every occasion to increase expense, to augment debt,
+to multiply the public burdens, to create armies and navies, and, by
+the instrumentality of all this machinery, to govern and enslave the
+people: that they were a paper nobility, whose extreme sensibility at
+every measure which threatened the funds, induced a tame submission to
+injuries and insults, which the interests and honour of the nation
+required them to resist.</p>
+
+<p>The friends of the administration retorted, that the opposition was
+prepared to sacrifice the best interests of their country on the altar
+of the French revolution. That they were willing to go to war for
+French, not for American objects: that while they urged war they
+withheld the means of supporting it, in order the more effectually to
+humble and disgrace the government: that they were so blinded by their
+passion for France as to confound crimes with meritorious deeds, and
+to abolish the natural distinction between virtue and vice: that the
+principles which they propagated, and with which they sought to
+intoxicate the people, were, in practice, incompatible with the
+existence of government. That they were the apostles of anarchy, not
+of freedom; and were consequently not the friends of real and rational
+liberty.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><b>Genet recalled.... Is succeeded by Mr. Fauchet....
+Gouverneur Morris recalled, and is succeeded by Mr.
+Monroe.... Kentucky remonstrance.... Intemperate resolutions
+of the people of that state.... General Wayne defeats the
+Indians on the Miamis.... Insurrection in the western parts
+of Pennsylvania.... Quelled by the prompt and vigorous
+measures of the government.... Meeting of Congress....
+President's speech.... Democratic societies.... Resignation
+of Colonel Hamilton.... Is succeeded by Mr. Wolcott....
+Resignation of General Knox.... Is succeeded by Colonel
+Pickering.... Treaty between the United States and Great
+Britain.... Conditionally ratified by the President.... The
+treaty unpopular.... Mr. Randolph resigns.... Is succeeded
+by Colonel Pickering.... Colonel M'Henry appointed secretary
+of war.... Charge against the President rejected..... Treaty
+with the Indians north-west of the Ohio.... With Algiers....
+With Spain.... Meeting of Congress.... President's
+speech.... Mr. Adet succeeds Mr. Fauchet..... The house of
+representatives call upon the President for papers relating
+to the treaty with Great Britain.... He declines sending
+them.... Debates upon the treaty making power.... Upon the
+bill for making appropriations to carry into execution the
+treaty with Great Britain.... Congress adjourns.... The
+President endeavours to procure the liberation of Lafayette.</b></p></div>
+
+<p>&#160;</p>
+
+
+<div class="sidenotey">1794</div>
+
+<p><span class="lgsmcap">That</span> the most material of those legislative measures on which the two
+great parties of the United States were divided, might be presented in
+one unbroken view, some transactions have been passed over, which will
+now be noticed.</p>
+
+<p>In that spirit of conciliation, which adopts the least irritating
+means for effecting its objects, the President had resolved to bear
+with the insults, the resistance, and the open defiance of Mr. Genet,
+until his appeal to the friendship and the policy of the French
+republic should be fairly tried. Early in January, this resolution was
+shaken, by fresh proofs of the perseverance of that minister, in a
+line of conduct, not to be tolerated by a nation, which has not
+surrendered all pretensions to self government. Mr. Genet had
+meditated, and deliberately planned, two expeditions to be carried on
+from the territories of the United States, against the dominions of
+Spain; and had, as minister of the French republic, granted
+commissions to citizens of the United States, who were privately
+recruiting troops for the proposed service. The first was destined
+against the Floridas, and the second against Louisiana. The detail of
+the plans had been settled. The pay, rations, clothing, plunder, and
+division of the conquered lands to be allotted to the military; and
+the proportion of the acquisitions to be reserved to the republic of
+France, were arranged. The troops destined to act against the Floridas
+were to be raised in the three southern states, were to rendezvous in
+Georgia, were to be aided by a body of Indians and were to co-operate
+with the French fleet, should one arrive on the coast. This scheme had
+been the subject of a correspondence between the executive and Mr.
+Genet, but was in full progress in the preceding December, when by the
+vigilance of the legislature of South Carolina, it was more
+particularly developed, and some of the principal agents were
+arrested.</p>
+
+<p>About the same time, intelligence less authentic, but wearing every
+circumstance of probability, was received, stating that the expedition
+against Louisiana, which was to be carried on down the Ohio from
+Kentucky, was in equal maturity.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Genet recalled.</div>
+
+<p>This intelligence seemed to render a further forbearance incompatible
+with the dignity, perhaps with the safety of the United States. The
+question of superseding the diplomatic functions of Mr. Genet, and
+depriving him of the privileges attached to that character, was
+brought before the cabinet; and a message to congress was prepared,
+communicating these transactions, and avowing a determination to adopt
+that measure within &#8212;&#8212; days, unless, in the mean time, one or the
+other house should signify the opinion that it was not adviseable so
+to do. In this state, the business was arrested by receiving a letter
+from Mr. Morris, announcing, officially, the recall of this rash
+minister.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Is succeeded by Mr. Fauchet.</div>
+
+<p>Mr. Fauchet, the successor of Mr. Genet, arrived in February, and
+brought with him strong assurances that his government totally
+disapproved the conduct of his predecessor. He avowed a determination
+to avoid whatever might be offensive to those to whom he was deputed,
+and a wish to carry into full effect the friendly dispositions of his
+nation towards the United States. For some time, his actions were in
+the spirit of these professions.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Gouverneur Morris is recalled and is succeed by Mr.
+Monroe.</div>
+
+<p>Not long after the arrival of Mr. Fauchet, the executive government of
+France requested the recall of Mr. Morris. With this request the
+president immediately complied; and Mr. Monroe, a senator from
+Virginia, who had embraced with ardour the cause of the French
+republic, and was particularly acceptable to the party in opposition,
+was appointed to succeed him.</p>
+
+<p>The discontents which had been long fomented in the western country,
+had assumed a serious and alarming appearance.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Kentucky remonstrance.</div>
+
+<p>A remonstrance to the President and congress of the United States from
+the inhabitants of Kentucky, respecting the navigation of the
+Mississippi, was laid before the executive, and each branch of the
+legislature. The style of this paper accorded well with the
+instructions under which it had been prepared.</p>
+
+<p>In the language of an offended sovereign people, injured by the
+maladministration of public servants, it demanded the use of the
+Mississippi as a natural right which had been unjustly withheld; and
+charged the government, openly, with being under the influence of a
+local policy, which had prevented its making one single real effort
+for the security of a good which was all essential to the prosperity
+of the western people. Several intemperate aspersions upon the
+legislative and executive departments, accompanied with complaints
+that the course of the negotiations had not been communicated to those
+who were interested in the event, and with threats obviously pointing
+to dismemberment, were concluded with a declaration that nothing would
+remunerate the western people for the suspension of this great
+territorial right; that they must possess it; that the god of nature
+had given them the means of acquiring and enjoying it; and that to
+permit a sacrifice of it to any other considerations, would be a crime
+against themselves and their posterity.</p>
+
+<p>In the senate, the subject was referred to a committee, who reported,
+&quot;that in the negotiation now carrying on at Madrid between the United
+States and Spain, the right of the former to the free navigation of
+the Mississippi is well asserted and demonstrated, and their claim to
+its enjoyment is pursued with all the assiduity and firmness which the
+magnitude of the subject demands; and will doubtless continue to be so
+pursued until the object shall be obtained, or adverse circumstances
+shall render the further progress of the negotiation impracticable.
+That in the present state of the business, it would be improper for
+congress to interfere. But in order to satisfy the citizens of the
+United States more immediately interested in the event of this
+negotiation, that the United States have uniformly asserted their
+right to the free use of the navigation of the river Mississippi, and
+have employed and will continue to pursue such measures as are best
+adapted to obtain the enjoyment of this important territorial right,
+the committee recommend that it be resolved by the senate&#8212;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is
+requested to cause to be communicated to the executive of the state of
+Kentucky,<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> such part of the existing negotiation between the United
+States and Spain relative to this subject, as he may deem adviseable,
+and consistent with the course of the negotiation.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In the house of representatives also, a resolution was passed,
+expressing the conviction of the house, that the executive was urging
+the claim of the United States to the navigation of the Mississippi,
+in the manner most likely to prove successful.</p>
+
+<p>Had the measures pursued in the western country been dictated,
+exclusively, by a wish to obtain an important good, these resolutions
+would have allayed the ferment which had been excited. The effect
+which must be produced on Spain by the insinuation that the
+continuance of their connexion with the Atlantic states depended on
+obtaining the object they sought, was too apparent to escape the
+notice of men endowed with an ordinary share of intelligence. But when
+the real motives for human action are latent, it is vain to
+demonstrate the unreasonableness of those which are avowed.</p>
+
+<p>After the reception of these resolutions, a number of the principal
+citizens from various parts of Kentucky assembled at Lexington, and
+among many intemperate resolutions passed the following:</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Intemperate resolutions of the people of that state.</div>
+
+<p>&quot;That the general government whose duty it was to put us in possession
+of this right (the navigation of the Mississippi) have, either through
+design or mistaken policy, adopted no effectual measures for its
+attainment.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That even the measures they have adopted, have been uniformly
+concealed from us, and veiled in mysterious secrecy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That civil liberty is prostituted, when the servants of the people
+are suffered to tell their masters, that communications which they may
+judge important ought not to be intrusted to them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>These resolutions concluded with a recommendation of county meetings,
+of county committees of correspondence, and of a convention when it
+might be judged expedient, to deliberate on the proper steps for the
+attainment and security of their just rights.</p>
+
+<p>To estimate these resolutions accurately, it will be necessary to view
+in connexion with them, the military preparations which were making in
+that country, under the authority of France.</p>
+
+<p>In October, 1793, it was alleged by the Spanish commissioners, that
+four Frenchmen had left Philadelphia, empowered by the minister of the
+French republic to prepare an expedition, in Kentucky, against New
+Orleans. This fact was immediately communicated by Mr. Jefferson to
+the governor of that state, with a request that he would use those
+means of prevention which the law enabled him to employ. Binding to
+good behaviour was particularly recommended. This letter was
+accompanied by one from the secretary of war, conveying the request of
+the President, that, if preventive means should fail, effectual
+military force should be employed to arrest the expedition; and
+General Wayne was ordered to hold a body of troops at the disposal of
+the governor, should he find the militia insufficient for his purpose.</p>
+
+<p>The governor had already received information, that a citizen of
+Kentucky was in possession of a commission appointing him
+Commander-in-chief of the proposed expedition; and that the Frenchmen
+alluded to in the letter of Mr. Jefferson, had arrived, and, far from
+affecting concealment declared, that they only waited for money which
+they expected soon to receive, in order to commence their operations.</p>
+
+<p>The following extract of a letter from the governor, on this subject,
+exhibits a curious specimen of the conclusions to which gentlemen were
+conducted by the course of political reasoning which prevailed at the
+day.</p>
+
+<p>After stating the facts above alluded to, he says, &quot;I have great
+doubts, even if they do attempt to carry their plan into execution,
+(provided they manage their business with prudence,) whether there is
+any legal authority to restrain or punish them, at least before they
+have actually accomplished it. For if it is lawful for any one citizen
+of this state to leave it, it is equally so for any number of them to
+do it. It is also lawful to carry with them any quantity of
+provisions, arms, and ammunition; and if the act is lawful in itself,
+there is nothing but the particular intention with which it is done
+that can possibly make it unlawful. But I know of no law which
+inflicts a punishment on intention only; or any criterion by which to
+decide what would be sufficient evidence of that intention, if it was
+a proper subject for legal censure.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I shall, upon all occasions, be averse to the exercise of any power
+which I do not consider myself as clearly and explicitly invested
+with, much less would I assume power to exercise it against men whom I
+consider as friends and brethren, in favour of a man whom I view as an
+enemy and a tyrant. I shall also feel but little inclination to take
+an active part in punishing or restraining any of my fellow citizens
+for a supposed intrusion only, to gratify or remove the fears of the
+minister or a prince who openly withholds from us an invaluable right,
+and who secretly instigates against us a most savage and cruel enemy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Upon the receipt of this extraordinary letter, the President directed
+General Wayne to establish a military post at Fort Massac, on the
+Ohio, for the purpose of stopping by force, if peaceful means should
+fail, any body of armed men who should be proceeding down that river.</p>
+
+<p>This precaution appears to have been necessary. The preparations for
+the expedition were, for some time, carried on with considerable
+activity; and there is reason to believe that it was not absolutely
+relinquished, until Spain ceased to be the enemy of France.<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></p>
+
+<p>The proceedings of the legislature of South Carolina embarrassed those
+who had planned the invasion of the Floridas, but did not entirely
+disconcert them. In April, a French sloop of war arrived on the
+confines of Georgia and East Florida, with a small body of troops, who
+were landed on one of the islands on the coast, south of the St. Mary,
+and who declared themselves to be part of a larger force, which might
+soon be expected. Upon their arrival, several small corps of Americans
+who had engaged to serve the republic of France, assembled in Georgia,
+for the purpose, as was universally understood, of co-operating with
+the French against the neighbouring dominions of Spain.</p>
+
+<p>The interposition of government, and the inadequacy of the force to
+the object, disconcerted this expedition. Its leader conducted his
+followers into the Indian country, and endeavoured to make a
+settlement on their hunting grounds.</p>
+
+<p>While these turbulent scenes were acting, the loud plaudits of France,
+which were dictated by a passionate devotion to that country, were
+reechoed from every part of the American continent. The friendship of
+that republic for the United States, her respect for their rights, the
+ingratitude with which her continuing benefits were repaid, the
+injustice done her by the executive, its tameness under British
+insults, were the inexhaustible themes of loud, angry, and unceasing
+declamation. It required a firmness of mind, and a weight of character
+possessed only by the chief magistrate, to maintain the ground he had
+taken, against such an assemblage of passions and of prejudices.</p>
+
+<p>It will be recollected that in the preceding year, the attempt to
+treat with the hostile Indians had suspended the operations of General
+Wayne until the season for action had nearly passed away. After the
+total failure of negotiation, the campaign was opened with as much
+vigour as a prudent attention to circumstances would permit.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians had expected an attempt upon their villages, and had
+collected in full force, with the apparent determination of risking a
+battle in their defence. A battle was desired by the American general;
+but the consequences of another defeat were too serious to warrant him
+in putting more to hazard by precipitate movements, than the
+circumstances of the war required. The negotiations with the Indians
+were not terminated till September, and it was then too late to
+complete the preparations which would enable General Wayne to enter
+their country and to hold it. He, therefore, contented himself with
+collecting his army and penetrating about six miles in advance of Fort
+Jefferson into the uninhabited country, where he established himself
+for the winter, in a camp called Greensville. After fortifying his
+camp, he took possession of the ground on which the Americans had been
+defeated in 1791, where he erected Fort Recovery. These positions
+afforded considerable protection to the frontiers, and facilitated the
+opening of the ensuing campaign.</p>
+
+<p>Seeing only the dark side of every measure adopted by the government,
+and not disinclined to militia expeditions made at the expense of the
+United States, the people of Kentucky loudly charged the President
+with a total disregard of their safety, pronounced the continental
+troops entirely useless, declared that the Indians were to be kept in
+awe alone by militia, and insisted that the power should be deposited
+with some person in their state, to call them out at his discretion,
+at the charge of the United States.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, some steps were taken by the governor of Upper Canada which
+were well calculated to increase suspicions respecting the
+dispositions of Great Britain.</p>
+
+<p><a name="p164">It</a> was believed by the President, not without cause,<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> that the
+cabinet of London was disposed to avail itself of the non-execution of
+that article of the treaty of peace, which stipulates for the payment
+of debts, to justify a permanent detention of the posts on the
+southern side of the great lakes, and to establish a new boundary
+line, whereby those lakes should be entirely comprehended in Upper
+Canada. Early in the spring, a detachment from the garrison of Detroit
+repossessed and fortified a position near fifty miles south of that
+station, on the Miamis of the lakes, a river which empties into Lake
+Erie at its westernmost point.</p>
+
+<p>This movement, the speech of Lord Dorchester, and other facts which
+strengthened the belief that the hostile Indians were at least
+countenanced by the English, were the subjects of a correspondence
+between the secretary of state and Mr. Hammond, in which crimination
+was answered by recrimination, in which a considerable degree of
+mutual irritation was displayed, and in which each supported his
+charges against the nation of the other, much better than he defended
+his own. It did not, however, in any manner, affect the operations of
+the army.</p>
+
+<p>The delays inseparable from the transportation of necessary supplies
+through an uninhabited country, infested by an active enemy peculiarly
+skilled in partisan war, unavoidably protracted the opening of the
+campaign until near midsummer. Meanwhile, several sharp skirmishes
+took place, in one of which a few white men were stated to be mingled
+with the Indians.</p>
+
+<p>On the 8th of August, General Wayne reached the confluence of the Au
+Glaize and the Miamis of the lakes, where he threw up some works of
+defence, and protection for magazines. The richest and most extensive
+settlements of the western Indians lay about this place.</p>
+
+<p>The mouth of the Au Glaize is distant about thirty miles from the post
+occupied by the British on the Miamis of the lakes, in the vicinity of
+which the whole strength of the enemy, amounting, according to
+intelligence on which General Wayne relied, to rather less than two
+thousand men, was collected. The continental legion was not much
+inferior in number to the Indians: and a reinforcement of about eleven
+hundred mounted militia from Kentucky, commanded by General Scott,
+gave a decided superiority of strength to the army of Wayne. That the
+Indians had determined to give him battle was well understood; and the
+discipline of his legion, the ardour of all his troops, and the
+superiority of his numbers, authorized him confidently to expect a
+favourable issue. Yet, in pursuance of that policy by which the United
+States had been uniformly actuated, he determined to make one more
+effort for the attainment of peace without bloodshed. Messengers were
+despatched to the several hostile tribes who were assembled in his
+front, inviting them to appoint deputies to meet him on his march, in
+order to negotiate a lasting peace.</p>
+
+<p>On the 15th of August, the American army advanced down the Miamis,
+with its right covered by that river; and on the 18th, arrived at the
+rapids. Here they halted on the 19th, in order to erect a temporary
+work for the protection of the baggage, and to reconnoitre the
+situation of the enemy.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians were advantageously posted behind a thick wood, and behind
+the British fort.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">General Wayne defeats the Indians at the Miamis.</div>
+
+<p>At eight in the morning of the 20th, the American army advanced in
+columns: the legion with its right flank covered by the Miamis: One
+brigade of mounted volunteers commanded by General Todd was on the
+left; and the other under General Barbee was in the rear. A select
+battalion, commanded by Major Price, moved in front of the legion,
+sufficiently in advance to give timely notice for the troops to form
+in case of action.<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p>
+
+<p>After marching about five miles, Major Price received a heavy fire
+from a concealed enemy, and was compelled to retreat.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians had chosen their ground with judgment. They had advanced
+into the thick wood in front of the British works which extends
+several miles west from the Miamis, and had taken a position, rendered
+almost inaccessible to horse by a quantity of fallen timber which
+appeared to have been blown up in a tornado. They were formed in three
+lines, within supporting distance of each other; and, as is their
+custom, with a very extended front. Their line stretched to the west,
+at right angles with the river, about two miles; and their immediate
+effort was to turn the left flank of the American army.</p>
+
+<p>On the discharge of the first rifle, the legion was formed in two
+lines, and the front was ordered to advance with trailed arms, and
+rouse the enemy from his covert at the point of the bayonet; then, and
+not until then, to deliver a fire, and to press the fugitives too
+closely to allow them time to load after discharging their pieces.
+Soon perceiving the strength of the enemy in front, and that he was
+endeavouring to turn the American left, the general ordered the second
+line to support the first. The legion cavalry, led by Captain
+Campbell, was directed to penetrate between the Indians and the river,
+where the wood was less thick and entangled, in order to charge their
+left flank; and General Scott, at the head of the mounted volunteers,
+was directed to make a considerable circuit, and to turn their right
+flank.</p>
+
+<p>These orders were executed with spirit and promptitude; but such was
+the impetuosity of the charge made by the first line of infantry, so
+entirely was the enemy broken by it, and so rapid was the pursuit,
+that only a small part of the second line and of the mounted
+volunteers could get into the action. In the course of one hour, the
+Indians were driven more than two miles, through thick woods; when the
+pursuit terminated within gun shot of the British fort.</p>
+
+<p>General Wayne remained three days on the banks of the Miamis, in front
+of the field of battle, during which time the houses and cornfields
+above and below the fort, some of them within pistol shot of it, were
+reduced to ashes. During these operations, a correspondence took place
+between General Wayne and Major Campbell, the commandant of the fort,
+which is stated by the former in such a manner as to show, that
+hostilities between them were avoided only by the prudent acquiescence
+of the latter in this devastation of property within the range of his
+guns.</p>
+
+<p>On the 28th, the army returned to Au Glaize by easy marches,
+destroying on its route all the villages and corn within fifty miles
+of the river.</p>
+
+<p>In this decisive battle, the loss of the Americans, in killed and
+wounded, amounted to one hundred and seven, including officers. Among
+the dead was Captain Campbell, who commanded the cavalry, and
+Lieutenant Towles of the infantry, both of whom fell in the first
+charge. General Wayne bestowed great and well merited praise on the
+courage and alacrity displayed by every part of the army.</p>
+
+<p>The hostility of the Indians still continuing, their whole country was
+laid waste, and forts were erected in the heart of their settlements,
+to prevent their return.</p>
+
+<p>This seasonable victory rescued the United States from a general war
+with all the Indians north-west of the Ohio. The Six Nations had
+discovered a restless uneasy temper; and the interposition of the
+President, to prevent a settlement which Pennsylvania was about to
+make at Presqueisle, seemed rather to suspend the commencement of
+hostilities, than to establish permanent pacific dispositions among
+those tribes. The battle of the 20th of August, however, had an
+immediate effect; and the clouds which had been long gathering in that
+quarter, were instantly dissipated.</p>
+
+<p>In the south too, its influence was felt. In that quarter, the
+inhabitants of Georgia and the Indians seemed equally disposed to war.
+Scarcely was the feeble authority of the government competent to
+restrain the aggressions of the former, or the dread of its force
+sufficient to repress those of the latter. In this doubtful state of
+things, the effect of a victory could not be inconsiderable.</p>
+
+<p>About this time, the seditious and violent resistance to the execution
+of the law imposing duties on spirits distilled within the United
+States, had advanced to a point in the counties of Pennsylvania lying
+west of the Alleghany mountains, which required the decisive
+interposition of government.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Insurrection in the Western parts of Pennsylvania.</div>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the multiplied outrages committed on the persons and
+property of the revenue officers, and of those who seemed willing to
+submit to the law, yet, in consequence of a steady adherence to the
+system of counteraction adopted by the executive, it was visibly
+gaining ground, and several distillers in the disaffected country were
+induced to comply with its requisites. The opinion, that the
+persevering efforts of the administration would ultimately prevail,
+derived additional support from the passage of an act by the present
+congress, containing those provisions which had been suggested by the
+chief of the treasury department. The progress of this bill, which
+became a law on the fifth of June, could not have been unknown to the
+malcontents, nor could its probable operation have been misunderstood.
+They perceived that the certain loss of a market for the article,
+added to the penalties to which delinquents were liable, might
+gradually induce a compliance on the part of distillers, unless they
+could, by a systematic and organized opposition, deprive the
+government of the means it employed for carrying the law into
+execution.</p>
+
+<p>On the part of the executive, this open defiance of the laws, and of
+the authority of the government, was believed imperiously to require,
+that the strength and efficacy of those laws should be tried. Against
+the perpetrators of some of the outrages which had been committed,
+bills of indictment had been found in a court of the United States,
+upon which process was directed to issue; and at the same time,
+process was also issued against a great number of non-complying
+distillers.</p>
+
+<p>The marshal repaired in person to the country which was the scene of
+these disorders, for the purpose of serving the processes. On the 15th
+of July, while in the execution of his duty, he was beset on the road
+by a body of armed men, who fired on him, but fortunately did him no
+personal injury. At daybreak, the ensuing morning, a party attacked
+the house of General Nevil, the inspector; but he defended himself
+resolutely, and obliged the assailants to retreat.</p>
+
+<p>Knowing well that this attack had been preconcerted, and apprehending
+that it would be repeated, he applied to the militia officers and
+magistrates of the county for protection. The answer was, that &quot;owing
+to the too general combination of the people to oppose the revenue
+system, the laws could not be executed so as to afford him protection:
+that should the <i>posse comitatus</i> be ordered out to support the civil
+authority, they would favour the party of the rioters.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>On the succeeding day, the insurgents re-assembled to the number of
+about five hundred, to renew their attack on the house of the
+inspector. That officer, finding that no protection could be afforded
+by the civil authority, had applied to the commanding officer at Fort
+Pitt, and had obtained a detachment of eleven men from that garrison,
+who were joined by Major Kirkpatrick. Successful resistance to so
+great a force being obviously impracticable, a parley took place, at
+which the assailants, after requiring that the inspector<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> and all
+his papers should be delivered up, demanded that the party in the
+house should march out and ground their arms. This being refused, the
+parley terminated, and the assault commenced. The action lasted until
+the assailants set fire to several adjacent buildings, the heat from
+which was so intense that the house could no longer be occupied. From
+this cause, and from the apprehension that the fire would soon be
+communicated to the main building, Major Kirkpatrick and his party
+surrendered themselves.</p>
+
+<p>The marshal and Colonel Pressly Nevil were seized on their way to
+General Nevil's house, and detained until two the next morning. The
+marshal, especially, was treated with extreme rudeness. His life was
+frequently threatened, and was probably saved by the interposition of
+some leading individuals who possessed more humanity, or more
+prudence, than those with whom they were associated. He could obtain
+his liberty only by entering into a solemn engagement, which was
+guaranteed by Colonel Nevil, to serve no more process on the western
+side of the Alleghany mountains.</p>
+
+<p>The marshal and inspector having both retired to Pittsburg, the
+insurgents deputed two of their body, one of whom was a justice of the
+peace, to demand that the former should surrender all his process, and
+that the latter should resign his office; threatening, in case of
+refusal, to attack the place, and seize their persons. These demands
+were not acceded to; but Pittsburg affording no security, these
+officers escaped from the danger which threatened them, by descending
+the Ohio; after which, they found their way by a circuitous route to
+the seat of government.</p>
+
+<p>The perpetrators of these treasonable practices, being desirous to
+ascertain their strength, and to discover any latent enemies who might
+remain unsuspected in the bosom of the disaffected country, despatched
+a party which stopped the mail from Pittsburg to Philadelphia, cut it
+open, and took out the letters which it contained. In some of these
+letters, a direct disapprobation of the violent measures which had
+been adopted was avowed; and in others, expressions were used which
+indicated unfriendly dispositions towards them. Upon acquiring this
+intelligence, delegates were deputed from the town of Washington to
+Pittsburg, where the writers of the offensive letters resided, to
+demand the banishment of the offenders. A prompt obedience to this
+demand was unavoidable; and the inhabitants of Pittsburg, who were
+convened on the occasion, engaged to attend a general meeting of the
+people, who were to assemble the next day in Braddock's field, in
+order to carry into effect such further measures as might be deemed
+adviseable with respect to the excise and its friends. They also
+determined to elect delegates to a convention which was to meet, on
+the 14th of August, at Parkinson's ferry. The avowed motives to these
+outrages were to compel the resignation of all officers engaged in the
+collection of the duties on distilled spirits; to withstand by force
+of arms the authority of the United States; and thereby to extort a
+repeal of the law imposing those duties, and an alteration in the
+conduct of government.</p>
+
+<p>Affidavits attesting this serious state of things were laid before the
+President.</p>
+
+<p>The opposition had now reached to a point which seemed to forbid the
+continuance of a temporizing system. The efforts at conciliation,
+which, for more than three years, the government had persisted to
+make, and the alterations repeatedly introduced into the act for the
+purpose of rendering it less exceptionable, instead of diminishing the
+arrogance of those who opposed their will to the sense of the nation,
+had drawn forth sentiments indicative of designs much deeper than the
+evasion of a single act. The execution of the laws had at length been
+resisted by open force, and a determination to persevere in these
+measures was unequivocally avowed. The alternative of subduing this
+resistance, or of submitting to it was presented to the government.</p>
+
+<p>The act of congress which provided for calling forth the militia &quot;to
+execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections, and repel
+invasions,&quot; required as a pre-requisite to the exercise of this power,
+&quot;that an associate justice, or the judge of the district, should
+certify that the laws of the United States were opposed, or their
+execution obstructed, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by
+the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested
+in the marshals.&quot; In the same act it was provided, &quot;that if the
+militia of the state, where such combinations may happen, shall
+refuse, or be insufficient, to suppress the same, the President may
+employ the militia of other states.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The evidence which had been transmitted to the President was laid
+before one of the associate justices, who gave the certificate, which
+enabled the chief magistrate to employ the militia in aid of the civil
+power.</p>
+
+<p>The executive being now authorized to adopt such measures as the
+crisis might require, the subject was again seriously considered in
+the cabinet; and the governor of Pennsylvania was also consulted
+respecting it. To avoid military coercion, if obedience to the laws
+could be produced by other means, was the universal wish; and
+therefore, all concurred in advising the appointment of commissioners
+from the governments of both the union, and the state, who should warn
+the deluded insurgents of the impending danger, and should convey a
+full pardon for past offences, upon the condition of future
+submission. But, respecting ulterior and eventual measures, a
+difference of opinion prevailed. The act already mentioned, made it
+the duty of the President, previous to the employment of military
+force, to issue his proclamation, commanding the insurgents to
+disperse within a limited time. The secretary of state (and the
+governor of Pennsylvania is understood to have concurred with him) was
+of opinion, that this conciliatory mission should be unaccompanied by
+any measure which might wear the appearance of coercion. He was
+alarmed at the strength of the insurgents, at their connexion with
+other parts of the country, at the extensive-ness of the prevailing
+discontents with the administration, and at the difficulty and expense
+of bringing the militia into the field. The governor of Pennsylvania
+having declared his opinion, that the militia of that state, who could
+be drawn forth, would be incompetent to enforce obedience, the aid of
+the neighbouring states would consequently be necessary. The secretary
+of state feared that the militia of the neighbouring states would
+refuse to march; and that, should he be mistaken in this, their
+compliance with the orders of the executive might be not less fatal
+than their disobedience. The introduction of a foreign militia into
+Pennsylvania might greatly increase the discontents prevailing in that
+state. His apprehensions of a failure, in the attempt to restore
+tranquillity by coercive means, were extreme; and the tremendous
+consequences of a failure were strongly depicted. From the highly
+inflamed state of parties, he anticipated a civil war, which would
+pervade the whole union, and drench every part of it with the blood of
+American citizens.</p>
+
+<p>The secretary of the treasury, the secretary of war, and the attorney
+general, were of opinion that the President was bound by the most high
+and solemn obligations to employ the force which the legislature had
+placed at his disposal, for the suppression of a criminal and
+unprovoked insurrection. The case contemplated by congress had clearly
+occurred; and the President was urged by considerations the most
+awful, to perform the duty imposed on him by the constitution, of
+providing &quot;that the laws be faithfully executed.&quot; The long forbearance
+of government, and its patient endeavours to recall the deluded people
+to a sense of their duty and interest by appeals to their reason, had
+produced only increase of violence, and a more determined opposition.
+Perseverance in that system could only give a more extensive range to
+disaffection, and multiply the dangers resulting from it.</p>
+
+<p>Those who were of opinion that the occasion demanded a full trial of
+the ability of the government to enforce obedience to the laws, were
+also of opinion, that policy and humanity equally dictated the
+employment of a force which would render resistance desperate. The
+insurgent country contained sixteen thousand men able to bear arms;
+and the computation was, that they could bring seven thousand into the
+field. If the army of the government should amount to twelve thousand
+men, it would present an imposing force which the insurgents would not
+venture to meet.</p>
+
+<p>It was impossible that the President could hesitate to embrace the
+latter of these opinions. That a government entrusted to him should be
+trampled under foot by a lawless section of the union, which set at
+defiance the will of the nation, as expressed by its representatives,
+was an abasement to which neither his judgment nor his feelings could
+submit. He resolved, therefore, to issue the proclamation, which, by
+law, was to precede the employment of force.</p>
+
+<p>On the same day, a requisition was made on the governors of New
+Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, for their several quotas
+of militia to compose an army of twelve thousand<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> men; who were to
+be immediately organized, and prepared to march at a minute's warning.</p>
+
+<p>While steps were taking to bring this force into the field, a last
+essay was made to render its employment unnecessary. Three
+distinguished and popular citizens of Pennsylvania were deputed by the
+government to be the bearers of a general amnesty for past offences,
+on the sole condition of future obedience to the laws.</p>
+
+<p>It having been deemed adviseable that the executive of the state
+should act in concert with that of the United States, Governor Mifflin
+also issued a proclamation, and appointed commissioners to act with
+those of the general government.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, the insurgents omitted nothing which might enlarge the
+circle of disaffection. Attempts were made to embark the adjacent
+counties of Virginia in their cause, and their violence was extended
+to Morgantown, at which place an inspector resided, who saved himself
+by flight, and protected his property by advertising on his own door
+that he had resigned his office. They also made similar excursions
+into the contiguous counties of Pennsylvania, lying east of the
+Alleghany mountains, where numbers were ready to join them. These
+deluded men, giving too much faith to the publications of democratic
+societies, and to the furious sentiments of general hostility to the
+administration, and particularly to the internal taxes, with which the
+papers in the opposition abounded, seem to have entertained the
+opinion, that the great body of the people were ready to take up arms
+against their government, and that the resistance commenced by them
+would spread throughout the union, and terminate in a revolution.</p>
+
+<p>The convention at Parkinson's ferry had appointed a committee of
+safety consisting of sixty members, who chose fifteen of their body to
+confer with the commissioners of the United States, and of the state
+of Pennsylvania. This committee of conference was not empowered to
+conclude on any thing. They could only receive and report the
+propositions which might be made to them.</p>
+
+<p>Men of property and intelligence, who had contributed to kindle the
+flame under the common error of being able to regulate its heat, now
+trembled at the extent of the conflagration. It had passed the limits
+they had assigned to it, and was no longer subject to their control.</p>
+
+<p>The committee of conference expressed themselves unanimously in favour
+of accepting the terms offered by the government, and exerted
+themselves in the committee of safety to obtain a decision to the same
+effect. In that committee, the question whether they would submit
+peaceably to the execution of the law, retaining expressly the
+privilege of using all constitutional means to effect its repeal, was
+debated with great zeal. The less violent party carried it by a small
+majority; but, not thinking themselves authorized to decide for their
+constituents on so momentous a question, they afterwards resolved that
+it should be referred to the people.</p>
+
+<p>This reference resulted in demonstrating that, though many were
+disposed to demean themselves peaceably, yet a vast mass of opposition
+remained, determined to obstruct the re-establishment of civil
+authority.</p>
+
+<p>From some causes, among which was disaffection to the particular
+service, the prospect of bringing the quota of troops required from
+Pennsylvania into the field, was at first unpromising. But the
+assembly, which had been summoned by the governor to meet on the first
+of September, expressed in strong terms its abhorrence of this daring
+attempt to resist the laws, and to subvert the government of the
+country; and a degree of ardour and unanimity was displayed by the
+people of other states, which exceeded the hopes of the most sanguine
+friends of the administration. Some feeble attempts were indeed made
+to produce a disobedience to the requisition of the President, by
+declaring that the people would never be made the instruments of the
+secretary of the treasury to shed the blood of their fellow citizens;
+that the representatives of the people ought to be assembled before a
+civil war was commenced; and by avowing the extravagant opinion that
+the President could not lawfully call forth the militia of any other
+state, until actual experiment had ascertained the insufficiency of
+that of Pennsylvania. But these insidious suggestions were silenced by
+the general sense of the nation, which loudly and strongly proclaimed
+that the government and laws must be supported. The officers displayed
+an unexampled activity; and intelligence from every quarter gave full
+assurance that, with respect to both numbers and time, the
+requisitions of the President would be punctually observed.</p>
+
+<p>The governor of Pennsylvania compensated for the defects in the
+militia law of that state by his personal exertions. From some
+inadvertence, as was said, on the part of the brigade inspectors, the
+militia could not be drafted, and consequently the quota of
+Pennsylvania could be completed only by volunteers. The governor, who
+was endowed with a high degree of popular elocution, made a circuit
+through the lower counties of the state, and publicly addressed the
+militia, at different places where he had caused them to be assembled,
+on the crisis in the affairs of their country. So successful were
+these animating exhortations, that Pennsylvania was not behind her
+sister states in furnishing the quota required from her.</p>
+
+<p>On the 25th of September, the President issued a second proclamation,
+describing in terms of great energy the obstinate and perverse spirit
+with which the lenient propositions of the government had been
+received; and declaring his fixed determination, in obedience to the
+high and irresistible duty consigned to him by the constitution, &quot;to
+take care that the laws be faithfully executed,&quot; to reduce the
+refractory to obedience.</p>
+
+<p>The troops of New Jersey and Pennsylvania were directed to rendezvous
+at Bedford, and those of Maryland and Virginia at Cumberland, on the
+Potomac.<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> The command of the expedition had been conferred on
+Governor Lee of Virginia; and the governors of New Jersey and
+Pennsylvania commanded the militia of their respective states under
+him.</p>
+
+<p>The President, in person, visited each division of the army; but,
+being confident that the force employed must look down all resistance,
+he left the secretary of the treasury to accompany it, and returned
+himself to Philadelphia, where the approaching session of congress
+required his presence.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Quelled by the prompt and vigorous measures of the
+government.</div>
+
+<p>From Cumberland and Bedford, the army marched in two divisions into
+the country of the insurgents. The greatness of the force prevented
+the effusion of blood. The disaffected did not venture to assemble in
+arms. Several of the leaders who had refused to give assurances of
+future submission to the laws were seized, and some of them detained
+for legal prosecution.</p>
+
+<p>But although no direct and open opposition was made, the spirit of
+insurrection was not subdued. A sour and malignant temper displayed
+itself, which indicated, but too plainly, that the disposition to
+resist had only sunk under the pressure of the great military force
+brought into the country, but would rise again should that force be
+withdrawn. It was, therefore, thought adviseable to station for the
+winter, a detachment to be commanded by Major General Morgan, in the
+centre of the disaffected country.</p>
+
+<p>Thus, without shedding a drop of blood, did the prudent vigour of the
+executive terminate an insurrection, which, at one time, threatened to
+shake the government of the United States to its foundation. That so
+perverse a spirit should have been excited in the bosom of prosperity,
+without the pressure of a single grievance, is among those political
+phenomena which occur not unfrequently in the course of human affairs,
+and which the statesman can never safely disregard. When real ills are
+felt, there is something positive and perceptible to which the
+judgment may be directed, the actual extent of which may be
+ascertained, and the cause of which may be discerned. But when the
+mind, inflamed by supposititious dangers, gives a full loose to the
+imagination, and fastens upon some object with which to disturb
+itself, the belief that the danger exists seems to become a matter of
+faith, with which reason combats in vain. Under a government emanating
+entirely from the people, and with an administration whose sole object
+was their happiness, the public mind was violently agitated with
+apprehensions of a powerful and secret combination against liberty,
+which was to discover itself by the total overthrow of the republican
+system. That those who were charged with these designs were as
+destitute of the means, as of the will to effect them, did not shake
+the firm belief of their existence. Disregarding the apparent
+partiality of the administration for France, so far as that partiality
+was compatible with an honest neutrality, the zealots of the day
+ascribed its incessant labours for the preservation of peace, to a
+temper hostile to the French republic; and, while themselves loudly
+imprecating the vengeance of heaven and earth on one of the
+belligerents, and openly rejoicing in the victories of the other;
+while impetuously rushing into a war with Britain, and pressing
+measures which would render accommodation impracticable; they
+attributed a system calculated to check them in this furious career,
+not to that genuine American spirit which produced it, but to an
+influence which, so far as opinions are to depend on facts, has at no
+time insinuated itself into the councils of the United States.</p>
+
+<p>In popular governments, the resentments, the suspicions, and the
+disgusts, produced in the legislature by warm debate, and the chagrin
+of defeat; by the desire of gaining, or the fear of losing power; and
+which are created by personal views among the leaders of parties, will
+infallibly extend to the body of the nation. Not only will those
+causes of dissatisfaction be urged which really operate on the minds
+of intelligent men, but every instrument will be seized which can
+effect the purpose, and the passions will be inflamed by whatever may
+serve to irritate them. Among the multiplied evils generated by
+faction, it is perhaps not the least, that it has a tendency to
+abolish all distinction between virtue and vice; and to prostrate
+those barriers which the wise and good have erected for the protection
+of morals, and which are defended solely by opinion. The victory of
+the party becomes the great object; and, too often, all measures are
+deemed right or wrong, as they tend to promote or impede it. The
+attainment of the end is considered as the supreme good, and the
+detestable doctrine is adopted that the end will justify the means.
+The mind, habituated to the extenuation of acts of moral turpitude,
+becomes gradually contaminated, and loses that delicate sensibility
+which instinctively inspires horror for vice, and respect for virtue.</p>
+
+<p>In the intemperate abuse which was cast on the principal measures of
+the government, and on those who supported them; in the violence with
+which the discontents of the opponents to those measures were
+expressed; and especially in the denunciations which were uttered
+against them by the democratic societies; the friends of the
+administration searched for the causes of that criminal attempt which
+had been made in the western parts of Pennsylvania, to oppose the will
+of the nation by force of arms. Had those misguided men believed that
+this opposition was to be confined within their own narrow limits,
+they could not have been so mad, or so weak as to have engaged in it.</p>
+
+<p>The ideas of the President on this subject were freely given to
+several of his confidential friends. &quot;The <i>real people</i>&quot; he said,
+&quot;occasionally assembled in order to express their sentiments on
+political subjects, ought never to be confounded with permanent
+self-appointed societies, usurping the right to control the
+constituted authorities, and to dictate to public opinion. While the
+former was entitled to respect, the latter was incompatible with all
+government, and must either sink into general disesteem, or finally
+overturn the established order of things.&quot;</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Meeting of congress.</div>
+
+<p>In his speech, at the opening of congress, the President detailed at
+considerable length the progress of opposition to the laws, the means
+employed both by the legislature and executive to appease the
+discontents which had been fomented,<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> and the measures which he had
+finally taken to reduce the refractory to submission.</p>
+
+<p>As Commander-in-chief of the militia when called into actual service,
+he had, he said, visited the places of general rendezvous, to obtain
+more correct information, and to direct a plan for ulterior movements.
+Had there been room for a persuasion that the laws were secure from
+obstruction, he should have caught with avidity at the opportunity of
+restoring the militia to their families and homes. But succeeding
+intelligence had tended to manifest the necessity of what had been
+done, it being now confessed by those who were not inclined to
+exaggerate the ill conduct of the insurgents, that their malevolence
+was not pointed merely to a particular law; but that a spirit inimical
+to all order had actuated many of the offenders.</p>
+
+<p>After bestowing a high encomium on the alacrity and promptitude with
+which persons in every station had come forward to assert the dignity
+of the laws, thereby furnishing an additional proof that they
+understood the true principles of government and liberty, and felt
+their inseparable union; he added&#8212;</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Democratic societies.</div>
+
+<p>&quot;To every description indeed of citizens, let praise be given. But let
+them persevere in their affectionate vigilance over that precious
+depository of American happiness,&#8212;the constitution of the United
+States. And when in the calm moments of reflection, they shall have
+retraced the origin and progress of the insurrection, let them
+determine whether it has not been fomented by combinations of men,
+who, careless of consequences, and disregarding the unerring truth
+that those who rouse can not always appease a civil convulsion, have
+disseminated, from an ignorance or perversion of facts, suspicions,
+jealousies, and accusations of the whole government.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The President could not omit this fair occasion, once more to press on
+congress a subject which had always been near his heart. After
+mentioning the defectiveness of the existing system, he said&#8212;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The devising and establishing of a well regulated militia, would be a
+genuine source of legislative honour, and a perfect title to public
+gratitude. I therefore entertain a hope that the present session will
+not pass without carrying to its full energy the power of organizing,
+arming, and disciplining the militia; and thus providing, in the
+language of the constitution, for calling them forth to execute the
+laws of the union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>After mentioning the intelligence from the army under the command of
+General Wayne, and the state of Indian affairs, he again called the
+attention of the house of representatives to a subject scarcely less
+interesting than a system of defence against external and internal
+violence.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The time,&quot; he said, &quot;which has elapsed since the commencement of our
+fiscal measures, has developed our pecuniary resources, so as to open
+the way for a definitive plan for the redemption of the public debt.
+It is believed that the result is such as to encourage congress to
+consummate this work without delay. Nothing can more promote the
+permanent welfare of the union, and nothing would be more grateful to
+our constituents. Indeed, whatever is unfinished of our system of
+public credit, can not be benefited by procrastination; and, as far as
+may be practicable, we ought to place that credit on grounds which can
+not be disturbed, and to prevent that progressive accumulation of debt
+which must ultimately endanger all governments.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He referred to subsequent communications for certain circumstances
+attending the intercourse of the United States with foreign nations.
+&quot;However,&quot; he added, &quot;it may not be unseasonable to announce that my
+policy in our foreign transactions has been, to cultivate peace with
+all the world; to observe treaties with pure and inviolate faith; to
+check every deviation from the line of impartiality; to explain what
+may have been misapprehended; and correct what may have been injurious
+to any nation; and having thus acquired the right, to lose no time in
+acquiring the ability, to insist upon justice being done to
+ourselves.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In the senate, an answer was reported which contained the following
+clause:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Our anxiety, arising from the licentious and open resistance to the
+laws in the western counties of Pennsylvania, has been increased by
+the proceedings of certain self-created societies relative to the laws
+and administration of the government; proceedings, in our
+apprehension, founded in political error, calculated, if not intended,
+to disorganize our government, and which, by inspiring delusive hopes
+of support, have been instrumental in misleading our fellow citizens
+in the scene of insurrection.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The address proceeded to express the most decided approbation of the
+conduct of the President in relation to the insurgents; and, after
+noticing the different parts of the speech, concluded with saying&#8212;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;At a period so momentous in the affairs of nations, the temperate,
+just, and firm policy that you have pursued in respect to foreign
+powers, has been eminently calculated to promote the great and
+essential interest of our country, and has created the fairest title
+to the public gratitude and thanks.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>To this unequivocal approbation of the policy adopted by the executive
+with regard to foreign nations, no objections were made. The clause
+respecting democratic societies was seriously opposed; but the party
+in favour of the administration had been strengthened in the senate by
+recent events, and the address reported by the committee was agreed to
+without alteration.</p>
+
+<p>The same spirit did not prevail in the house of representatives. In
+that branch of the legislature, the opposition party continued to be
+the most powerful, and the respect of their leaders for the person and
+character of the chief magistrate was visibly diminishing. His
+interference with a favourite system was not forgotten, and the
+mission of Mr. Jay still rankled in their bosoms.</p>
+
+<p>The address prepared by the committee, to whom the speech was
+referred, omitted to notice those parts which respected self created
+societies, the victory of General Wayne, and the policy observed by
+the executive in its intercourse with foreign nations. On a motion
+being made by Mr. Dayton to amend it, by inserting a clause which
+should express the satisfaction of the house at the success of the
+army under General Wayne, Mr. Madison said, that it had been the wish
+of the committee who framed the address, to avoid the minutia of the
+speech: but as a desire was manifested to amplify particular parts, it
+might not be amiss to glance at the policy observed towards foreign
+nations. He therefore moved to amend the amendment by adding the
+words, &quot;solicitous also as we are for the preservation of peace with
+all nations, we can not otherwise than warmly approve of <i>a</i> policy in
+our foreign transactions, which keeps in view as well the maintenance
+of our national rights, as the continuance of that blessing.&quot; Mr.
+Hillhouse wished the word <i>your</i> to be substituted for the article
+<i>a</i>, that the answer might point, not to an abstract policy, but to
+that of the executive, and thus have a direct application to the
+speech. This motion produced a warm discussion, which terminated in a
+request that Mr. Madison would withdraw his amendment; the friends of
+the administration being of opinion, that it was more eligible to pass
+over that part of the speech in silence, than to answer it in terms so
+equivocal as those to which alone the house seemed willing to assent.</p>
+
+<p>A proposition was then made by Mr. Fitzsimmons to introduce into the
+address, a clause declaring, that &quot;in tracing the origin and progress
+of the insurrection, they (the house of representatives) entertain no
+doubt that certain self created societies and combinations of men,
+careless of consequences, and disregarding truth, by disseminating
+suspicions, jealousies, and accusations of the government, have had an
+influence in fomenting this daring outrage against the principles of
+social order, and the authority of the laws.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This attempt to censure certain organized assemblages of factious
+individuals, who, under the imposing garb of watchfulness over
+liberty, concealed designs subversive of all those principles which
+preserve the order, the peace, and the happiness of society, was
+resisted by the whole force of the opposition. A very eloquent and
+animated debate ensued, which terminated in the committee, by striking
+out the words &quot;self created societies;&quot; forty-seven voting for, and
+forty-five against expunging them. The question was resumed in the
+house; and, the chairman of the committee being opposed in sentiment
+to the speaker, who was now placed in the chair, the majority was
+precisely changed, and the words were reinstated. This victory,
+however, if it may be termed one, was soon lost. A motion for
+confining the censure to societies and combinations within the four
+western counties of Pennsylvania and the adjacent country, succeeded
+by the casting vote of the speaker, upon which, the friends of the
+amendment gave it up, and the address was voted without expressing any
+sentiment on the subject.</p>
+
+<p>This triumph over the administration revived, for a moment, the
+drooping energies of these pernicious societies. But it was only for a
+moment. The agency ascribed to them by the opinion of the public, as
+well as of the President, in producing an insurrection which was
+generally execrated, had essentially affected them; and while
+languishing under this wound, they received a deadly blow from a
+quarter whence hostility was least expected.</p>
+
+<p>The remnant of the French convention, rendered desperate by the
+ferocious despotism of the Jacobins, and of the sanguinary tyrant who
+had made himself their chief; perceiving that the number of victims
+who were immolated as his caprice might suggest, instead of satiating,
+could only stimulate his appetite for blood, had, at length, sought
+for safety by boldly confronting danger; and, succeeding in a
+desperate attempt to bring Robespierre to the guillotine, had
+terminated his reign of terror. The colossean power of the clubs,
+which had been abused to an excess that gives to faithful history the
+appearance of fiction, fell with that of their favourite member, and
+they sunk into long merited disgrace. The means by which their
+political influence had been maintained were wrested from them; and,
+in a short time, their meetings were prohibited. Not more certain is
+it that the boldest streams must disappear, if the fountains which fed
+them be emptied, than was the dissolution of the democratic societies
+of America, when the Jacobin clubs were denounced by France. As if
+their destinies depended on the same thread, the political death of
+the former was the unerring signal for that of the latter; and their
+expiring struggles, incapable of deferring their fate, only attested
+the reluctance with which they surrendered their much abused power.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the disagreement between the executive and one branch
+of the legislature concerning self created societies, and the policy
+observed towards foreign nations, the speech of the President was
+treated with marked respect; and the several subjects which it
+recommended, engaged the immediate attention of congress. A bill was
+passed authorizing the President to station a detachment of militia in
+the four western counties of Pennsylvania; provision was made to
+compensate those whose property had been destroyed by the insurgents,
+should those who had committed the injury be unable to repair it: and
+an appropriation exceeding one million one hundred thousand dollars
+was made to defray the expenses occasioned by the insurrection.</p>
+
+<p>Many of the difficulties which had occurred in drawing out the militia
+were removed, and a bill was introduced to give greater energy to the
+militia system generally; but this subject possessed so many intrinsic
+difficulties, that the session passed away without effecting any thing
+respecting it.</p>
+
+<p>A bill for the gradual redemption of the national debt was more
+successful. The President had repeatedly and earnestly recommended to
+the legislature the adoption of measures which might effect this
+favourite object; but, although that party which had been reproached
+with a desire to accumulate debt as a means of subverting the
+republican system had uniformly manifested a disposition to carry this
+recommendation into effect, their desire had hitherto been opposed by
+obstacles they were unable to surmount. Professions of an anxious
+solicitude to discharge the national engagements, without providing
+the means of actual payment, might gratify those who consider words as
+things, but would be justly estimated by men, who, neither condemning
+indiscriminately, nor approving blindly, all the measures of
+government, expect that, in point of fact, it shall be rightly and
+honestly administered. On the friends of the administration,
+therefore, it was incumbent to provide real, substantial funds, which
+should attest the sincerity of their professions. This provision could
+not be made without difficulty. The duty on imported articles, and on
+tonnage, though rapidly augmenting, could not, immediately, be
+rendered sufficiently productive to meet, alone, the various
+exigencies of the treasury, and yield a surplus for the secure
+establishment of a permanent fund to redeem the principal of the debt.
+Additional sources of revenue must therefore be explored, or the idea
+of reducing the debt be abandoned. New taxes are the never failing
+sources of discontent to those who pay them, and will ever furnish
+weapons against those who impose them, too operative not to be seized
+by their antagonists. In a government where popularity is power, it
+requires no small degree of patriotism to encounter the odium which,
+however urgently required, they seldom fail to excite. Ready faith is
+given to the declaration that they are unjust, tyrannical, and
+unnecessary; and no inconsiderable degree of firmness is requisite to
+persevere in a course attended with so much political hazard. The
+opposition made to the internal taxes, which commenced in congress,
+had extended itself through the community. Although only the act
+imposing duties on spirits distilled within the United States had been
+resisted by force, yet such a degree of irritation was manifested
+against the whole system, as to evince the repugnance with which a
+large portion of the people saw it go into operation. The duties on
+refined sugars, and manufactured tobacco, especially, were censured in
+terms which would authorize an opinion that a defect of power, rather
+than of will, to resist the execution of the law, confined some of its
+opponents to remonstrances. Nothing could be more unfriendly than this
+spirit, to the reduction of the debt.</p>
+
+<p>The reports of the secretary of the treasury having suggested the
+several steps which had been taken by congress in the system of
+internal taxation, he was justly considered as its author. The
+perseverance which marked the character of this officer, gave full
+assurance that no clamour would deter him from continuing to recommend
+measures which he believed to be essential to the due administration
+of the finances. That the establishment of public credit on a sound
+basis was all important to the character and prosperity of the United
+States, constituted one of those political maxims to which he
+invariably adhered; and to effect it completely, seems to have been
+among the first objects of his ambition. He had bestowed upon this
+favourite subject the most attentive consideration; and while the
+legislature was engaged in the discussions of a report made by a
+select committee on a resolution moved by Mr. Smith, of South
+Carolina, purporting that further provision ought to be made for the
+reduction of the debt, addressed a letter to the house of
+representatives, through their speaker, informing them that he had
+digested and prepared a plan on the basis of the actual revenues, for
+the further support of public credit, which he was ready to
+communicate.</p>
+
+<p>This comprehensive and valuable report presented the result of his
+laborious and useful investigations, on a subject equally intricate
+and interesting.</p>
+
+<p>This was the last official act of Colonel Hamilton. The penurious
+provision made for those who filled the high executive departments in
+the American government, excluded from a long continuance in office
+all those whose fortunes were moderate, and whose professional talents
+placed a decent independence within their reach. While slandered as
+the accumulator of thousands by illicit means, Colonel Hamilton had
+wasted in the public service great part of the property acquired by
+his previous labours, and had found himself compelled to decide on
+retiring from his political station. The accusations brought against
+him in the last session of the second congress had postponed the
+execution of this design, until opportunity should be afforded for a
+more full investigation of his official conduct; but he informed the
+President that, on the close of the session, to meet in December,
+1793, he should resign his situation in the administration. The events
+which accumulated about that time, and which were, he said in a letter
+to the President, of a nature to render the continuance of peace in a
+considerable degree precarious, deferred his meditated retreat. &quot;I do
+not perceive,&quot; he added, &quot;that I could voluntarily quit my post at
+such a juncture, consistently with considerations either of duty or
+character; and therefore, I find myself reluctantly obliged to defer
+the offer of my resignation.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But if any circumstances should have taken place in consequence of
+the intimation of an intention to resign, or should otherwise exist,
+which serve to render my continuance in office in any degree
+inconvenient or ineligible, I beg leave to assure you, sir, that I
+should yield to them with all the readiness naturally inspired by an
+impatient desire to relinquish a situation, in which, even a momentary
+stay is opposed by the strongest personal and family reasons, and
+could only be produced by a sense of duty or reputation.&quot;</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Resignation of Colonel Hamilton.</div>
+
+<div class="sidenotey">1795</div>
+
+<p>Assurances being given by the President, of the pleasure with which
+the intelligence, that he would continue at his post through the
+crisis, was received, he remained in office until the commencement of
+the ensuing year. On the 1st of December, immediately on his return
+from the western country, the dangers of domestic insurrection or
+foreign war having subsided, he gave notice that he should on the last
+day of January give in his resignation.</p>
+
+<p>Seldom has any minister excited the opposite passions of love and hate
+in a higher degree than Colonel Hamilton. His talents were too
+pre-eminent not to receive from all the tribute of profound respect;
+and his integrity and honour as a man, not less than his official
+rectitude, though slandered at a distance, were admitted to be
+superior to reproach, by those enemies who knew him.</p>
+
+<p>But with respect to his political principles and designs, the most
+contradictory opinions were entertained. While one party sincerely
+believed his object to be the preservation of the constitution of the
+United States in its original purity; the other, with perhaps equal
+sincerity, imputed to him the insidious intention of subverting it.
+While his friends were persuaded, that as a statesman, he viewed all
+foreign nations with an equal eye; his enemies could perceive in his
+conduct, only hostility to France and attachment to her rival.</p>
+
+<p>It was his fortune to hold a conspicuous station in times which were
+peculiarly tempestuous, and under circumstances peculiarly
+unfavourable to the fair action of the judgment. In the midst of
+prejudices against the national debt, which had taken deep root, and
+had long been nourished, he was called to the head of a department,
+whose duty it was to contend with those prejudices, and to offer a
+system which, in doing justice to the creditor of the public, might
+retrieve the reputation of his country. While the passions were
+inflamed by a stern contest between the advocates of a national, and
+of state governments, duties were assigned to him, in the execution of
+which there were frequent occasions to manifest his devotion to the
+former. When a raging fever, caught from that which was desolating
+France, and exhibiting some of its symptoms, had seized the public
+mind, and reached its understanding, it was unfavourable to his quiet,
+and perhaps to his fame, that he remain uninfected by the disease. He
+judged the French revolution without prejudice; and had the courage to
+predict that it could not terminate in a free and popular government.</p>
+
+<p>Such opinions, at such a time, could not fail to draw a load of
+obloquy upon a man whose frankness gave them publicity, and whose
+boldness and decision of character insured them an able and steady
+support. The suspicions they were calculated to generate, derived
+great additional force from the political theories he was understood
+to hold. It was known that, in his judgment, the constitution of the
+United States was rather chargeable with imbecility, than censurable
+for its too great strength; and that the real sources of danger to
+American happiness and liberty, were to be found in its want of the
+means to effect the objects of its institution;&#8212;in its being exposed
+to the encroachments of the states,&#8212;not in the magnitude of its
+powers. Without attempting to conceal these opinions, he declared his
+perfect acquiescence in the decision of his country; his hope that the
+issue would be fortunate; and his firm determination, in whatever
+might depend upon his exertions, to give the experiment the fairest
+chance for success. No part of his political conduct has been
+perceived, which would inspire doubts of the sincerity of these
+declarations. His friends may appeal with confidence to his official
+acts, to all his public conduct, for the refutation of those charges
+which were made against him while at the head of the treasury
+department, and were continued, without interruption, till he ceased
+to be the object of jealousy.</p>
+
+<p><a name="p205">In</a> the esteem and good opinion of the President, to whom he was best
+known, Colonel Hamilton at all times maintained a high place. While
+balancing on the mission to England, and searching for a person to
+whom the interesting negotiation with that government should be
+confided, the mind of the chief magistrate was directed, among others,
+to this gentleman.<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> He carried with him out of office,<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> the same
+cordial esteem for his character, and respect for his talents, which
+had induced his appointment.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Is succeeded by Mr. Wolcott.</div>
+
+<p>The vacant office of secretary of the treasury was filled by Mr.
+Wolcott, of Connecticut, a gentleman of sound judgment, who was well
+versed in its duties. He had served as comptroller for a considerable
+time, and in that situation, had been eminently useful to the head of
+the department.</p>
+
+<p>The report of the select committee recommended additional objects for
+internal taxation, and that the temporary duties already imposed
+should be rendered permanent. The opposition made to this important
+part of the system was so ardent, and so persevering, that, though the
+measure was taken up early in the session, the bill did not pass the
+house of representatives until late in February. Not only were the
+taxes proposed by the friends of the administration encountered
+successively by popular objections, urged with all the vehemence of
+passion, and zeal of conviction, but it was with extreme difficulty
+that the duties on sugar refined, and tobacco manufactured, within the
+United States, could be rendered permanent. When gentlemen were urged
+to produce a substitute for the system they opposed, a direct tax was
+mentioned with approbation; but no disposition was shown to incur the
+responsibility of becoming the patrons of such a measure. At length,
+by the most persevering exertions of the federal party, the bill was
+carried through the house; and thus was that system adopted, which, if
+its operations shall not be disturbed, and if no great accumulations
+of debt be made, will, in a few years, discharge all the engagements
+of the United States.</p>
+
+<p>On the third of March, this important session was ended. Although the
+party hostile to the administration had obtained a small majority in
+one branch of the legislature, several circumstances had occurred to
+give great weight to the recommendations of the President. Among these
+may be reckoned the victory obtained by General Wayne, and the
+suppression of the western insurrection. In some points, however,
+which he had pressed with earnestness, his sentiments did not prevail.
+One of these was a bill introduced into the senate for preserving
+peace with the Indians, by protecting them from the intrusions and
+incursions of the whites.</p>
+
+<p>From the commencement of his administration, the President had
+reviewed this subject with great interest, and had permitted scarcely
+a session of congress to pass away, without pressing it on the
+attention of the legislature. It had been mentioned in his speech at
+the commencement of the present session, and had been further enforced
+by a message accompanying a report made upon it by the secretary of
+war. The following humane sentiments, extracted from that report, are
+characteristic of the general views of the administration.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It seems that our own experience would demonstrate the propriety of
+endeavouring to preserve a pacific conduct in preference to a hostile
+one with the Indian tribes. The United States can get nothing by an
+Indian war; but they risk men, money, and reputation. As we are more
+powerful and more enlightened than they are, there is a responsibility
+of national character that we should treat them with kindness, and
+even with liberality.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The plan suggested in this report was, to add to those arrangements
+respecting trade, which were indispensable to the preservation of
+peace, a chain of garrisoned posts within the territory of the
+Indians, provided their assent to the measure should be obtained; and
+to subject all those who should trespass on their lands to martial
+law. A bill founded on this report passed the senate, but was lost, in
+the house of representatives, by a small majority.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Resignation of General Knox.</div>
+
+<p>This report preceded the resignation of the secretary of war but a few
+days. This valuable officer, too, was driven from the service of the
+public, by the scantiness of the compensation allowed him.</p>
+
+<p>On the 28th of December, 1794, he addressed a letter to the President
+giving him official notice that, with the year, his services as
+secretary for the department of war would cease. This resolution had
+long before been verbally communicated.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;After having served my country,&quot; concluded the letter, &quot;near twenty
+years, the greater portion of the time under your immediate auspices,
+it is with extreme reluctance I find myself constrained to withdraw
+from so honourable a situation. But the natural and powerful claims of
+a numerous family will no longer permit me to neglect their essential
+interests.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In whatever situation I shall be, I shall recollect your confidence
+and kindness with all the fervour and purity of affection, of which a
+grateful heart is susceptible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In the letter accepting his resignation, the President expressed the
+regret it occasioned, and added:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I can not suffer you, however, to close your public service, without
+uniting to the satisfaction which must arise in your own mind from
+conscious rectitude, assurances of my most perfect persuasion that you
+have deserved well of your country.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My personal knowledge of your exertions, while it authorizes me to
+hold this language, justifies the sincere friendship which I have
+borne you, and which will accompany you in every situation of life.&quot;</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Is succeeded by Colonel Pickering.</div>
+
+<p>Colonel Pickering, a gentleman who had filled many important offices
+through the war of the revolution; who had discharged several trusts
+of considerable confidence under the present government; and who at
+the time was postmaster general, was appointed to succeed him.</p>
+
+<p>On the seventh of March, the treaty of amity, commerce, and
+navigation, between the United States and Great Britain, which had
+been signed by the ministers of the two nations, on the 19th of the
+preceding November, was received at the office of state.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Treaty between the United States and Great Britain.</div>
+
+<p>From his arrival in London on the 15th of June, Mr. Jay had been
+assiduously and unremittingly employed on the arduous duties of his
+mission. By a deportment respectful, yet firm, mingling a decent
+deference for the government to which he was deputed, with a proper
+regard for the dignity of his own, this minister avoided those little
+asperities which frequently embarrass measures of great concern, and
+smoothed the way to the adoption of those which were suggested by the
+real interests of both nations. Many and intricate were the points to
+be discussed. On some of them an agreement was found to be
+impracticable; but, at length, a treaty was concluded, which Mr. Jay
+declared to be the best that was attainable, and which he believed it
+for the interests of the United States to accept.<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> Indeed it was
+scarcely possible to contemplate the evidences of extreme exasperation
+which were given in America, and the nature of the differences which
+subsisted between the two countries, without feeling a conviction that
+war was inevitable, should this attempt to adjust those differences
+prove unsuccessful.</p>
+
+<p>On Monday, the 8th of June, the senate, in conformity with the summons
+of the President, convened in the senate chamber, and the treaty, with
+the documents connected with it, were submitted to their
+consideration.</p>
+
+<p>On the 24th of June, after a minute and laborious investigation, the
+senate, by precisely a constitutional majority, advised and consented
+to its conditional ratification.</p>
+
+<p>An insuperable objection existed to an article regulating the
+intercourse with the British West Indies, founded on a fact which is
+understood to have been unknown to Mr. Jay. The intention of the
+contracting parties was to admit the direct intercourse between the
+United States and those islands, but not to permit the productions of
+the latter to be carried to Europe in the vessels of the former. To
+give effect to this intention, the exportation from the United States
+of those articles which were the principal productions of the islands
+was to be relinquished. Among these was cotton. This article, which a
+few years before was scarcely raised in sufficient quantity for
+domestic consumption, was becoming one of the richest staples of the
+southern states. The senate being informed of this fact, advised and
+consented that the treaty should be ratified on condition that an
+article be added thereto, suspending that part of the twelfth article
+which related to the intercourse with the West Indies.</p>
+
+<p>Although, in the mind of the President, several objections to the
+treaty had occurred, they were overbalanced by its advantages; and
+before transmitting it to the senate, he had resolved to ratify it, if
+approved by that body. The resolution of the senate presented
+difficulties which required consideration. Whether they could advise
+and consent to an article which had not been laid before them; and
+whether their resolution was to be considered as the final exercise of
+their power, were questions not entirely free from difficulty. Nor was
+it absolutely clear that the executive could ratify the treaty, under
+the advice of the senate, until the suspending article should be
+introduced into it. A few days were employed in the removal of these
+doubts, at the expiration of which, intelligence was received from
+Europe which suspended the resolution which the President had formed.</p>
+
+<p>The English papers contained an account, which, though not official,
+was deemed worthy of credit, that the order of the 8th of June, 1793,
+for the seizure of provisions going to French ports, was renewed. In
+the apprehension that this order might be construed and intended as a
+practical construction of that article in the treaty which seemed to
+favour the idea that provisions, though not generally contraband,
+might occasionally become so, a construction in which he had
+determined not to acquiesce, the President thought it wise to
+reconsider his decision. Of the result of this reconsideration, there
+is no conclusive testimony. A strong memorial against this
+objectionable order was directed; and the propositions to withhold the
+ratifications of the treaty until the order should be repealed; to
+make the exchange of ratifications dependent upon that event; and to
+adhere to his original purpose of pursuing the advice of the senate,
+connecting with that measure the memorial which had been mentioned, as
+an act explanatory of the sense in which his ratification was made,
+were severally reviewed by him. In conformity with his practice of
+withholding his opinion on controverted points until it should become
+necessary to decide them, he suspended his determination on these
+propositions until the memorial should be prepared and laid before
+him. In the meantime, his private affairs required that he should
+visit Mount Vernon.</p>
+
+<p>So restless and uneasy was the temper respecting foreign nations, that
+no surprise ought to be excited at the anxiety which was felt on the
+negotiation of a treaty with Great Britain, nor at the means which
+were used, before its contents were known, to extend the prejudices
+against it.</p>
+
+<p>Great umbrage was taken at the mysterious secrecy in which the
+negotiation had been involved. That the instrument itself was not
+immediately communicated to the public, and that the senate
+deliberated upon it with closed doors, were considered as additional
+evidences of the contempt in which their rulers held the feelings and
+understandings of the people, and of the monarchical tendencies of the
+government. Crowned heads, it was loudly repeated, who were
+machinating designs subversive of the rights of man, and the happiness
+of nations, might well cover with an impenetrable veil, their dark
+transactions; but republics ought to have no secrets. In republics,
+those to whom power was delegated, being the servants of the people,
+acting solely for their benefit, ought to transact all national
+affairs in open day. This doctrine was not too absurd for the
+extravagance of the moment.</p>
+
+<p>The predetermined hostility to the treaty increased in activity, as
+the period for deciding its fate approached. On its particular merits,
+no opinion could be formed, because they were unknown; but on the
+general question of reconciliation between the two countries, a
+decisive judgment was extensively made up. The sentiments called forth
+by the occasion demonstrated, that no possible adjustment of
+differences with Great Britain, no possible arrangement which might
+promise a future friendly intercourse with that nation, could be
+satisfactory. The President was openly attacked; his whole system
+strongly condemned; and the mission of Mr. Jay, particularly, was
+reprobated in terms of peculiar harshness. That a treaty of amity and
+commerce should have been formed, whatever might be its principles,
+was a degrading insult to the American people; a pusillanimous
+surrender of their honour; and an insidious injury to France. Between
+such a compact, and an alliance, no distinction was taken. It was an
+abandonment of the ancient ally of the United States, whose friendship
+had given them independence, and whose splendid victories still
+protected them, for a close connexion with her natural enemy, and with
+the enemy of human liberty.</p>
+
+<p>The pretended object of the mission, it was said, was a reparation for
+wrongs, not a contaminating connexion with the most faithless and
+corrupt court in the world. The return of the envoy without that
+reparation, was a virtual surrender of the claim. The honour of the
+United States required a peremptory demand of the immediate surrender
+of the western posts, and of compensation for the piratical
+depredations committed on their commerce; not a disgraceful and
+humiliating negotiation. The surrender, and the compensation, ought to
+have been made instantly; for no reliance could be placed in promises
+to be performed in future.</p>
+
+<p>That the disinclination formerly manifested by Great Britain, to give
+the stability and certainty of compact to the principles regulating
+the commercial intercourse between the two countries, had constituted
+an important item in the catalogue of complaints against that power:
+that the existence, or non-existence of commercial treaties had been
+selected as the criterion by which to regulate the discriminations
+proposed to be made in the trade of foreign nations; that, in the
+discussion on this subject, the favourers of commercial hostility had
+uniformly supported the policy of giving value to treaties with the
+United States; these opinions were instantly relinquished by the party
+which had strenuously asserted them while urged by their leaders in
+congress; and it was imputed as a crime to the government, and to its
+negotiator, that he had proceeded further than to demand immediate and
+unconditional reparation of the wrongs sustained by the United States.</p>
+
+<p><a name="p216">The</a> most strenuous and unremitting exertions to give increased energy
+to the love which was openly avowed for France, and to the detestation
+which was not less openly avowed for England,<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> were connected with
+this course of passionate declamation.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the state of parties when the senate advised the ratification
+of the treaty. Although common usage, and a decent respect for the
+executive, and for a foreign nation, not less than a positive
+resolution, required that the seal of secrecy should not be broken by
+the senate, an abstract of this instrument, not very faithfully taken,
+was given to the public; and on the 29th of June, a senator of the
+United States transmitted a copy of it to the most distinguished
+editor of the opposition party in Philadelphia, to be communicated to
+the public through the medium of the press.</p>
+
+<p>If the negotiation itself had been acrimoniously censured; if amicable
+arrangements, whatever might be their character, had been passionately
+condemned; it was not to be expected that the treaty would assuage
+these pre-existing irritations.</p>
+
+<p>In fact, public opinion did receive a considerable shock, and men
+uninfested by the spirit of faction felt some disappointment on its
+first appearance. In national contests, unless there be an undue
+attachment to the adversary country, few men, even among the
+intelligent, are sensible of the weakness which may exist in their own
+pretensions, or can allow their full force to the claims of the other
+party. If the people at large enter keenly into the points of
+controversy with a foreign power, they can never be satisfied with any
+equal adjustment of those points, unless other considerations,
+stronger than abstract reason, afford that satisfaction; nor will it
+ever be difficult to prove to them, in a case unassisted by the
+passions, that in any practicable commercial contract, they give too
+much, and receive too little.</p>
+
+<p>On no subject whatever have considerations, such as these, possessed
+more influence than in that which was now brought before the American
+people. Their operation was not confined to those whose passions urged
+them to take part in the war, nor to the open enemies of the
+executive. The friends of peace, and of the administration, had
+generally received impressions unfavourable to the fair exercise of
+judgment in the case, which it required time and reflection to efface.
+Even among them, strong prejudices had been imbibed in favour of
+France, which the open attempts on the sovereignty of the United
+States had only weakened; and the matters of controversy with Great
+Britain had been contemplated with all that partiality which men
+generally feel for their own interests. With respect to commerce also,
+strong opinions had been preconceived. The desire to gain admission
+into the British West India islands, especially, had excited great
+hostility to that colonial system which had been adopted by every
+country in Europe; and sufficient allowances were not made for the
+prejudices by which that system was supported.</p>
+
+<p>The treaty, therefore, when exposed to the public view, found one
+party prepared for a bold and intrepid attack, but the other, not
+ready in its defence. An appeal to the passions, the prejudices, and
+the feelings of the nation, might confidently be made by those whose
+only object was its condemnation; which reflection, information, and
+consequently time, were required by men whose first impressions were
+not in its favour, but who were not inclined to yield absolutely to
+those impressions.</p>
+
+<p>That a treaty involving a great variety of complicated national
+interests, and adjusting differences of long standing, which had
+excited strong reciprocal prejudices, would require a patient and
+laborious investigation, both of the instrument itself, and of the
+circumstances under which it was negotiated, before even those who are
+most conversant in diplomatic transactions could form a just estimate
+of its merits, would be conceded by all reflecting men. But an immense
+party in America, not in the habit of considering national compacts,
+without examining the circumstances under which that with Great
+Britain had been formed, or weighing the reasons which induced it;
+without understanding the instrument, and in many instances without
+reading it, rushed impetuously to its condemnation; and, confident
+that public opinion would be surprised by the suddenness, or stormed
+by the fury of the assault, expected that the President would be
+compelled to yield to its violence.</p>
+
+<p>In the populous cities, meetings of the people were immediately
+summoned, in order to take into their consideration, and to express
+their opinions respecting an instrument, to comprehend the full extent
+of which, a statesman would need deep reflection in the quiet of his
+closet, aided by considerable inquiry. It may well be supposed that
+persons feeling some distrust of their capacity to form, intuitively,
+a correct judgment on a subject so complex, and disposed only to act
+knowingly, would be unwilling to make so hasty a decision, and
+consequently be disinclined to attend such meetings. Many intelligent
+men, therefore, stood aloof, while the most intemperate assumed, as
+usual, the name of the people; pronounced a definitive and unqualified
+condemnation of every article in the treaty; and, with the utmost
+confidence, assigned reasons for their opinions, which, in many
+instances, had only an imaginary existence; and in some, were
+obviously founded on the strong prejudices which were entertained with
+respect to foreign powers. It is difficult to review the various
+resolutions and addresses to which the occasion gave birth, without
+feeling some degree of astonishment, mingled with humiliation, at
+perceiving such proofs of the deplorable fallibility of human reason.</p>
+
+<p>The first meeting was held in Boston. The example of that city was
+soon followed by New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Charleston;
+and, as if their addresses were designed at least as much for their
+fellow citizens as for their President, while one copy was transmitted
+to him, another was committed to the press. The precedent set by these
+large cities was followed, with wonderful rapidity, throughout the
+union; and the spirit in which this system of opposition originated
+sustained no diminution of violence in its progress.</p>
+
+<p>On the 18th of July, at Baltimore, on his way to Mount Vernon, the
+President received the resolutions passed by the meeting at Boston,
+which were enclosed to him in a letter from the select men of that
+town. The answer to this letter and to these resolutions evinced the
+firmness with which he had resolved to meet the effort that was
+obviously making, to control the exercise of his constitutional
+functions, by giving a promptness and vigour to the expression of the
+sentiments of a party, which might impose it upon the world as the
+deliberate judgment of the public.</p>
+
+<p>Addresses to the chief magistrate, and resolutions of town and country
+meetings, were not the only means which were employed to enlist the
+American people against the measure which had been advised by the
+senate. In an immense number of essays, the treaty was critically
+examined, and every argument which might operate on the judgment or
+prejudice of the public, was urged in the warm and glowing language of
+passion. To meet these efforts by counter efforts, was deemed
+indispensably necessary by the friends of that instrument; and the
+gazettes of the day are replete with appeals to the passions, and to
+the reason, of those who are the ultimate arbiters of every political
+question. That the treaty affected the interests of France not less
+than those of the United States, was, in this memorable controversy,
+asserted by the one party, with as much zeal as it was denied by the
+other. These agitations furnished matter to the President for deep
+reflection, and for serious regret; but they appear not to have shaken
+the decision he had formed, or to have affected his conduct otherwise
+than to induce a still greater degree of circumspection in the mode of
+transacting the delicate business before him. On their first
+appearance, therefore, he resolved to hasten his return to
+Philadelphia, for the purpose of considering, at that place rather
+than at Mount Vernon, the memorial against the provision order, and
+the conditional ratification of the treaty. In a private letter to the
+secretary of state, of the 29th of July, accompanying the official
+communication of this determination, he stated more at large the
+motives which induced it. These were, the violent and extraordinary
+proceedings which were taking place, and might be expected, throughout
+the union; and his opinion that the memorial, the ratification, and
+the instructions which were framing, were of such vast magnitude as
+not only to require great individual consideration, but a solemn
+conjunct revision.</p>
+
+<p>He viewed the opposition which the treaty was receiving from the
+meetings in different parts of the union, in a very serious
+light;&#8212;not because there was more weight in any of the objections
+than was foreseen at first,&#8212;for in some of them there was none, and
+in others, there were gross misrepresentations; nor as it respected
+himself personally, for that he declared should have no influence on
+his conduct. He plainly perceived, and was accordingly preparing his
+mind for, the obloquy which disappointment and malice were collecting
+to heap upon him. But he was alarmed on account of the effect it might
+have on France, and the advantage which the government of that country
+might be disposed to make of the spirit which was at work, to cherish
+a belief, that the treaty was calculated to favour Great Britain at
+her expense. Whether she believed or disbelieved these tales, their
+effect, he said, would be nearly the same.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;To sum up the whole,&quot; he added, &quot;in a few words, I have never, since
+I have been in the administration of the government, seen a crisis
+which, in my opinion, has been so pregnant with interesting events,
+nor one from which more is to be apprehended, whether viewed on one
+side or the other. From New York there is, and I am told will further
+be, a counter current;<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> but how formidable it may appear I know
+not. If the same does not take place at Boston and other towns, it
+will afford but too strong evidence that the opposition is in a manner
+universal, and would make the ratification a very serious business
+indeed. But as it respects the French, even counter resolutions would,
+for the reasons I have already mentioned, do little more than weaken,
+in a small degree, the effect the other side would have.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In a private letter of the 31st of July to the same gentleman, after
+repeating his determination to return to Philadelphia, and his
+impression of the wisdom, the temperateness, and the firmness for
+which the crisis most eminently called; he added, &quot;for there is too
+much reason to believe, from the pains that have been taken before,
+at, and since the advice of the senate respecting the treaty, that the
+prejudices against it are more extensive than is generally imagined.
+How should it be otherwise? When no stone has been left unturned that
+could impress on the minds of the people the most arrant
+misrepresentation of facts: that their rights have not only been
+neglected, but absolutely sold; that there are no reciprocal
+advantages in the treaty: that the benefits are all on the side of
+Great Britain: and, what seems to have had more weight with them than
+all the rest, and has been most pressed, that the treaty is made with
+the design to oppress the French republic, in open violation of our
+treaty with that nation, and contrary too to every principal of
+gratitude and sound policy. In time, when passion shall have yielded
+to sober reason, the current may possibly turn; but, in the mean
+while, this government, in relation to France and England, may be
+compared to a ship between Scylla and Charybdis. If the treaty is
+ratified, the partisans of the French (or rather of war and confusion)
+will excite them to hostile measures, or at least to unfriendly
+sentiments;&#8212;if it is not, there is no foreseeing all the consequences
+that may follow as it respects Great Britain.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is not to be inferred from hence that I am or shall be disposed to
+quit the ground I have taken, unless circumstances more imperious than
+have yet come to my knowledge, should compel it; for there is but one
+straight course, and that is to seek truth, and to pursue it steadily.
+But these things are mentioned to show that a close investigation of
+the subject is more than ever necessary; and that there are strong
+evidences of the necessity of the most circumspect conduct in carrying
+the determination of government into effect, with prudence as it
+respects our own people, and with every exertion to produce a change
+for the better with Great Britain.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In a letter of the third of August, written to the same gentleman, in
+which he stated the increasing extent of hostility to the treaty, the
+President added:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All these things do not shake my determination with respect to the
+proposed ratification, nor will they, unless something more imperious
+and unknown to me, should, in the opinion of yourself and the
+gentlemen with you, make it adviseable for me to pause.&quot;</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Conditionally ratified by the president.</div>
+
+<p>In the afternoon of the 11th of August the President arrived in
+Philadelphia; and on the next day, the question respecting the
+immediate ratification of the treaty was brought before the cabinet.
+The secretary of state maintained, singly, the opinion, that, during
+the existence of the provision order,<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> and during the war between
+Britain and France, this step ought not to be taken. This opinion did
+not prevail. The resolution was adopted to ratify the treaty
+immediately, and to accompany the ratification with a strong memorial
+against the provision order, which should convey, in explicit terms,
+the sense of the American government on that subject. By this course,
+the views of the executive were happily accomplished. The order was
+revoked, and the ratifications of the treaty were exchanged.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The treaty unpopular in the United States.</div>
+
+<p>The President was most probably determined to adopt this course by the
+extreme intemperance with which the treaty was opposed, and the rapid
+progress which this violence was apparently making. It was obvious
+that, unless this temper could be checked, it would soon become so
+extensive, and would arrive at such a point of fury, as to threaten
+dangerous consequences. It was obviously necessary either to attempt a
+diminution of its action by rendering its exertions hopeless, and by
+giving to the treaty the weight of his character and influence, or to
+determine ultimately to yield to it. A species of necessity therefore
+seems to have been created for abandoning the idea, if it was ever
+taken up, of making the ratification of the treaty dependent on the
+revocation of the provision order.</p>
+
+<p>The soundness of the policy which urged this decisive measure was
+proved by the event. The confidence which was felt in the judgment and
+virtue of the chief magistrate, induced many, who, swept away by the
+popular current, had yielded to the common prejudices, to re-examine,
+and discard opinions which had been too hastily embraced; and many
+were called forth by a desire to support the administration in
+measures actually adopted, to take a more active part in the general
+contest than they would otherwise have pursued. The consequence was,
+that more moderate opinions respecting the treaty began to prevail.</p>
+
+<p>In a letter from Mount Vernon of the 20th of September, addressed to
+General Knox, who had communicated to him the change of opinion which
+was appearing in the eastern states, the President expressed in warm
+terms the pleasure derived from that circumstance, and added: &quot;Next to
+a conscientious discharge of my public duties, to carry along with me
+the approbation of my constituents, would be the highest gratification
+of which my mind is susceptible. But the latter being secondary, I can
+not make the former yield to it, unless some criterion more infallible
+than partial (if they are not party) meetings can be discovered as the
+touchstone of public sentiment. If any person on earth could, or the
+great power above would, erect the standard of infallibility in
+political opinions, no being that inhabits this terrestrial globe
+would resort to it with more eagerness than myself, so long as I
+remain a servant of the public. But as I have hitherto found no better
+guide than upright intentions, and close investigation, I shall adhere
+to them while I keep the watch, leaving it to those who will come
+after me, to explore new ways, if they like, or think them better.&quot;</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Charge against the president rejected.</div>
+
+<p>If the ratification of the treaty increased the number of its open
+advocates, it seemed also to give increased acrimony to the
+opposition. Such hold had the President taken of the affections of the
+people, that even his enemies had deemed it generally necessary to
+preserve, with regard to him, external marks of decency and respect.
+Previous to the mission of Mr. Jay, charges against the chief
+magistrate, though frequently insinuated, had seldom been directly
+made; and the cover under which the attacks upon his character were
+conducted, evidenced the caution with which it was deemed necessary to
+proceed. That mission visibly affected the decorum which had been
+usually observed towards him; and the ratification of the treaty
+brought sensations into open view, which had long been ill concealed.
+His military and political character was attacked with equal violence,
+and it was averred that he was totally destitute of merit, either as a
+soldier, or a statesman. The calumnies with which he was assailed were
+not confined to his public conduct; even his qualities as a man were
+the subjects of detraction. That he had violated the constitution in
+negotiating a treaty without the previous advice of the senate, and in
+embracing within that treaty subjects belonging exclusively to the
+legislature, was openly maintained, for which an impeachment was
+publicly suggested; and that he had drawn from the treasury for his
+private use, more than the salary annexed to his office, was asserted
+without a blush.<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> This last allegation was said to be supported by
+extracts from the treasury accounts which had been laid before the
+legislature, and was maintained with the most persevering effrontery.</p>
+
+<p>Though the secretary of the treasury denied that the appropriations
+made by the legislature had ever been exceeded, the atrocious charge
+was still confidently repeated; and the few who could triumph in any
+spot which might tarnish the lustre of Washington's fame, felicitated
+themselves on the prospect of obtaining a victory over the reputation
+of a patriot, to whose single influence, they ascribed the failure of
+their political plans. With the real public, the confidence felt in
+the integrity of the chief magistrate remained unshaken; but so
+imposing was the appearance of the documents adduced, as to excite an
+apprehension that the transaction might be placed in a light to show
+that some indiscretion, in which he had not participated, had been
+inadvertently committed.</p>
+
+<p>This state of anxious suspense was of short duration. The late
+secretary of the treasury, during whose administration of the finances
+this peculation was said to have taken place, came forward with a full
+explanation of the fact. It appeared that the President himself had
+never touched any part of the compensation annexed to his office, but
+that the whole was received, and disbursed, by the gentleman who
+superintended the expenses of his household. That it was the practice
+of the treasury, when a sum had been appropriated for the current
+year, to pay it to that gentleman occasionally, as the situation of
+the family might require. The expenses at some periods of the year
+exceeded, and at others fell short of the allowance for the quarter;
+so that at some times money was paid in advance on account of the
+ensuing quarter, and at others, that which was due at the end of the
+quarter was not completely drawn out. The secretary entered into an
+examination of the constitution and laws to show that this practice
+was justifiable, and illustrated his arguments by many examples in
+which an advance on account of money appropriated to a particular
+object, before the service was completed, would be absolutely
+necessary. However this might be, it was a transaction in which the
+President personally was unconcerned.<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a></p>
+
+<p>When possessed of the entire fact, the public viewed, with just
+indignation, this attempt to defame a character which was the nation's
+pride. Americans felt themselves involved in this atrocious calumny on
+their most illustrious citizen; and its propagators were frowned into
+silence.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Mr. Randolph resigns. Is succeeded by Colonel Pickering.<br />
+Colonel McHenry appointed secretary of war.</div>
+
+<p><a name="p231">On</a> the 19th of August, the secretary of state had resigned<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> his
+place in the administration, and some time elapsed before a successor
+was appointed.<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> At length, Colonel Pickering was removed to the
+department of state, and Mr. M'Henry, a gentleman who had served in
+the family of General Washington, and in the congress prior to the
+establishment of the existing constitution, was appointed to the
+department of war. By the death of Mr. Bradford, a vacancy was also
+produced in the office of attorney general, which was filled by Mr.
+Lee, a gentleman of considerable eminence at the bar, and in the
+legislature of Virginia.</p>
+
+<p>Many of those embarrassments in which the government, from its
+institution, had been involved, were now ended, or approaching their
+termination.</p>
+
+<p>The opposition to the laws, which had so long been made in the western
+counties of Pennsylvania, existed no longer.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Treaty with the Indians north-west of the Ohio.</div>
+
+<p>On the third of August, a definitive treaty was concluded by General
+Wayne with the hostile Indians north-west of the Ohio, by which the
+destructive and expensive war which had long desolated that frontier,
+was ended in a manner perfectly agreeable to the United States. An
+accommodation had taken place with the powerful tribes of the south
+also; and to preserve peace in that quarter, it was only necessary to
+invest the executive with the means of restraining the incursions
+which the disorderly inhabitants of the southern frontier frequently
+made into the Indian territory; incursions, of which murder was often
+the consequence.</p>
+
+<p>Few subjects had excited more feeling among the people, or in the
+government of the United States, than the captivity of their fellow
+citizens in Algiers. Even this calamity had been seized as a weapon
+which might be wielded with some effect against the President.
+Overlooking the exertions he had made for the attainment of peace, and
+the liberation of the American captives; and regardless of his
+inability to aid negotiation by the exhibition of force, the
+discontented ascribed the long and painful imprisonment of their
+unfortunate brethren to a carelessness in the administration
+respecting their sufferings, and to that inexhaustible source of
+accusation,&#8212;its policy with regard to France and Britain.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Treaty with Algiers.</div>
+
+<p>After the failure of several attempts to obtain a peace with the
+regency of Algiers, a treaty was, at length, negotiated on terms
+which, though disadvantageous, were the best that could be obtained.</p>
+
+<p>The exertions of the executive to settle the controversy with Spain
+respecting boundary, and to obtain the free use of the Mississippi,
+had been unavailing. A negotiation in which Mr. Short and Mr.
+Carmichael were employed at Madrid, had been protracted by artificial
+delays on the part of the Spanish cabinet, until those ministers had
+themselves requested that the commission should be terminated.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Treaty with Spain.</div>
+
+<p>At length, Spain, embarrassed by the war in which she was engaged,
+discovered symptoms of a temper more inclined to conciliation, and
+intimated to the secretary of state, through her commissioners at
+Philadelphia, that a minister, deputed on the special occasion, of
+higher rank than Mr. Short, who was a resident, would be able to
+expedite the negotiation. On receiving this intimation, the President,
+though retaining a high and just confidence in Mr. Short, nominated
+Mr. Pinckney, in November, 1794, as envoy extraordinary to his
+Catholic Majesty. Mr. Pinckney repaired in the following summer to
+Madrid, and a treaty was concluded on the 20th of October, in which
+the claims of the United States, on the important points of boundary,
+and the Mississippi, were fully conceded.</p>
+
+<p>Thus were adjusted, so far as depended on the executive, all those
+external difficulties with which the United States had long struggled;
+most of which had originated before the establishment of the existing
+government, and some of which portended calamities that no common
+share of prudence could have averted.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Meeting of Congress.</div>
+
+<p>Although the signature of the treaties with Spain and Algiers had not
+been officially announced at the meeting of congress, the state of the
+negotiations with both powers was sufficiently well understood to
+enable the President with confidence to assure the legislature, in his
+speech at the opening of the session, that those negotiations were in
+a train which promised a happy issue.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">President's speech.</div>
+
+<p>After expressing his gratification at the prosperous state of American
+affairs, the various favourable events which have been already
+enumerated were detailed in a succinct statement, at the close of
+which he mentioned the British treaty, which, though publicly known,
+had not before been communicated officially to the house of
+representatives.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This interesting summary of our affairs,&quot; continued the speech, &quot;with
+regard to the powers between whom and the United States controversies
+have subsisted; and with regard also to our Indian neighbours with
+whom we have been in a state of enmity or misunderstanding, opens a
+wide field for consoling and gratifying reflections. If by prudence
+and moderation on every side, the extinguishment of all the causes of
+external discord which have heretofore menaced our tranquillity, on
+terms compatible with our national faith and honour, shall be the
+happy results,&#8212;how firm and how precious a foundation will have been
+laid for accelerating, maturing, and establishing the prosperity of
+our country.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>After presenting an animated picture of the situation of the United
+States, and recommending several objects to the attention of the
+legislature, the President concluded with observing: &quot;Temperate
+discussion of the important subjects that may arise in the course of
+the session, and mutual forbearance where there is a difference in
+opinion, are too obvious and necessary for the peace, happiness, and
+welfare of our country, to need any recommendation of mine.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In the senate, an address was reported which echoed back the
+sentiments of the speech.</p>
+
+<p>In this house of representatives, as in the last, the party in
+opposition to the administration had obtained a majority. This party
+was unanimously hostile to the treaty with Great Britain; and it was
+expected that their answer to the speech of the President would
+indicate their sentiments on a subject which continued to agitate the
+whole American people. The answer reported by the committee contained
+a declaration, that the confidence of his fellow citizens in the chief
+magistrate remained undiminished.</p>
+
+<p>On a motion, to strike out the words importing this sentiment, it was
+averred, that the clause asserted an untruth. It was not true that the
+confidence of the people in the President was undiminished. By a
+recent transaction it had been considerably impaired; and some
+gentlemen declared that their own confidence in him was lessened.</p>
+
+<p>By the friends of the administration, the motion was opposed with
+great zeal, and the opinion that the confidence of the people in their
+chief magistrate remained unshaken, was maintained with ardour. But
+they were outnumbered.</p>
+
+<p>To avoid a direct vote on the proposition, it was moved, that the
+address should be recommitted. This motion succeeded, and, two members
+being added to the committee, an answer was reported in which the
+clause objected to was so modified as to be free from exception.</p>
+
+<p>That part of the speech which mentioned the treaty with Great Britain
+was alluded to in terms which, though not directly expressive of
+disapprobation, were sufficiently indicative of the prevailing
+sentiment.</p>
+
+<p>Early in the month of January the President transmitted to both houses
+of congress a message, accompanying certain communications from the
+French government which were well calculated to cherish those ardent
+feelings that prevailed in the legislature.</p>
+
+<p>It was the fortune of Mr. Monroe to reach Paris, soon after the death
+of Robespierre, and the fall of the Jacobins. On his reception as the
+minister of the United States, which was public, and in the
+convention, he gave free scope to the genuine feelings of his heart;
+and, at the same time, delivered to the President of that body, with
+his credentials, two letters addressed by the secretary of state to
+the committee of public safety. These letters were answers to one
+written by the committee of safety to the congress of the United
+States. The executive department being the organ through which all
+foreign intercourse was to be conducted, each branch of the
+legislature had passed a resolution directing this letter to be
+transmitted to the President, with a request, that he would cause it
+to be answered in terms expressive of their friendly dispositions
+towards the French republic.</p>
+
+<p>So fervent were the sentiments expressed on this occasion, that the
+convention decreed that the flag of the American and French republics
+should be united together, and suspended in its own hall, in testimony
+of eternal union and friendship between the two people. To evince the
+impression made on his mind by this act, and the grateful sense of his
+constituents, Mr. Monroe presented to the convention the flag of the
+United States, which he prayed them to accept as a proof of the
+sensibility with which his country received every act of friendship
+from its ally, and of the pleasure with which it cherished every
+incident which tended to cement and consolidate the union between the
+two nations.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Mr. Adet succeeds Mr. Fauchet.</div>
+
+<p>The committee of safety, disregarding the provisions of the American
+constitution, although their attention must have been particularly
+directed to them by the circumstance that the letter to congress was
+referred by that body to the executive, again addressed the
+legislature in terms adapted to that department of government which
+superintends its foreign intercourse, and expressive, among other
+sentiments, of the sensibility with which the French nation had
+perceived those sympathetic emotions with which the American people
+had viewed the vicissitudes of her fortune. Mr. Adet, who was to
+succeed Mr. Fauchet at Philadelphia, and who was the bearer of this
+letter, also brought with him the colours of France, which he was
+directed to present to the United States. He arrived in the summer;
+but probably in the idea that these communications were to be made by
+him directly to congress, did not announce them to the executive until
+late in December.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenotey">1796</div>
+
+<p>The first day of the new year was named for their reception; when the
+colours were delivered to the President, and the letter to congress
+also was placed in his hands.</p>
+
+<p>In executing this duty, Mr. Adet addressed a speech to the President,
+which, in the glowing language of his country, represented France as
+struggling, not only for her own liberty, but for that of the human
+race. &quot;Assimilated to, or rather identified with free people by the
+form of her government, she saw in them,&quot; he said, &quot;only friends and
+brothers. Long accustomed to regard the American people as her most
+faithful allies, she sought to draw closer the ties already formed in
+the fields of America, under the auspices of victory, over the ruins
+of tyranny.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>To answer this speech was a task of some delicacy. It was necessary to
+express feelings adapted to the occasion, without implying sentiments
+with respect to the belligerent powers, which might be improper to be
+used by the chief magistrate of a neutral country. With a view to both
+these objects, the President made the following reply:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Born, sir, in a land of liberty; having early learned its value;
+having engaged in a perilous conflict to defend it; having, in a word,
+devoted the best years of my life to secure its permanent
+establishment in my own country; my anxious recollections, my
+sympathetic feelings, and my best wishes, are irresistibly attracted,
+whensoever, in any country, I see an oppressed nation unfurl the
+banners of freedom. But above all, the events of the French revolution
+have produced the deepest solicitude, as well as the highest
+admiration. To call your nation brave, were to pronounce but common
+praise. Wonderful people! Ages to come will read with astonishment the
+history of your brilliant exploits. I rejoice that the period of your
+toils, and of your immense sacrifices is approaching. I rejoice that
+the interesting revolutionary movements of so many years have issued
+in the formation of a constitution,<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> designed to give permanency to
+the great object for which you have contended. I rejoice that liberty,
+which you have so long embraced with enthusiasm,&#8212;liberty, of which
+you have been the invincible defenders, now finds an asylum in the
+bosom of a regularly organized government;&#8212;a government which, being
+formed to secure the happiness of the French people, corresponds with
+the ardent wishes of my heart, while it gratifies the pride of every
+citizen of the United States by its resemblance to their own. On these
+glorious events, accept, sir, my sincere congratulations.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In delivering to you these sentiments, I express not my own feelings
+only, but those of my fellow citizens in relation to the commencement,
+the progress, and the issue of the French revolution: and they will
+certainly join with me in purest wishes to the Supreme Being, that the
+citizens of our sister republic, our magnanimous allies, may soon
+enjoy in peace, that liberty which they have purchased at so great a
+price, and all the happiness that liberty can bestow.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I receive, sir, with lively sensibility, the symbol of the triumphs,
+and of the infranchisements of your nation, the colours of France,
+which you have now presented to the United States. The transaction
+will be announced to congress, and the colours will be deposited with
+the archives of the United States, which are at once the evidence and
+the memorials of their freedom and independence; may these be
+perpetual! and may the friendship of the two republics be commensurate
+with their existence.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The address of Mr. Adet, the answer of the President, and the colours
+of France, were transmitted to congress with the letter from the
+committee of safety.</p>
+
+<p>In the house of representatives a resolution was moved, requesting the
+President to make known to the representatives of the French republic,
+the sincere and lively sensations which were excited by this
+honourable testimony of the existing sympathy and affections of the
+two republics; that the house rejoiced in an opportunity of
+congratulating the French republic on the brilliant and glorious
+achievements accomplished during the present afflictive war; and hoped
+that those achievements would be attended with a perfect attainment of
+their object, the permanent establishment of the liberty and happiness
+of that great and magnanimous people.</p>
+
+<p>The letter to congress having come from the committee of safety,
+which, under the revolutionary system, was the department that was
+charged with foreign intercourse; and a constitution having been
+afterwards adopted in France, by which an executive directory was
+established, to which all the foreign relations of the government were
+confided, an attempt was made to amend this resolution, by
+substituting the directory for the representatives of the people. But
+this attempt failed; after which the resolution passed unanimously.</p>
+
+<p>In the senate also a resolution was offered, expressive of the
+sensations of that house, and requesting the President to communicate
+them to the proper organ of the French republic. An amendment was
+moved to vary this resolution so as to express the sentiment to the
+President, and omit the request that it should be communicated to the
+French republic. The complimentary correspondence between the two
+nations, had, it was said, reached a point, when, if ever, it ought to
+close. This amendment, though strenuously combated by the opposition,
+was adopted.</p>
+
+<p>In February, the treaty with Great Britain was returned, in the form
+advised by the senate, ratified by his Britannic Majesty. The
+constitution declaring a treaty, when made, the supreme law of the
+land, the President announced it officially to the people in a
+proclamation, requiring from all persons its observance and execution;
+a copy of which was transmitted to each house on the 1st of March.</p>
+
+<p>The party which had obtained the majority in one branch of the
+legislature, having openly denied the right of the President to
+negotiate a treaty of commerce, was not a little dissatisfied at his
+venturing to issue this proclamation before the sense of the house of
+representatives had been declared on the obligation of the instrument.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The house of representatives call upon the president for
+papers relating to the treaty with Great Britain.</div>
+
+<p>This dissatisfaction was not concealed. On the 2d of March, Mr.
+Livingston laid upon the table a resolution, requesting the President
+&quot;to lay before the house a copy of the instructions to the minister of
+the United States, who negotiated the treaty with the king of Great
+Britain, communicated by his message of the 1st of March, together
+with the correspondence and other documents relative to the said
+treaty.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>On the 7th of March, he amended this resolution by adding the words,
+&quot;excepting such of the said papers as any existing negotiation may
+render improper to be disclosed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>After some debate, Mr. Madison proposed to modify the amendment of Mr.
+Livingston, so as to except such papers, as in the judgment of the
+President, it might be inconsistent with the interest of the United
+States at this time to disclose. This proposition was rejected by a
+majority of ten voices, and the discussion of the original resolution
+was resumed. The debate soon glided into an argument on the nature and
+extent of the treaty making power.</p>
+
+<p>The friends of the administration maintained, that a treaty was a
+contract between two nations, which, under the constitution, the
+President, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, had a
+right to make; and that it was made when, by and with such advice and
+consent, it had received his final act. Its obligations then became
+complete on the United States; and to refuse to comply with its
+stipulations, was to break the treaty, and to violate the faith of the
+nation.</p>
+
+<p>The opposition contended, that the power to make treaties, if
+applicable to every object, conflicted with powers which were vested
+exclusively in congress. That either the treaty making power must be
+limited in its operation, so as not to touch objects committed by the
+constitution to congress, or the assent and co-operation of the house
+of representatives must be required to give validity to any compact,
+so far as it might comprehend those objects. A treaty, therefore,
+which required an appropriation of money, or any act of congress to
+carry it into effect, had not acquired its obligatory force until the
+house of representatives had exercised its powers in the case. They
+were at full liberty to make, or to withhold, such appropriation, or
+other law, without incurring the imputation of violating any existing
+obligation, or of breaking the faith of the nation.</p>
+
+<p>The debate on this question was animated, vehement, and argumentative;
+all the party passions were enlisted in it; and it was protracted
+until the 24th of March, when the resolution was carried in the
+affirmative by sixty-two to thirty-seven voices. The next day, the
+committee appointed to present it to the chief magistrate reported his
+answer, which was, &quot;that he would take the resolution into
+consideration.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The situation in which this vote placed the President was peculiarly
+delicate. In an elective government, the difficulty of resisting the
+popular branch of the legislature is at all times great, but is
+particularly so when the passions of the public have been strongly and
+generally excited. The popularity of a demand for information, the
+large majority by which that demand was supported, the additional
+force which a refusal to comply with it would give to suspicions
+already insinuated, that circumstances had occurred in the negotiation
+which the administration dared not expose, and that the President was
+separating himself from the representatives of the people, furnished
+motives, not lightly to be over-ruled, for yielding to the request
+which had been made.</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center">&#160;</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a name="image05">
+<img src="images/244.jpg" width="368" height="438" alt="George Washington" /></a></p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center"><b>George Washington</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p style="text-align: center"><i>From the profile portrait by James Sharples</i></p>
+
+<p><i>Sharples painted two pictures of Washington&#8212;this portrait showing
+him in the costume of a country gentleman, distinguished as being the
+only profile of the First President ever painted, and a full face
+presentation of him in military dress, reproduced in Volume IV of this
+work.</i></p>
+
+<p><i>Sharples, an English painter by birth, was recommended by the great
+George Romney as being equipped to produce a work &quot;worthy of the
+greatest of Americans.&quot; His success is attested by the praise of
+Washington's adopted son, who declared the Sharples portraits to be
+&quot;the truest likenesses ever made,&quot; and by Ralph Waldo Emerson, who saw
+the pictures later in England and wrote: &quot;I would willingly have
+crossed the Atlantic, if only to look on these portraits.&quot;</i></p>
+
+<p>Courtesy Herbert L. Pratt</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#160;</p>
+
+<p>But these considerations were opposed by others which, though less
+operative with men who fear to deserve the public favour by hazarding
+its loss, possess an irresistible influence over a mind resolved to
+pursue steadily the path of duty, however it may abound with thorns.</p>
+
+<p>That the future diplomatic transactions of the government might be
+seriously and permanently affected by establishing the principle that
+the house of representatives could demand as a right, the instructions
+given to a foreign minister, and all the papers connected with a
+negotiation, was too apparent to be unobserved. Nor was it less
+obvious that a compliance with the request now made, would go far in
+establishing this principle. The form of the request, and the motives
+which induced it, equally led to this conclusion. It left nothing to
+the discretion of the President with regard to the public interests;
+and the information was asked for the avowed purpose of determining
+whether the house of representatives would give effect to a public
+treaty.</p>
+
+<p>It was also a subject for serious reflection, that in a debate
+unusually elaborate, the house of representatives had claimed a right
+of interference in the formation of treaties, which, in the judgment
+of the President, the constitution had denied them. Duties the most
+sacred requiring that he should resist this encroachment on the
+department which was particularly confided to him, he could not
+hesitate respecting the course it became him to take; and on the 30th
+of March he returned the following answer to the resolution which had
+been presented to him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Gentlemen of the house of representatives,</p>
+
+<p>&quot;With the utmost attention I have considered your resolution of the
+24th instant, requesting me to lay before your house, a copy of the
+instructions to the minister of the United States, who negotiated the
+treaty with the king of Great Britain, together with the
+correspondence and other documents relative to that treaty, excepting
+such of the said papers, as any existing negotiation may render
+improper to be disclosed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In deliberating upon this subject, it was impossible for me to lose
+sight of the principle which some have avowed in its discussion, or to
+avoid extending my views to the consequences which must flow from the
+admission of that principle.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I trust that no part of my conduct has ever indicated a disposition
+to withhold any information which the constitution has enjoined it
+upon the President as a duty to give, or which could be required of
+him by either house of congress as a right; and with truth I affirm,
+that it has been, as it will continue to be, while I have the honour
+to preside in the government, my constant endeavour to harmonize with
+the other branches thereof, so far as the trust delegated to me by the
+people of the United States, and my sense of the obligation it
+imposes, to preserve, protect and defend the constitution<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> will
+permit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The nature of foreign negotiations require caution, and their success
+must often depend on secrecy: and even when brought to a conclusion, a
+full disclosure of all the measures, demands, or eventual concessions
+which may have been proposed or contemplated would be extremely
+impolitic; for this might have a pernicious influence on future
+negotiations, or produce immediate inconveniences, perhaps danger and
+mischief to other persons. The necessity of such caution and secrecy
+was one cogent reason for vesting the power of making treaties in the
+President, with the advice and consent of the senate, the principle on
+which that body was formed confining it to a small number of members.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;To admit then a right in the house of representatives to demand, and
+to have as a matter of course, all the papers respecting a negotiation
+with a foreign power, would be to establish a dangerous precedent.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It does not occur that the inspection of the papers asked for, can be
+relative to any purpose under the cognizance of the house of
+representatives, except that of an impeachment, which the resolution
+has not expressed. I repeat that I have no disposition to withhold any
+information which the duty of my station will permit, or the public
+good shall require to be disclosed; and in fact, all the papers
+affecting the negotiation with Great Britain were laid before the
+senate, when the treaty itself was communicated for their
+consideration and advice.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The course which the debate has taken on the resolution of the house,
+leads to some observations on the mode of making treaties under the
+constitution of the United States.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Having been a member of the general convention, and knowing the
+principles on which the constitution was formed, I have ever
+entertained but one opinion upon this subject; and from the first
+establishment of the government to this moment, my conduct has
+exemplified that opinion. That the power of making treaties is
+exclusively vested in the President, by and with the advice and
+consent of the senate, provided two-thirds of the senators present
+concur; and that every treaty so made and promulgated, thenceforward
+becomes the law of the land. It is thus that the treaty making power
+has been understood by foreign nations: and in all the treaties made
+with them, <i>we</i> have declared, and <i>they</i> have believed, that when
+ratified by the President with the advice and consent of the senate,
+they became obligatory. In this construction of the constitution,
+every house of representatives has heretofore acquiesced; and until
+the present time, not a doubt or suspicion has appeared to my
+knowledge, that this construction was not a true one. Nay, they have
+more than acquiesced; for until now, without controverting the
+obligation of such treaties, they have made all the requisite
+provisions for carrying them into effect.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There is also reason to believe that this construction agrees with
+the opinions entertained by the state conventions when they were
+deliberating on the constitution; especially by those who objected to
+it, because there was not required in commercial treaties, the consent
+of two-thirds of the whole number of the members of the senate,
+instead of two-thirds of the senators present; and because in treaties
+respecting territorial and certain other rights and claims, the
+concurrence of three-fourths of the whole number of the members of
+both houses respectively was not made necessary.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is a fact declared by the general convention and universally
+understood, that the constitution of the United States was the result
+of a spirit of amity and mutual concession. And it is well known, that
+under this influence, the smaller states were admitted to an equal
+representation in the senate with the larger states; and that this
+branch of the government was invested with great powers; for on the
+equal participation of those powers, the sovereignty and political
+safety of the smaller states were deemed essentially to depend.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If other proofs than these and the plain letter of the constitution
+itself be necessary to ascertain the point under consideration, they
+may be found in the journals of the general convention which I have
+deposited in the office of the department of state. In these journals
+it will appear, that a proposition was made 'that no treaty should be
+binding on the United States which was not ratified by a law,' and
+that the proposition was explicitly rejected.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">He declines sending them.</div>
+
+<p>&quot;As therefore it is perfectly clear to my understanding that the
+assent of the house of representatives is not necessary to the
+validity of a treaty; as the treaty with Great Britain exhibits in
+itself all the objects requiring legislative provision; and on these
+the papers called for can throw no light; and as it is essential to
+the due administration of the government that the boundaries fixed by
+the constitution between the different departments should be
+preserved; a just regard to the constitution, and to the duty of my
+office, under all the circumstances of this case, forbid a compliance
+with your request.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The terms in which this decided, and, it would seem, unexpected
+negative to the call for papers was conveyed, appeared to break the
+last cord of that attachment which had theretofore bound some of the
+active leaders of the opposition to the person of the President.
+Amidst all the agitations and irritations of party, a sincere respect,
+and real affection for the chief magistrate, the remnant of former
+friendship, had still lingered in the bosoms of some who had engaged
+with ardour in the political contests of the day. But, if the last
+spark of this affection was not now extinguished, it was at least
+concealed under the more active passions of the moment.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Debates upon the treaty making power.</div>
+
+<p>A motion to refer the message of the President to a committee of the
+whole house, was carried by a large majority. In committee,
+resolutions were moved by Mr. Blount of North Carolina, declaratory of
+the sense of the house respecting its own power on the subject of
+treaties. These resolutions take a position less untenable than had
+been maintained in argument, and rather inexplicit on an essential
+part of the question. Disclaiming a power to interfere in making
+treaties, they assert the right of the house of representatives,
+whenever stipulations are made on subjects committed by the
+constitution to congress, to deliberate on the expediency of carrying
+them into effect, without deciding what degree of obligation the
+treaty possesses on the nation, so far as respects those points,
+previous to such deliberation. After a debate in which the message was
+freely criticised, the resolutions were carried, fifty-seven voting in
+the affirmative, and thirty-five in the negative.</p>
+
+<p>In the course of the month of March, the treaties with his Catholic
+majesty, and with the Dey of Algiers, had been ratified by the
+President, and were laid before congress. On the 13th of April, in a
+committee of the whole house on the state of the union, the instant
+the chairman was seated, Mr. Sedgewick moved &quot;that provision ought to
+be made by law for carrying into effect with good faith the treaties
+lately concluded with the Dey and Regency of Algiers, the King of
+Great Britain, the King of Spain, and certain Indian tribes north-west
+of the Ohio.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This motion produced a warm altercation. The members of the majority
+complained loudly of the celerity with which it had been made, and
+resented the attempt to blend together four treaties in the same
+resolution, after the solemn vote entered upon their journals,
+declaratory of their right to exercise a free discretion over the
+subject, as an indignity to the opinions and feelings of the house.</p>
+
+<p>After a discussion manifesting the irritation which existed, the
+resolution was amended, by changing the word &quot;treaties&quot; from the
+plural to the singular number, and by striking out the words &quot;Dey and
+Regency of Algiers, the King of Great Britain, and certain Indian
+tribes north-west of the river Ohio,&quot; so that only the treaty with the
+King of Spain remained to be considered.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Gallatin then objected to the words &quot;provision ought to be made by
+law,&quot; as the expression seemed to imply a negative of the principle
+laid down in their resolution, that the house was at perfect liberty
+to pass, or not to pass, any law for giving effect to a treaty. In
+lieu of them, he wished to introduce words declaring the expediency of
+passing the necessary laws. This amendment was objected to as an
+innovation on the forms which had been invariably observed; but it was
+carried; after which, the words &quot;with good faith,&quot; were also
+discarded.</p>
+
+<p>The resolution thus amended was agreed to without a dissenting voice;
+and then, similar resolutions were passed respecting the treaties with
+Algiers, and with the Indians north-west of the Ohio.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Upon the bill for making appropriations to carry into
+execution the treaty with Great Britain.</div>
+
+<p>This business being despatched, the treaty with Great Britain was
+brought before the house. The friends of that instrument urged an
+immediate decision of the question. On a subject which had so long
+agitated the whole community, the judgment of every member, they
+believed, was completely formed; and the hope to make converts by
+argument was desperate. In fact, they appeared to have entertained the
+opinion that the majority would not dare to encounter the immense
+responsibility of breaking that treaty, without previously
+ascertaining that the great body of the people were willing to meet
+the consequences of the measure. But the members of the opposition,
+though confident of their power to reject the resolution, called for
+its discussion. The expectation might not unreasonably have been
+entertained, that the passions belonging to the subject would be so
+inflamed by debate, as to produce the expression of a public sentiment
+favourable to their wishes; and, if in this they should be
+disappointed, it would be certainly unwise, either as a party, or as a
+branch of the legislature, to plunge the nation into embarrassments in
+which it was not disposed to entangle itself, and from which the means
+of extricating it could not be distinctly perceived.</p>
+
+<p>The minority soon desisted from urging an immediate decision of the
+question; and the spacious field which was opened by the propositions
+before the house, seemed to be entered with equal avidity and
+confidence by both parties.</p>
+
+<p>At no time perhaps have the members of the national legislature been
+stimulated to great exertions by stronger feelings than impelled them
+on this occasion. Never has a greater display been made of argument,
+of eloquence, and of passion; and never has a subject been discussed
+in which all classes of their fellow citizens took a deeper interest.</p>
+
+<p>To those motives which a doubtful contest for power, and for victory,
+can not fail to furnish, were added others of vast influence on the
+human mind. Those who supported the resolution, declaring the
+expediency of carrying the treaty into effect, firmly believed that
+the faith of the nation was pledged, and that its honour, its
+character, and its constitution, depended on the vote about to be
+given. They also believed that the best interests of the United States
+required an observance of the compact as formed. In itself, it was
+thought as favourable as the situation of the contracting parties, and
+of the world, entitled them to expect; but its chief merit consisted
+in the adjustment of ancient differences, and in its tendency to
+produce future amicable dispositions, and friendly intercourse. If
+congress should refuse to perform this treaty on the part of the
+United States, a compliance on the part of Great Britain could not be
+expected. The posts on the great lakes would still be occupied by
+their garrisons; no compensation would be made for American vessels
+illegally captured; the hostile dispositions which had been excited
+would be restored with increased aggravation; and that these
+dispositions must lead infallibly to war, was implicitly believed.
+They also believed that the political subjugation of their country
+would be the inevitable consequence of a war with Britain, during the
+existing impassioned devotion of the United States to France.</p>
+
+<p>The opposite party was undoubtedly of opinion that the treaty
+contained stipulations really injurious to the United States. Several
+favourite principles to which they attached much importance, were
+relinquished by it; and some of the articles relative to commerce,
+were believed to be unequal in their operation. Nor ought the
+sincerity with which their opinion on the constitutional powers of the
+house had been advanced, to be questioned. In the fervour of political
+discussion, that construction which, without incurring the imputation
+of violating the national faith, would enable the popular branch of
+the legislature to control the President and senate in making
+treaties, may have been thought the safe and the correct construction.
+But no consideration appears to have had more influence than the
+apprehension that the amicable arrangements made with Great Britain,
+would seriously affect the future relations of the United States with
+France.</p>
+
+<p>Might a conjecture on this subject be hazarded, it would be that, in
+the opinion of many intelligent men, the preservation of that honest
+and real neutrality between the belligerent powers, at which the
+executive had aimed, was impracticable; that America would probably be
+forced into the war; and that the possibility of a rupture with France
+was a calamity too tremendous not to be avoided at every hazard.</p>
+
+<p>As had been foreseen, this animated debate was on a subject too deeply
+and immediately interesting to the people, not to draw forth their
+real sentiments. The whole country was agitated; meetings were again
+held throughout the United States; and the strength of parties was
+once more tried.</p>
+
+<p>The fallacy of many of the objections to the treaty had been exposed,
+the odium originally excited against it had been diminished, the
+belief that its violation would infallibly precipitate the nation into
+a war, if not universal, was extensive. These considerations brought
+reflecting men into action; and the voice of the nation was pronounced
+unequivocally with the minority in the house of representatives.</p>
+
+<p>This manifestation of the public sentiment was decisive with congress.
+On the 29th of April the question was taken in the committee of the
+whole, and was determined, by the casting vote of the chairman, in
+favour of the expediency of making the necessary laws. The resolution
+was finally carried, fifty-one voting in the affirmative, and
+forty-eight in the negative.</p>
+
+<p>That necessity to which a part of the majority in the house of
+representatives had reluctantly yielded, operated on no other subject;
+nor did it affect the strength of parties. Their opinion respecting
+that system of policy which ought to be observed in their external
+relations, remained the same; and their partialities and prejudices
+for and against foreign nations, sustained no diminution.</p>
+
+<p>With regard to internal affairs also, the same spirit was retained.</p>
+
+<p>So excessive had been the jealousy entertained by the opposition
+against a military force of any kind, that, even under the pressure of
+the Algerine war, the bill providing a naval armament could not be
+carried through the house without the insertion of a section
+suspending all proceedings under the act, should that war be
+terminated. The event which was to arrest the executive in the
+prosecution of this work having occurred, not a single frigate could
+be completed, without further authority from the legislature. This
+circumstance was the more important, as a peace had not been concluded
+with Tunis, or Tripoli; and, of consequence, the Mediterranean could
+not yet be safely navigated by the vessels of the United States. The
+President called the attention of congress to this subject; and stated
+the loss which would accrue from the sudden interruption of the work,
+and dispersion of the workmen. A bill to enable him to complete three,
+instead of six frigates, was with difficulty carried through the
+house.</p>
+
+<p>But, except the treaty with Great Britain, no subject was brought
+forward in which parties felt a deeper interest, than on those
+questions which related to the revenue.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the increasing productiveness of the duties on
+external commerce, this resource had not yet become entirely adequate
+to the exigencies of the nation. To secure the complete execution of
+the system for gradually redeeming the public debt, without
+disregarding those casualties to which all nations are exposed, it was
+believed that some additional aids to the treasury would be required.
+Upon the nature of these aids, much contrariety of opinion prevailed.
+The friends of the administration were in favour of extending the
+system of indirect internal taxation: but, constituting the minority
+in one branch of the legislature, they could carry no proposition on
+which the opposition was united; and the party which had become the
+majority in the house of representatives, had been generally hostile
+to that mode of obtaining revenue. From an opinion that direct taxes
+were recommended by intrinsic advantages, or that the people would
+become more attentive to the charges against the administration,
+should their money be drawn from them by visible means, those who
+wished power to change hands, had generally manifested a disposition
+to oblige those who exercised it, to resort to a system of revenue, by
+which a great degree of sensibility will always be excited. The
+indirect taxes proposed in the committee of ways and means were
+strongly resisted; and only that which proposed an augmentation of the
+duty on carriages for pleasure was passed into a law.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Congress adjourns.</div>
+
+<p>On the first day of June, this long and interesting session was
+terminated. No preceding legislature had been engaged in discussions
+by which their own passions, or those of their constituents were more
+strongly excited; nor on subjects more vitally important to the United
+States.</p>
+
+<p>From this view of the angry contests of party, it may not be
+unacceptable to turn aside for a moment, and to look back to a
+transaction in which the movements of a feeling heart discover
+themselves, not the less visibly, for being engaged in a struggle with
+the stern duties of a public station.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The president endeavors to procure the liberation of
+Lafayette.</div>
+
+<p>No one of those foreigners who, during the war of the revolution, had
+engaged in the service of the United States, had embraced their cause
+with so much enthusiasm, or had held so distinguished a place in the
+affections of General Washington, as the Marquis de Lafayette. The
+attachment of these illustrious personages to each other had been
+openly expressed, and had yielded neither to time, nor to the
+remarkable vicissitude of fortune with which the destinies of one of
+them had been chequered. For his friend, while guiding the course of a
+revolution which fixed the anxious attention of the world, or while a
+prisoner in Prussia, or in the dungeon of Olmutz, the President
+manifested the same esteem, and felt the same solicitude. The extreme
+jealousy, however, with which the persons who administered the
+government of France, as well as a large party in America, watched his
+deportment towards all those whom the ferocious despotism of the
+Jacobins had exiled from their country, imposed upon him the painful
+necessity of observing great circumspection in his official conduct,
+on this delicate subject. A formal interposition in favour of the
+virtuous and unfortunate victim of their furious passions, would have
+been unavailing. Without benefiting the person whom it would be
+designed to aid, it might produce serious political mischief. But the
+American ministers employed at foreign courts were instructed to seize
+every fair occasion to express, unofficially, the interest taken by
+the President in the fate of Lafayette; and to employ the most
+eligible means in their power to obtain his liberty, or to meliorate
+his situation. A confidential person<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> had been sent to Berlin to
+solicit his discharge: but before this messenger had reached his
+destination, the King of Prussia had delivered over his illustrious
+prisoner to the Emperor of Germany. Mr. Pinckney had been instructed
+not only to indicate the wishes of the President to the Austrian
+minister at London, but to endeavour, unofficially, to obtain the
+powerful mediation of Britain; and had at one time flattered himself
+that the cabinet of St. James would take an interest in the case; but
+this hope was soon dissipated.</p>
+
+<p>After being disappointed in obtaining the mediation of the British
+cabinet, the President addressed the following letter to the Emperor
+of Germany.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It will readily occur to your majesty that occasions may sometimes
+exist, on which official considerations would constrain the chief of a
+nation to be silent and passive in relation even to objects which
+affect his sensibility and claim his interposition as a man. Finding
+myself precisely in this situation at present, I take the liberty of
+writing this private letter to your majesty, being persuaded that my
+motives will also be my apology for it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In common with the people of this country, I retain a strong and
+cordial sense of the services rendered to them by the Marquis de
+Lafayette; and my friendship for him has been constant and sincere. It
+is natural, therefore, that I should sympathize with him and his
+family in their misfortunes, and endeavour to mitigate the calamities
+they experience, among which his present confinement is not the least
+distressing.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I forbear to enlarge on this delicate subject. Permit me only to
+submit to your majesty's consideration, whether his long imprisonment,
+and the confiscation of his estate, and the indigence and dispersion
+of his family, and the painful anxieties incident to all these
+circumstances, do not form an assemblage of sufferings which recommend
+him to the mediation of humanity? allow me, sir, on this occasion, to
+be its organ; and to entreat that he may be permitted to come to this
+country, on such conditions, and under such restrictions, as your
+majesty may think it expedient to prescribe.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As it is a maxim with me not to ask what, under similar
+circumstances, I would not grant, your majesty will do me the justice
+to believe that this request appears to me to correspond with those
+great principles of magnanimity and wisdom, which form the basis of
+sound policy, and durable glory.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This letter was transmitted to Mr. Pinckney to be conveyed to the
+Emperor through his minister at London. How far it operated in
+mitigating immediately the rigour of Lafayette's confinement, or in
+obtaining his liberation, remains unascertained.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><b>Letter from General Washington to Mr. Jefferson.... Hostile
+measures of France against the United States.... Mr. Monroe
+recalled and General Pinckney appointed to succeed him....
+General Washington's valedictory address to the people of
+the United States.... The Minister of France endeavours to
+influence the approaching election.... The President's
+speech to Congress.... He denies the authenticity of certain
+spurious letters published in 1776.... John Adams elected
+President, and Thomas Jefferson Vice President.... General
+Washington retires to Mount Vernon.... Political situation
+of the United States at this period.... The French
+government refuses to receive General Pinckney as
+Minister.... Congress is convened.... President's speech....
+Three envoys extraordinary deputed to France.... Their
+treatment.... Measures of hostility adopted by the American
+government against France.... General Washington appointed
+Commander-in-chief of the American army.... His death....
+And character.</b></p></div>
+
+<p>&#160;</p>
+
+<div class="sidenotey">1796</div>
+
+<p><span class="lgsmcap">The</span> confidential friends of the President had long known his fixed
+purpose to retire from office at the end of his second term, and the
+people generally suspected it. Those who dreaded a change of system,
+in changing the person, of the chief magistrate, manifested an earnest
+desire to avoid this hazard, by being permitted once more to offer to
+the public choice a person who, amidst all the fierce conflicts of
+party, still remained the object of public veneration. But his
+resolution was to be shaken only by the obvious approach of a perilous
+crisis, which, endangering the safety of the nation, would make it
+unworthy of his character, and incompatible with his principles, to
+retreat from its service. In the apprehension that the co-operation of
+external with internal causes might bring about such a crisis, he had
+yielded to the representations of those who urged him to leave himself
+master of his conduct, by withholding a public declaration of his
+intention, until the propriety of affording a reasonable time to fix
+on a successor should require its disclosure. &quot;If,&quot; said Colonel
+Hamilton in a letter on this subject of the fifth of July, &quot;a storm
+gathers, how can you retreat? this is a most serious question.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The suspense produced in the public opinion by this silence on the
+part of the chief magistrate, seemed to redouble the efforts of those
+who laboured to rob him of the affection of the people, and to attach
+odium to the political system which he had pursued. As passion alone
+is able successfully to contend with passion, they still sought, in
+the hate which America bore to Britain, and in her love to France, for
+the most powerful means with which to eradicate her love to
+Washington. Amongst the various artifices employed to effect this
+object, was the publication of those queries which had been propounded
+by the President to his cabinet council, previous to the arrival of
+Mr. Genet. This publication was intended to demonstrate the existence
+of a disposition in the chief magistrate unfriendly to the French
+republic, of &quot;a Machiavellian policy, which nothing but the universal
+sentiment of enthusiastic affection displayed by the <i>people</i> of the
+United States, on the arrival of Mr. Genet, could have subdued.&quot; Some
+idea of the intemperance of the day may be formed from the conclusion
+of that number of a series of virulent essays, in which these queries
+were inserted, and from recollecting that it was addressed to a man
+who, more than any other, had given character as well as independence
+to his country; and whose life, devoted to her service, had exhibited
+one pure undeviating course of virtuous exertion to promote her
+interests.</p>
+
+<p>It is in these words: &quot;The foregoing queries were transmitted for
+consideration to the heads of departments, previously to a meeting to
+be held at the President's house. The text needs no commentary. It has
+stamped upon its front in characters brazen enough for idolatry to
+comprehend, perfidy and ingratitude. To doubt in such a case was
+dishonourable, to proclaim those doubts treachery. For the honour of
+the American character and of human nature, it is to be lamented that
+the records of the United States exhibit such a stupendous monument of
+degeneracy. It will almost require the authenticity of holy writ to
+persuade posterity that it is not a libel ingeniously contrived to
+injure the reputation of the saviour of his country.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As this state paper was perfectly confidential, and had been
+communicated only to the cabinet ministers, Mr. Jefferson thought
+proper to free himself from any possible suspicion of having given it
+publicity, by assuring the President that this breach of confidence
+must be ascribed to some other person.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Letter from General Washington to Mr. Jefferson.</div>
+
+<p>In answer to this letter the President said&#8212;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If I had entertained any suspicion before, that the queries which
+have been published in Bache's paper proceeded from you, the
+assurances you have given of the contrary would have removed
+them:&#8212;but the truth is, I harboured none. I am at no loss to
+conjecture from what source they flowed, through what channel they
+were conveyed, nor for what purpose they and similar publications
+appear.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As you have mentioned<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> the subject yourself, it would not be
+frank, candid, or friendly to conceal, that your conduct has been
+represented as derogating from that opinion I conceived you
+entertained of me; that to your particular friends and connexions you
+have described, and they have denounced me, as a person under a
+dangerous influence, and that, if I would listen <i>more</i> to some
+<i>other</i> opinions, all would be well. My answer invariably has been,
+that I had never discovered any thing in the conduct of Mr. Jefferson
+to raise suspicions in my mind of his sincerity; that if he would
+retrace my public conduct while he was in the administration, abundant
+proofs would occur to him, that truth and right decisions were the
+<i>sole</i> objects of my pursuit; that there were as many instances within
+his <i>own</i> knowledge of my having decided <i>against</i> as in <i>favour</i> of
+the person evidently alluded to; and moreover, that I was no believer
+in the infallibility of the politics or measures of any man living. In
+short, that I was no party man myself, and that the first wish of my
+heart was, if parties did exist, to reconcile them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;To this I may add, and very truly, that until the last year or two, I
+had no conception that parties would, or even could go the lengths I
+have been witness to; nor did I believe, until lately, that it was
+within the bounds of probability&#8212;hardly within those of
+possibility&#8212;that while I was using my utmost exertions to establish a
+national character of our own, independent as far as our obligations
+and justice would permit, of every nation of the earth; and wished by
+steering a steady course to preserve this country from the horrors of
+a desolating war, I should be accused of being the enemy of one nation
+and subject to the influence of another; and to prove it, that every
+act of my administration would be tortured, and the grossest and most
+insidious misrepresentations of them be made, by giving one side only
+of a subject, and that too in such exaggerated and indecent terms as
+could scarcely be applied to a Nero&#8212;to a notorious defaulter&#8212;or even
+to a common pick-pocket.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But enough of this&#8212;I have already gone further in the expression of
+my feelings than I intended.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Of the numerous misrepresentations and fabrications which, with
+unwearied industry, were pressed upon the public in order to withdraw
+the confidence of the nation from its chief, no one marked more
+strongly the depravity of that principle which justifies the means by
+the end, than the republication of certain forged letters, purporting
+to have been written by General Washington in the year 1776.</p>
+
+<p>These letters had been originally published in the year 1777, and in
+them were interspersed, with domestic occurrences which might give
+them the semblance of verity, certain political sentiments favourable
+to Britain in the then existing contest.</p>
+
+<p>But the original fabricator of these papers missed his aim. It was
+necessary to assign the manner in which the possession of them was
+acquired; and in executing this part of his task, circumstances were
+stated so notoriously untrue, that, at the time, the meditated
+imposition deceived no person.</p>
+
+<p>In the indefatigable research for testimony which might countenance
+the charge that the executive was unfriendly to France, and under the
+influence of Britain, these letters were drawn from the oblivion into
+which they had sunk, it had been supposed forever, and were
+republished as genuine. The silence with which the President treated
+this as well as every other calumny, was construed into an
+acknowledgment of its truth; and the malignant commentators on this
+spurious text, would not admit the possibility of its being
+apocryphal.</p>
+
+<p><a name="p272">Those</a> who laboured incessantly to establish the favourite position
+that the executive was under other than French influence, reviewed
+every act of the administration connected with its foreign relations,
+and continued to censure every part of the system with extreme
+bitterness. Not only the treaty with Great Britain, but all those
+measures which had been enjoined by the duties of neutrality, were
+reprobated as justly offensive to France; and no opinion which had
+been advanced by Mr. Genet, in his construction of the treaties
+between the two nations, was too extravagant to be approved. The
+ardent patriot can not maintain the choicest rights of his country
+with more zeal than was manifested in supporting all the claims of the
+French republic upon the United States. These discussions were not
+confined to the public prints. In almost every assemblage of
+individuals, whether for social or other purposes, this favourite
+theme excluded all others; and the pretensions of France were
+supported and controverted with equal earnestness. The opposing
+parties, mutually exasperated by unceasing altercations, cherished
+reciprocal suspicions of each other, and each charged its adversary
+with being under a foreign influence.<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> Those who favoured the
+measures adopted by America were accused as the enemies of liberty,
+the enemies of France, and the tools of Britain. In turn, they charged
+their opponents with disseminating principles subversive of all order
+in society; and with supporting a foreign government against their
+own.</p>
+
+<p>Whatever might be the real opinion of the French government on the
+validity of its charges against the United States, those charges were
+too vehemently urged, and too powerfully espoused in America, to be
+abandoned at Paris. If at any time they were in part relinquished,
+they were soon resumed.</p>
+
+<p>For a time, Mr. Fauchet forbore to press the points on which his
+predecessor had insisted; but his complaints of particular cases which
+grew out of the war, and out of the rules which had been established
+by the executive were unremitting. The respectful language in which
+these complaints were at first urged, soon yielded to the style of
+reproach; and in his correspondence with the secretary of state,
+towards its close, he adopted the sentiments, without absolutely
+discarding the manner of Mr. Genet.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Adet, the successor of Mr. Fauchet, arrived at Philadelphia, while
+the senate was deliberating on the treaty of amity with Great Britain.</p>
+
+<p>In the observations he made on that instrument, when submitted to his
+consideration by order of the President, he complained particularly of
+the abandonment of the principle that free ships should make free
+goods; and urged the injustice, while French cruisers were restrained
+by treaty from taking English goods out of American bottoms, that
+English cruisers should be liberated from the same restraint. No
+demonstration could be more complete than was the fallacy of this
+complaint. But the American government discovered a willingness
+voluntarily to release France from the pressure of a situation in
+which she had elected to place herself.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hostile measures of France against the United States.</div>
+
+<p>In the anxiety which was felt by the President to come to full and
+immediate explanations on this treaty, the American minister at Paris
+had been furnished, even before its ratification, and still more fully
+afterwards, with ample materials for the justification of his
+government. But, misconceiving<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> the views of the administration, he
+reserved these representations to answer complaints which were
+expected, and omitted to make them in the first instance, while the
+course to be pursued by the Directory was under deliberation.
+Meanwhile, his letters kept up the alarm which had been excited with
+regard to the dispositions of France; and intelligence from the West
+Indies served to confirm it. Through a private channel, the President
+received information that the special agents of the Directory in the
+islands were about to issue orders for the capture of all American
+vessels, laden in the whole or in part with provisions, and bound for
+any port within the dominions of the British crown.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Mr. Monroe recalled and General Pinckney appointed to
+succeed him.</div>
+
+<p>Knowing well that the intentions of the executive towards the French
+republic had been at all times friendly, and entertaining a strong
+conviction that its conduct was liable to no just objection, the
+President had relied with confidence on early and candid
+communications, for the removal of any prejudices or misconceptions,
+which the passions of the moment might have occasioned. That the
+French government would be disappointed at the adjustment of those
+differences which had threatened to embroil the United States with
+Great Britain, could not be doubted; but as neither this adjustment,
+nor the arrangements connected with it, had furnished any real cause
+of complaint, he cherished the hope that it would produce no serious
+consequences, if the proper means of prevention should be applied in
+time. He was therefore dissatisfied with delays which he had not
+expected; and seems to have believed that they originated in a want of
+zeal to justify a measure, which neither the minister himself nor his
+political friends had ever approved. To insure an earnest and active
+representation of the true sentiments and views of the administration,
+the President was inclined to depute an envoy extraordinary for the
+particular purpose, who should be united with the actual minister; but
+an objection drawn from the constitution was suggested to this
+measure. During the recess of the senate, the President can only fill
+up vacancies; and the appointment of a minister when no vacancy
+existed, might be supposed to transcend his powers. From respect to
+this construction of the constitution, the resolution was taken to
+appoint a successor to Colonel Monroe. The choice of a person in all
+respects qualified for this mission was not without its difficulty.
+While a disposition friendly to the administration was a requisite not
+to be dispensed with, it was also desirable that the person employed
+should have given no umbrage to the French government. No individual
+who had performed a conspicuous part on the political theatre of
+America, fitted both branches of this description. All who had openly
+sustained with zeal and with talents, the measures of the American
+government, had been marked as the enemies of France, and were on this
+account to be avoided.</p>
+
+<p>For this critical and important service, the President, after some
+deliberation, selected General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, of South
+Carolina, an elder brother of Mr. Thomas Pinckney, the late<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a>
+minister of the United States at London. No man in America was more
+perfectly free from exception than this gentleman. Having engaged with
+ardour in that war which gave independence to his country, he had, in
+its progress, sustained from the British army indignities to his
+person, and injuries to his fortune, which are not easily forgotten.
+In the early part of the French revolution, he had felt and expressed
+all the enthusiasm of his countrymen for the establishment of the
+republic; but, after the commencement of its contests with the United
+States, he stood aloof from both those political parties which had
+divided America. Restrained by the official situation of his brother
+during the negotiations which had been carried on with England, he had
+forborne to express any opinion respecting the treaty in which those
+negotiations terminated, and had consequently taken no part with those
+who approved, or with those who condemned that instrument. No man,
+therefore, who had not declared himself unfriendly to the principles
+he would be deputed to support, could be less objectionable to France.</p>
+
+<p>To the President he was recommended by an intimate knowledge of his
+worth; by a confidence in the sincerity of his personal attachment to
+the chief magistrate; by a conviction that his exertions to effect the
+objects of his mission would be ardent and sincere; and that, whatever
+might be his partialities for France, he possessed a high and delicate
+sense of national as well as individual honour, was jealous for the
+reputation of his country, and tenacious of its rights.</p>
+
+<p>In July, immediately after the appointment of General Pinckney,
+letters were received from Colonel Monroe communicating the official
+complaints against the American government which had been made to him
+in March by Mr. de La Croix, the minister of exterior relations,
+together with his answer to those complaints.</p>
+
+<p>In this answer the American minister had effectually refuted the
+criminations of Mr. de La Croix; and the executive was satisfied with
+it. But the Directory had decided on their system, and it was not by
+reasoning, however conclusive, that this decision was to be changed.</p>
+
+<p>As the time for electing the chief magistrate approached, the anxiety
+of the public respecting the person in office, seemed to increase. In
+states where the electors are chosen by the people, names of great
+political influence were offered for their approbation. The strong
+hold which Washington had taken of the affections of his countrymen
+was, on this occasion, fully evinced. In districts where the
+opposition to his administration was most powerful, where all his
+measures were most loudly condemned, where those who approved his
+system possessed least influence, the men who appeared to control
+public opinion on every other subject, found themselves unable to move
+it on this. Even the most popular among the leaders of the opposition
+were reduced to the necessity of surrendering their pretensions to a
+place in the electoral body, or of pledging themselves to bestow their
+suffrage on the actual President. The determination of his fellow
+citizens had been unequivocally manifested, and it was believed to be
+apparent that the election would again be unanimous, when he announced
+his resolution to withdraw from the honours and the toils of office.</p>
+
+<p>Having long contemplated this event, and having wished to terminate
+his political course with an act which might be at the same time
+suitable to his own character, and permanently useful to his country,
+he had prepared for the occasion a valedictory address, in which, with
+the solicitude of a person, who, in bidding a final adieu to his
+friends, leaves his affections and his anxieties for their welfare
+behind him, he made a last effort to impress upon his countrymen those
+great political truths which had been the guides of his own
+administration, and could alone, in his opinion, form a sure and solid
+basis for the happiness, the independence, and the liberty of the
+United States.</p>
+
+<p>This interesting paper was published in September, at a time when
+hopes were entertained that the discontents of France might be
+appeased by proper representations. It contains precepts to which the
+American statesman can not too frequently recur, and though long, is
+thought too valuable to be omitted or abridged.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">General Washington's valedictory address to the people of
+the United States in which he declines being considered as a candidate
+for the presidency.</div>
+
+<p style="text-align: center">TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Friends and fellow citizens,</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The period for a new election of a citizen to administer the
+executive government of the United States being not far distant, and
+the time actually arrived when your thoughts must be employed in
+designating the person who is to be clothed with that important trust,
+it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more
+distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprize you
+of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among the
+number of those, out of whom a choice is to be made.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be assured, that
+this resolution has not been taken, without a strict regard to all the
+considerations appertaining to the relation which binds a dutiful
+citizen to his country; and that, in withdrawing the tender of service
+which silence in my situation might imply, I am influenced by no
+diminution of zeal for your future interest; no deficiency of grateful
+respect for your past kindness; but am supported by a full conviction
+that the step is compatible with both.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in the office to which
+your suffrages have twice called me, have been a uniform sacrifice of
+inclination to the opinion of duty and to a deference for what
+appeared to be your desire. I constantly hoped that it would have been
+much earlier in my power, consistently with motives which I was not at
+liberty to disregard, to return to that retirement from which I had
+been reluctantly drawn. The strength of my inclination to do this,
+previous to the last election, had even led to the preparation of an
+address to declare it to you; but mature reflection on the then
+perplexed and critical posture of our affairs with foreign nations,
+and the unanimous advice of persons entitled to my confidence,
+impelled me to abandon the idea.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I rejoice that the state of your concerns, external as well as
+internal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination incompatible
+with the sentiment of duty or propriety; and am persuaded, whatever
+partiality may be retained for my services, that in the present
+circumstances of our country, you will not disapprove my determination
+to retire.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The impressions with which I first undertook the arduous trust, were
+explained on the proper occasion. In the discharge of this trust, I
+will only say that I have, with good intentions, contributed towards
+the organization and administration of the government, the best
+exertions of which a very fallible judgment was capable. Not
+unconscious in the outset, of the inferiority of my qualifications,
+experience, in my own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes of others,
+has strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself; and, every day,
+the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and more, that the
+shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome.
+Satisfied that if any circumstances have given peculiar value to my
+services, they were temporary, I have the consolation to believe that,
+while choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene,
+patriotism does not forbid it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In looking forward to the moment which is to terminate the career of
+my political life, my feelings do not permit me to suspend the deep
+acknowledgment of that debt of gratitude which I owe to my beloved
+country, for the many honours it has conferred upon me; still more for
+the steadfast confidence with which it has supported me; and for the
+opportunities I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable
+attachment, by services faithful and persevering, though in usefulness
+unequal to my zeal. If benefits have resulted to our country from
+these services, let it always be remembered to your praise, and as an
+instructive example in our annals, that under circumstances in which
+the passions, agitated in every direction, were liable to mislead
+amidst appearances sometimes dubious, vicissitudes of fortune often
+discouraging&#8212;in situations in which not unfrequently, want of success
+has countenanced the spirit of criticism&#8212;the constancy of your
+support was the essential prop of the efforts, and a guarantee of the
+plans by which they were effected. Profoundly penetrated with this
+idea, I shall carry it with me to my grave, as a strong incitement to
+unceasing vows, that heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of
+its beneficence&#8212;that your union and brotherly affection may be
+perpetual&#8212;that the free constitution, which is the work of your
+hands, may be sacredly maintained&#8212;that its administration in every
+department may be stamped with wisdom and virtue&#8212;that, in fine, the
+happiness of the people of these states, under the auspices of
+liberty, may be made complete by so careful a preservation, and so
+prudent a use of this blessing, as will acquire to them the glory of
+recommending it to the applause, the affection, and adoption of every
+nation which is yet a stranger to it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your welfare,
+which can not end but with my life, and the apprehension of danger,
+natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an occasion like the present,
+to offer to your solemn contemplation, and to recommend to your
+frequent review, some sentiments which are the result of much
+reflection, of no inconsiderable observation, and which appear to me
+all important to the permanency of your felicity as a people. These
+will be offered to you with the more freedom, as you can only see in
+them the disinterested warnings of a parting friend, who can possibly
+have no personal motive to bias his counsel. Nor can I forget, as an
+encouragement to it, your indulgent reception of my sentiments on a
+former and not dissimilar occasion.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your
+hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm
+the attachment.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The unity of government which constitutes you one people, is also now
+dear to you. It is justly so; for it is a main pillar in the edifice
+of your real independence; the support of your tranquillity at home;
+your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very
+liberty which you so highly prize. But, as it is easy to foresee, that
+from different causes, and from different quarters, much pains will be
+taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the conviction
+of this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against
+which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most
+constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously)
+directed; it is of infinite moment, that you should properly estimate
+the immense value of your national union to your collective and
+individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and
+immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak
+of it as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity;
+watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing
+whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can, in any event, be
+abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every
+attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to
+enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens
+by birth, or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to
+concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to
+you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of
+patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local
+discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same
+religion, manners, habits, and political principles.&#8212;You have, in a
+common cause, fought and triumphed together; the independence and
+liberty you possess, are the work of joint counsels, and joint
+efforts, of common dangers, sufferings, and successes.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But these considerations, however powerfully they address themselves
+to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those which apply more
+immediately to your interest.&#8212;Here, every portion of our country
+finds the most commanding motives for carefully guarding and
+preserving the union of the whole.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The <i>north</i> in an unrestrained intercourse with the <i>south</i>,
+protected by the equal laws of a common government, finds in the
+productions of the latter, great additional resources of maritime and
+commercial enterprise, and precious materials of manufacturing
+industry.&#8212;The <i>south</i>, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the
+same agency of the <i>north</i>, sees its agriculture grow, and its
+commerce expand. Turning partly into its own channels the seamen of
+the <i>north</i>, it finds its particular navigation invigorated; and while
+it contributes, in different ways, to nourish and increase the general
+mass of the national navigation, it looks forward to the protection of
+a maritime strength, to which itself is unequally adapted. The <i>east</i>,
+in a like intercourse with the <i>west</i>, already finds, and in the
+progressive improvement of interior communications by land and water,
+will more and more find a valuable vent for the commodities which it
+brings from abroad, or manufactures at home. The <i>west</i> derives from
+the <i>east</i> supplies requisite to its growth and comfort&#8212;and what is
+perhaps of still greater consequence, it must of necessity owe the
+<i>secure</i> enjoyment of indispensable <i>outlets</i> for its own productions,
+to the weight, influence, and the future maritime strength of the
+Atlantic side of the union, directed by an indissoluble community of
+interest as <i>one nation</i>. Any other tenure by which the <i>west</i> can
+hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its own separate
+strength, or from an apostate and unnatural connexion with any foreign
+power, must be intrinsically precarious.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;While then every part of our country thus feels an immediate and
+particular interest in union, all the parts combined can not fail to
+find in the united mass of means and efforts, greater strength,
+greater resource, proportionably greater security from external
+danger, a less frequent interruption of their peace by foreign
+nations; and, what is of inestimable value, they must derive from
+union an exemption from those broils and wars between themselves,
+which so frequently afflict neighbouring countries not tied together
+by the same government; which their own rivalships alone would be
+sufficient to produce, but which, opposite foreign alliances,
+attachments, and intrigues, would stimulate and embitter.&#8212;Hence
+likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown military
+establishments, which under any form of government are inauspicious to
+liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to
+republican liberty. In this sense it is, that your union ought to be
+considered as a main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the
+one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting
+and virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of the union as a
+primary object of patriotic desire. Is there a doubt whether a common
+government can embrace so large a sphere? Let experience solve it. To
+listen to mere speculation in such a case were criminal. We are
+authorized to hope that a proper organization of the whole, with the
+auxiliary agency of governments for the respective subdivisions, will
+afford a happy issue to the experiment. It is well worth a fair and
+full experiment. With such powerful and obvious motives to union,
+affecting all parts of our country, while experience shall not have
+demonstrated its impracticability, there will always be reason to
+distrust the patriotism of those, who, in any quarter, may endeavour
+to weaken its bands.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In contemplating the causes which may disturb our union, it occurs as
+matter of serious concern, that any ground should have been
+furnished for characterizing parties by <i>geographical</i>
+discriminations,&#8212;<i>northern</i> and <i>southern</i>&#8212;<i>Atlantic</i> and <i>western</i>;
+whence designing men may endeavour to excite a belief that there is a
+real difference of local interests and views. One of the expedients of
+party to acquire influence within particular districts, is to
+misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts. You can not
+shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heart burnings
+which spring from these misrepresentations: they tend to render alien
+to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal
+affection. The inhabitants of our western country have lately had a
+useful lesson on this head: they have seen, in the negotiation by the
+executive, and in the unanimous ratification by the senate of the
+treaty with Spain, and in the universal satisfaction at the event
+throughout the United States, a decisive proof how unfounded were the
+suspicions propagated among them of a policy in the general government
+and in the Atlantic states, unfriendly to their interests in regard to
+the Mississippi. They have been witnesses to the formation of two
+treaties, that with Great Britain and that with Spain, which secure to
+them every thing they could desire, in respect to our foreign
+relations, towards confirming their prosperity. Will it not be their
+wisdom to rely for the preservation of these advantages on the union
+by which they were procured? will they not henceforth be deaf to those
+advisers, if such there are, who would sever them from their brethren,
+and connect them with aliens?</p>
+
+<p>&quot;To the efficacy and permanency of your union, a government for the
+whole is indispensable. No alliances, however strict, between the
+parts can be an adequate substitute; they must inevitably experience
+the infractions and interruptions which all alliances, in all times,
+have experienced. Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved
+upon your first essay, by the adoption of a constitution of government
+better calculated than your former for an intimate union, and for the
+efficacious management of your common concerns. This government, the
+offspring of our own choice uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full
+investigation and mature deliberation, completely free in its
+principles, in the distribution of its powers uniting security with
+energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own
+amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and your support.
+Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in
+its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true
+liberty. The basis of our political systems is the right of the people
+to make and to alter their constitutions of government.&#8212;But the
+constitution which at any time exists, until changed by an explicit
+and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon
+all. The very idea of the power and the right of the people to
+establish government, presupposes the duty of every individual to obey
+the established government.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and
+associations under whatever plausible character, with the real design
+to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberations and
+action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this
+fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency.&#8212;They serve to organize
+faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force, to put in
+the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of party, often
+a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and,
+according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the
+public administration the mirror of the ill concerted and incongruous
+projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome
+plans digested by common councils, and modified by mutual interests.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;However combinations or associations of the above description may now
+and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time
+and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and
+unprincipled men, will be enabled to subvert the power of the people,
+and to usurp for themselves the reins of government; destroying
+afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Towards the preservation of your government and the permanency of
+your present happy state, it is requisite, not only that you steadily
+discountenance irregular oppositions to its acknowledged authority,
+but also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its
+principles, however specious the pretext. One method of assault may be
+to effect, in the forms of the constitution, alterations which will
+impair the energy of the system; and thus to undermine what can not be
+directly overthrown. In all the changes to which you may be invited,
+remember that time and habit are at least as necessary to fix the true
+character of governments, as of other human institutions:&#8212;that
+experience is the surest standard by which to test the real tendency
+of the existing constitution of a country:&#8212;that facility in changes,
+upon the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion, exposes to perpetual
+change from the endless variety of hypothesis and opinion: and
+remember, especially, that for the efficient management of your common
+interests, in a country so extensive as ours, a government of as much
+vigour as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty is
+indispensable. Liberty itself will find in such a government, with
+powers properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. It is,
+indeed, little else than a name, where the government is too feeble to
+withstand the enterprises of faction, to confine each member of the
+society within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all
+in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and
+property.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the state,
+with particular references to the founding them on geographical
+discriminations. Let us now take a more comprehensive view, and warn
+you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the
+spirit of party generally.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having
+its root in the strongest passions of the human mind.&#8212;It exists under
+different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled,
+or repressed; but in those of the popular form, it is seen in its
+greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by
+the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, which, in different
+ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is
+itself a frightful despotism.&#8212;But this leads at length to a more
+formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which
+result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose
+in the absolute power of an individual; and, sooner or later, the
+chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his
+competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own
+elevation on the ruins of public liberty.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind, (which
+nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight,) the common and
+continual mischiefs of the spirit of party, are sufficient to make it
+the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It serves always to distract the public councils, and enfeeble the
+public administration. It agitates the community with ill founded
+jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against
+another; foments occasional riot and insurrection. It opens the door
+to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access
+to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus
+the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and
+will of another.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks
+upon the administration of the government, and serve to keep alive the
+spirit of liberty. This, within certain limits, is probably true; and,
+in governments of a monarchical cast, patriotism may look with
+indulgence, if not with favour, upon the spirit of party. But in those
+of the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a
+spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is
+certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary
+purpose. And there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought
+to be, by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire
+not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent it
+bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is important likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free
+country should inspire caution in those intrusted with its
+administration, to confine themselves within their respective
+constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one
+department, to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends
+to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to
+create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just
+estimate of that love of power and proneness to abuse it which
+predominate in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the
+truth of this position. The necessity of reciprocal checks in the
+exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into
+different depositories, and constituting each the guardian of the
+public weal against invasions of the others, has been evinced by
+experiments ancient and modern: some of them in our country, and under
+our own eyes.&#8212;To preserve them must be as necessary as to institute
+them. If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or
+modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong,
+let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the constitution
+designates.&#8212;But let there be no change by usurpation; for though
+this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the
+customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed. The
+precedent must always greatly overbalance in permanent evil, any
+partial or transient benefit which the use can at any time yield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political
+prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain
+would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labour to
+subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of
+the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the
+pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them.&#8212;A volume could not
+trace all their connexions with private and public felicity. Let it
+simply be asked, where is the security for property, for reputation,
+for life, if the sense of religious obligation <i>desert</i> the oaths
+which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And
+let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be
+maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence
+of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and
+experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can
+prevail in exclusion of religious principle.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary
+spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, extends with more or
+less force to every species of free government. Who that is a sincere
+friend to it can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the
+foundation of the fabric?</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for
+the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of
+a government gives force to public opinion, it should be enlightened.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public
+credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as
+possible, avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but
+remembering also, that timely disbursements, to prepare for danger,
+frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it; avoiding
+likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of
+expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of peace, to discharge the
+debts which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously
+throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear.
+The execution of these maxims belongs to your representatives, but it
+is necessary that public opinion should co-operate. To facilitate to
+them the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should
+practically bear in mind, that towards the payment of debts there must
+be revenue; that to have revenue, there must be taxes; that no taxes
+can be devised which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant;
+that the intrinsic embarrassment inseparable from the selection of the
+proper objects, (which is always a choice of difficulties,) ought to
+be a decisive motive for a candid construction of the conduct of the
+government in making it, and for a spirit of acquiescence in the
+measures for obtaining revenue, which the public exigencies may at any
+time dictate.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace
+and harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct; and
+can it be that good policy does not equally enjoin it? it will be
+worthy of a free, enlightened, and, at no distant period, a great
+nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a
+people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can
+doubt but, in the course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan
+would richly repay any temporary advantages which might be lost by a
+steady adherence to it; can it be that Providence has not connected
+the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue? the experiment, at
+least, is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles human nature.
+Alas! is it rendered impossible by its vices?</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that
+permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and
+passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in
+place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be
+cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another an habitual
+hatred, or an habitual fondness, is in some degree a slave. It is a
+slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is
+sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy
+in one nation against another, disposes each more readily to offer
+insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be
+haughty and intractable when accidental or trifling occasions of
+dispute occur. Hence, frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and
+bloody contests. The nation, prompted by ill will and resentment,
+sometimes impels to war the government, contrary to the best
+calculations of policy. The government sometimes participates in the
+national propensity, and adopts through passion what reason would
+reject; at other times, it makes the animosity of the nation
+subservient to projects of hostility, instigated by pride, ambition,
+and other sinister and pernicious motives.&#8212;The peace often, sometimes
+perhaps the liberty of nations has been the victim.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another
+produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favourite nation,
+facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases
+where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the
+enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the
+quarrels and wars of the latter, without adequate inducements or
+justification. It leads also to concessions to the favourite nation,
+of privileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure the
+nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what
+ought to have been retained; and by exciting jealousy, ill will, and a
+disposition to retaliate in the parties from whom equal privileges are
+withheld: and it gives to ambitious, corrupted or deluded citizens who
+devote themselves to the favourite nation, facility to betray or
+sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium, sometimes
+even with popularity; gilding with the appearances of a virtuous sense
+of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a
+laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish compliances of
+ambition, corruption, or infatuation.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments
+are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent
+patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic
+factions, to practise the arts of seduction, to mislead public
+opinion, to influence or awe the public councils!&#8212;such an attachment
+of a small or weak, towards a great and powerful nation dooms the
+former to be the satellite of the latter.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence, (I conjure you to
+believe me, fellow citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be
+<i>constantly</i> awake; since history and experience prove, that foreign
+influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government.
+But that jealousy, to be useful must be impartial; else it becomes the
+instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defence
+against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation, and excessive
+dislike for another, cause those whom they actuate to see danger only
+on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence
+on the other. Real patriots, who may resist the intrigues of the
+favourite, are liable to become suspected and odious; while its tools
+and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to
+surrender their interests.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is,
+in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little
+<i>political</i> connexion as possible. So far as we have already formed
+engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith.&#8212;Here, let
+us stop.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a
+very remote relation. Hence, she must be engaged in frequent
+controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our
+concerns.&#8212;Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate
+ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her
+politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her
+friendships or enmities.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a
+different course. If we remain one people, under an efficient
+government, the period is not far off when we may defy material injury
+from external annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will
+cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon, to be
+scrupulously respected; when belligerent nations under the
+impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard
+the giving us provocation; when we may choose peace or war, as our
+interest, guided by justice, shall counsel.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? why quit our
+own to stand upon foreign ground? why, by interweaving our destiny
+with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in
+the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humour, or
+caprice?</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any
+portion of the foreign world; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty
+to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing
+infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less
+applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always
+the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be
+observed in their genuine sense. But in my opinion, it is unnecessary,
+and would be unwise to extend them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable establishments, on
+a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary
+alliances for extraordinary emergencies.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Harmony, and a liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended
+by policy, humanity, and interest. But even our commercial policy
+should hold an equal and impartial hand; neither seeking nor granting
+exclusive favours or preferences; consulting the natural course of
+things; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams of
+commerce, but forcing nothing; establishing with powers so disposed,
+in order to give trade a stable course, to define the rights of our
+merchants, and to enable the government to support them, conventional
+rules of intercourse, the best that present circumstances and mutual
+opinion will permit, but temporary, and liable to be from time to time
+abandoned or varied as experience and circumstances shall dictate;
+constantly keeping in view, that it is folly in one nation to look for
+disinterested favours from another; that it must pay with a portion of
+its independence for whatever it may accept under that character; that
+by such acceptance, it may place itself in the condition of having
+given equivalents for nominal favours, and yet of being reproached
+with ingratitude for not giving more. There can be no greater error
+than to expect, or calculate upon real favours from nation to nation.
+It is an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought
+to discard.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and
+affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the strong and
+lasting impression I could wish; that they will control the usual
+current of the passions; or prevent our nation from running the course
+which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations; but if I may even
+flatter myself, that they may be productive of some partial benefit,
+some occasional good; that they may now and then recur to moderate the
+fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign
+intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism;
+this hope will be a full recompense for the solicitude for your
+welfare by which they have been dictated.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How far, in the discharge of my official duties, I have been guided
+by the principles which have been delineated, the public records and
+other evidences of my conduct must witness to you and to the world. To
+myself, the assurance of my own conscience is, that I have, at least,
+believed myself to be guided by them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my proclamation of
+the 22d of April, 1793, is the index to my plan. Sanctioned by your
+approving voice, and by that of your representatives in both houses of
+congress; the spirit of that measure has continually governed me;
+uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;After deliberate examination, with the aid of the best lights I could
+obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, under all the
+circumstances of the case, had a right to take, and was bound, in duty
+and interest, to take a neutral position.&#8212;Having taken it, I
+determined, as far as should depend upon me, to maintain it with
+moderation, perseverance, and firmness.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The considerations which respect the right to hold this conduct, it
+is not necessary on this occasion to detail.&#8212;I will only observe
+that, according to my understanding of the matter, that right, so far
+from being denied by any of the belligerent powers, has been virtually
+admitted by all.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without
+anything more, from the obligation which justice and humanity impose
+on every nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain
+inviolate the relations of peace and amity towards other nations.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The inducements of interest for observing that conduct will best be
+referred to your own reflections and experience. With me, a
+predominant motive has been to endeavour to gain time to our country
+to settle and mature its yet recent institutions, and to progress,
+without interruption, to that degree of strength and consistency which
+is necessary to give it, humanly speaking, the command of its own
+fortunes.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Though in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am
+unconscious of intentional error; I am nevertheless too sensible of my
+defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many
+errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to
+avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry
+with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with
+indulgence; and that, after forty-five years of my life dedicated to
+its service, with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities
+will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions
+of rest.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and actuated by
+that fervent love towards it, which is so natural to a man who views
+in it the native soil of himself and his progenitors for several
+generations; I anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat in
+which I promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment
+of partaking, in the midst of my fellow citizens, the benign influence
+of good laws under a free government&#8212;the ever favourite object of my
+heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labours,
+and dangers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The sentiments of veneration with which this address was generally
+received, were manifested in almost every part of the union. Some of
+the state legislatures directed it to be inserted at large in their
+journals; and nearly all of them passed resolutions expressing their
+respect for the person of the President, their high sense of his
+exalted services, and the emotions with which they contemplated his
+retirement from office. Although the leaders of party might rejoice at
+this event it produced solemn and anxious reflections in the great
+body even of those who belonged to the opposition.</p>
+
+<p>The person in whom alone the voice of the people could be united
+having declined a re-election, the two great parties in America
+brought forward their respective chiefs; and every possible effort was
+made by each, to obtain the victory. Mr. John Adams and Mr. Thomas
+Pinckney, the late minister at London, were supported as President and
+Vice President by the federalists: the whole force of the opposite
+party was exerted in favour of Mr. Jefferson.</p>
+
+<p>Motives of vast influence were added, on this occasion, to those which
+usually impel men in a struggle to retain or acquire power. The
+continuance or the change not only of those principles on which the
+internal affairs of the United States had been administered, but of
+the conduct which had been observed towards foreign nations, was
+believed to depend on the choice of a chief magistrate. By one party,
+the system pursued by the existing administration with regard to the
+belligerent powers, had been uniformly approved; by the other, it had
+been as uniformly condemned. In the contests therefore which preceded
+the choice of electors, the justice of the complaints which were made
+on the part of the French republic were minutely discussed, and the
+consequences which were to be apprehended from her resentment, or from
+yielding to her pretensions, were reciprocally urged as considerations
+entitled to great weight in the ensuing election.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The minister of France endeavors to influence the
+approaching election.</div>
+
+<p>In such a struggle, it was not to be expected that foreign powers
+could feel absolutely unconcerned. In November, while the parties were
+so balanced that neither scale could be perceived to preponderate, Mr.
+Adet addressed a letter to the secretary of state, in which he
+recapitulated the numerous complaints which had been urged by himself
+and his predecessors, against the government of the United States; and
+reproached that government, in terms of great asperity, with violating
+those treaties which had secured its independence, with ingratitude to
+France, and with partiality to England. These wrongs, which commenced
+with the &quot;<i>insidious</i>&quot; proclamation of neutrality, were said to be so
+aggravated by the treaty concluded with Great Britain, that Mr. Adet
+announced the orders of the Directory to suspend his ministerial
+functions with the federal government. &quot;But the cause,&quot; he added,
+&quot;which had so long restrained the just resentment of the executive
+Directory from bursting forth, now tempered its effects. The name of
+America, notwithstanding the wrongs of its government, still excited
+sweet emotions in the hearts of Frenchmen; and the executive Directory
+wished not to break with a people whom they loved to salute with the
+appellation of a friend.&quot; This suspension of his functions therefore
+was not to be regarded &quot;as a rupture between France and the United
+States, but as a mark of just discontent which was to last until the
+government of the United States returned to sentiments and to measure
+more conformable to the interests of the alliance, and to the sworn
+friendship between the two nations.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This letter was concluded in the following terms:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Alas! Time has not yet demolished the fortifications with which the
+English roughened this country&#8212;nor those the Americans raised for
+their defence; their half rounded summits still appear in every
+quarter, amidst plains, on the tops of mountains. The traveller need
+not search for the ditch which served to encompass them; it is still
+open under his feet. Scattered ruins of houses laid waste, which the
+fire had partly respected, in order to leave monuments of British
+fury, are still to be found.&#8212;Men still exist, who can say, here a
+ferocious Englishman slaughtered my father; there my wife tore her
+bleeding daughter from the hands of an unbridled Englishman.&#8212;Alas!
+the soldiers who fell under the sword of the Britons are not yet
+reduced to dust: the labourer in turning up his field, still draws
+from the bosom of the earth their whitened bones; while the ploughman,
+with tears of tenderness and gratitude, still recollects that his
+fields, now covered with rich harvests, have been moistened with
+French blood. While every thing around the inhabitants of this country
+animates them to speak of the tyranny of Great Britain, and of the
+generosity of Frenchmen; when England has declared a war of death to
+that nation, to avenge herself for its having cemented with its blood
+the independence of the United States:&#8212;It was at this moment their
+government made a treaty of amity with their ancient tyrant, the
+implacable enemy of their ancient ally. Oh Americans covered with
+noble scars! Oh you who have so often flown to death and to victory
+with French soldiers! You who know those generous sentiments which
+distinguish the true warrior! whose hearts have always vibrated with
+those of your companions in arms! consult them to-day to know what
+they experience; recollect at the same time, that if magnanimous souls
+with liveliness resent an affront, they also know how to forget one.
+Let your government return to itself, and you will still find in
+Frenchmen faithful friends and generous allies.&quot;</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center">&#160;</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a name="image06">
+<img src="images/308.jpg" width="480" height="342" alt="Martha Washington's Bedroom" /></a></p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center"><b>Martha Washington's Bedroom at Mount Vernon</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p><i>Returning to their beloved Mount Vernon with General Washington after
+his retirement, in 1796, as First President of the United States,
+Martha Washington seldom spent a night away from the historic mansion
+overlooking the Potomac. There she continued to offer a gracious
+hospitality to the many visitors attracted by her distinguished
+husband. She never recovered from his death in 1799, and dwelt in deep
+mourning until she followed him, May 22, 1802. Her remains rest with
+those of Washington in the vault at Mount Vernon.</i></p>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#160;</p>
+
+<p>As if to remove all doubts respecting the purpose for which this
+extraordinary letter was written, a copy was, on the day of its date,
+transmitted to a printer for publication.</p>
+
+<p>Whatever motives might have impelled Mr. Adet to make this open and
+direct appeal to the American people, in the critical moment of their
+election of a chief magistrate, it does not appear, in any material
+degree, to have influenced that election. Many reflecting men, who had
+condemned the course of the administration, could not approve this
+interference in the internal affairs of the United States; and the
+opposite party, generally, resented it as an attempt to control the
+operations of the American people in the exercise of one of the
+highest acts of sovereignty, and to poison the fountain of their
+liberty and independence, by mingling foreign intrigue with their
+elections. Viewing it as a fulfilment of their most gloomy prognostics
+respecting the designs of France to establish an influence in the
+councils of America, they believed the best interests of their country
+to require that it should be defeated; and their exertions against the
+candidate Mr. Adet was understood to favour, were the more determined
+and the more vigorous.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The president's speech to congress.</div>
+
+<p>On the 7th of December, while this dubious and ardently contested
+election was depending, the President, for the last time, met the
+national legislature in the senate chamber. His address on the
+occasion was comprehensive, temperate, and dignified. In presenting a
+full and clear view of the situation of the United States, and in
+recommending those great national measures, in the utility of which he
+felt a confidence, no personal considerations could induce the
+omission of those, to which open and extensive hostility had been
+avowed.</p>
+
+<p>After congratulating congress on the internal situation of the United
+States, and on the progress of that humane system which had been
+adopted for the preservation of peace with their Indian neighbours;
+after stating the measures which had been taken in execution of the
+treaties with Great Britain, Spain, and Algiers, and the negotiations
+which were pending with Tunis and Tripoli; he proceeded to say:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;To an active external commerce, the protection of a naval force is
+indispensable&#8212;this is manifest with regard to wars in which a state
+is itself a party&#8212;but besides this, it is in our own experience, that
+the most sincere neutrality is not a sufficient guard against the
+depredations of nations at war. To secure respect to a neutral flag,
+requires a naval force, organized and ready to vindicate it from
+insult or aggression&#8212;this may even prevent the necessity of going to
+war, by discouraging belligerent powers from committing such
+violations of the rights of the neutral party, as may first or last,
+leave no other option. From the best information I have been able to
+obtain, it would seem as if our trade to the Mediterranean, without a
+protecting force, will always be insecure; and our citizens exposed to
+the calamities from which numbers of them have but just been relieved.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;These considerations invite the United States to look to the means,
+and to set about the gradual creation of a navy. The increasing
+progress of their navigation promises them, at no distant period, the
+requisite supply of seamen; and their means, in other respects, favour
+the undertaking. It is an encouragement likewise, that their
+particular situation will give weight, and influence, to a moderate
+naval force in their hands. Will it not then be adviseable, to begin
+without delay, to provide and lay up the materials for the building
+and equipping of ships of war; and to proceed in the work by degrees,
+in proportion as our resources shall render it practicable, without
+inconvenience; so that a future war of Europe may not find our
+commerce in the same unprotected state, in which it was found by the
+present?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The speech next proceeded earnestly to recommend the establishment of
+national works for manufacturing such articles as were necessary for
+the defence of the country; and also of an institution which should
+grow up under the patronage of the public, and be devoted to the
+improvement of agriculture. The advantages of a military academy,<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a>
+and of a national university, were also urged; and the necessity of
+augmenting the compensations to the officers of the United States, in
+various instances, was explicitly stated.</p>
+
+<p>Adverting to the dissatisfaction which had been expressed by one of
+the great powers of Europe, the President said, &quot;while in our external
+relations some serious inconveniences and embarrassments have been
+overcome, and others lessened, it is with much pain and deep regret I
+mention, that circumstances of a very unwelcome nature have lately
+occurred. Our trade has suffered, and is suffering extensive injuries
+in the West Indies from the cruisers and agents of the French
+republic; and communications have been received from its minister
+here, which indicate the danger of a further disturbance of our
+commerce by its authority; and which are, in other respects, far from
+agreeable.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It has been my constant, sincere and earnest wish, in conformity with
+that of our nation, to maintain cordial harmony, and a perfectly
+friendly understanding with that republic. This wish remains unabated;
+and I shall persevere in the endeavour to fulfil it to the utmost
+extent of what shall be consistent with a just and indispensable
+regard to the rights and honour of our country; nor will I easily
+cease to cherish the expectation, that a spirit of justice, candour
+and friendship, on the part of the republic, will eventually ensure
+success.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In pursuing this course, however, I can not forget what is due to the
+character of our government and nation; or to a full and entire
+confidence in the good sense, patriotism, self-respect, and fortitude
+of my countrymen.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reserve for a special message, a more particular communication on
+this interesting subject.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The flourishing state of the revenue, the expectation that the system
+for the gradual extinction of the national debt would be completed at
+this session, the anxiety which he felt respecting the militia, were
+successively mentioned, and the speech was concluded in the following
+terms:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The situation in which I now stand, for the last time, in the midst
+of the representatives of the people of the United States, naturally
+recalls the period when the administration of the present form of
+government commenced; and I can not omit the occasion to congratulate
+you, and my country, on the success of the experiment; nor to repeat
+my fervent supplications to the Supreme Ruler of the universe, and
+sovereign arbiter of nations, that his providential care may still be
+extended to the United States;&#8212;that the virtue and happiness of the
+people may be preserved; and that the government, which they have
+instituted for the protection of their liberties, may be perpetual.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The answer of the senate embraced the various topics of the speech,
+and approved every sentiment it contained.</p>
+
+<p>To a review of the prosperous situation of the interior of the United
+States, the senate subjoined&#8212;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Whilst contemplating the causes that produce this auspicious result,
+we must acknowledge the excellence of the constitutional system, and
+the wisdom of the legislative provisions;&#8212;but we should be deficient
+in gratitude and justice, did we not attribute a great portion of
+these advantages, to the virtue, firmness, and talents of your
+administration; which have been conspicuously displayed, in the most
+trying times, and on the most critical occasions&#8212;it is therefore,
+with the sincerest regrets, that we now receive an official
+notification of your intentions to retire from the public employments
+of your country.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When we review the various scenes of your public life, so long and so
+successfully devoted to the most arduous services, civil and military;
+as well during the struggles of the American revolution, as the
+convulsive periods of a recent date, we can not look forward to your
+retirement without our warmest affections, and most anxious regards,
+accompanying you; and without mingling with our fellow citizens at
+large, in the sincerest wishes for your personal happiness, that
+sensibility and attachment can express.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The most effectual consolation that can offer for the loss we are
+about to sustain, arises from the animating reflection, that the
+influence of your example will extend to your successors, and the
+United States thus continue to enjoy an able, upright, and energetic
+administration.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In the house of representatives, a committee of five had been
+appointed to prepare a respectful answer to the speech, three of whom
+were friends to the administration. Knowing well that the several
+propositions it contained could not be noticed in detail, without
+occasioning a debate in which sentiments opposed to those of the
+address would be expressed, probably by a majority of the house; and
+hoping that the disposition would be general to avow in strong terms
+their attachment to the person and character of the President, the
+committee united in reporting an answer, which, in general terms,
+promised due attention to the various subjects recommended to their
+consideration, but was full and explicit in the expression of
+attachment to himself, and of approbation of his administration.</p>
+
+<p>But the unanimity which prevailed in the committee did not extend to
+the house.</p>
+
+<p>After amplifying and strengthening the expressions of the report which
+stated the regrets of the house that any interruption should have
+taken place in the harmony which had subsisted between the United
+States and France, and modifying those which declared their hopes in
+the restoration of that affection which had formerly subsisted between
+the two republics, so as to avoid any implication that the rupture of
+that affection was exclusively ascribable to France, a motion was made
+by Mr. Giles to expunge from the answer the following paragraphs.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When we advert to the internal situation of the United States, we
+deem it equally natural and becoming to compare the present period
+with that immediately antecedent to the operation of the government,
+and to contrast it with the calamities in which the state of war still
+involves several of the European nations, as the reflections deduced
+from both tend to justify, as well as to excite a warmer admiration of
+our free constitution, and to exalt our minds to a more fervent and
+grateful sense of piety towards Almighty God for the beneficence of
+his Providence, by which its administration has been hitherto so
+remarkably distinguished.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And while we entertain a grateful conviction that your wise, firm,
+and patriotic administration has been signally conducive to the
+success of the present form of government, we can not forbear to
+express the deep sensations of regret with which we contemplate your
+intended retirement from office.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As no other suitable occasion may occur, we can not suffer the
+present to pass without attempting to disclose some of the emotions
+which it can not fail to awaken.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The gratitude and admiration of your countrymen are still drawn to
+the recollection of those resplendent virtues and talents which were
+so eminently instrumental to the achievement of the revolution, and of
+which that glorious event will ever be the memorial. Your obedience to
+the voice of duty and your country, when you quitted reluctantly, a
+second time, the retreat you had chosen, and first accepted the
+presidency, afforded a new proof of the devotedness of your zeal in
+its service, and an earnest of the patriotism and success which have
+characterized your administration. As the grateful confidence of the
+citizens in the virtues of their chief magistrate has essentially
+contributed to that success, we persuade ourselves that the millions
+whom we represent, participate with us in the anxious solicitude of
+the present occasion.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yet we can not be unmindful that your moderation and magnanimity,
+twice displayed by retiring from your exalted stations, afford
+examples no less rare and instructive to mankind than valuable to a
+republic.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Although we are sensible that this event, of itself, completes the
+lustre of a character already conspicuously unrivalled by the
+coincidence of virtue, talents, success, and public estimation; yet we
+conceive we owe it to you, sir, and still more emphatically to
+ourselves and to our nation, (of the language of whose hearts we
+presume to think ourselves, at this moment, the faithful interpreters)
+to express the sentiments with which it is contemplated.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The spectacle of a free and enlightened nation offering by its
+representatives the tribute of unfeigned approbation to its first
+citizen, however novel and interesting it may be, derives all its
+lustre (a lustre which accident or enthusiasm could not bestow, and
+which adulation would tarnish) from the transcendent merit, of which
+it is the voluntary testimony.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;May you long enjoy that liberty which is so dear to you, and to which
+your name will ever be so dear; may your own virtue and a nation's
+prayers obtain the happiest sunshine for the decline of your days, and
+the choicest of future blessings. For our country's sake; for the sake
+of republican liberty, it is our earnest wish that your example may be
+the guide of your successors; and thus, after being the ornament and
+safeguard of the present age, become the patrimony of our
+descendants.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In support of this motion, after urging the indelicacy of exulting
+over the misfortunes of others by contrasting our happiness with their
+misery, Mr. Giles said, that with respect to the wisdom<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> and
+firmness of the President, he differed in opinion from the answer; and
+though he might be singular, yet it being his opinion, he should not
+be afraid to avow it. He had not that grateful conviction there
+mentioned, and if he were to come there and express it, he should
+prove an inconsistent character. He should not go into a lengthy
+discussion on this point, but if they turned their eyes to our foreign
+relations, there would be found no reason to exult in the wisdom and
+firmness of the administration. He believed, on the contrary, that it
+was from a want of wisdom and firmness that we were brought into our
+present critical situation. If gentlemen had been satisfied with
+expressing their esteem of the patriotism and virtue of the President,
+they might have got a unanimous vote; but they could not suppose that
+gentlemen would so far forget self-respect as to join in the proposed
+adulation.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Giles said he was one of those citizens who did not regret the
+President's retiring from office. He hoped he would retire to his
+country seat and enjoy all the happiness he could wish; and he
+believed he would enjoy more there than in his present situation. He
+believed the government of the United States would go on without him.
+The people were competent to their own government. What calamities
+would attend the United States if one man alone was essential to their
+government! He believed there were a thousand men in the United States
+who were capable of filling the presidential chair as well as it had
+been filled heretofore. And although a clamour had been raised in all
+parts of the United States, more or less, from apprehensions on the
+departure of the President from office, yet, not feeling these
+apprehensions himself, he was perfectly easy on the occasion. He
+wished the President as much happiness as any man; and hoping he would
+retire, he could not express any regrets at the event. And it would be
+extraordinary, if gentlemen whose names in the yeas and nays are found
+in opposition to certain prominent measures of the administration,
+should now come forward and approve those measures. This could not be
+expected. He, for his part, retained the same opinions he had always
+done with respect to those measures, nor should any influence under
+heaven prevent him from expressing that opinion&#8212;an opinion in which
+he was confident, ere long, all America would concur.<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a></p>
+
+<p>This motion was opposed with great earnestness by the party which had
+supported the administration. The advantages which had resulted from
+the constitution were said to be too obvious to be controverted; and
+it was maintained that a comparison of the present situation of the
+United States with its condition anterior to the adoption of that
+instrument, or with the condition of foreign powers, was natural and
+proper. This comparison was made not for the purposes of exultation,
+but of exciting just sentiments respecting their own conduct.</p>
+
+<p>In reply to the observations respecting the President, it was said,
+that the whole course of his administration had demonstrated the
+correctness with which the terms &quot;wisdom and firmness&quot; were applied to
+it. Particular circumstances were stated in which these qualities had
+been pre-eminently displayed; but the general impression which facts
+had made on the public mind was considered as dispensing with the
+necessity of stating the particular facts themselves.</p>
+
+<p>It might be true, they said, that there were many others who could
+fill with propriety and advantage the presidential chair, but no man
+could fill it who possessed, in an equal degree, the confidence of the
+people. The possession of this confidence enabled the chief magistrate
+to perform the duties of his office in a manner greatly conducive to
+the interests of the nation, and the loss of so valuable a public
+servant was certainly just cause of regret. With this sentiment, the
+feelings of the community fully accorded. In every part of the United
+States, the declarations of their constituents attested the regrets
+with which this event was contemplated by them. Those gentlemen who
+did not participate in these feelings would have an opportunity to
+record their names with their opinions. But those who did participate
+in them ought not to be restrained from expressing them.</p>
+
+<p>The motion to strike out was lost; after which the words &quot;the
+spectacle of a whole nation, the freest and most enlightened in the
+world,&quot; were amended, so as to read, &quot;the spectacle of a free and
+enlightened nation,&quot; and the answer was carried by a great majority.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenotey">1797</div>
+
+<p>Early in the session, the President communicated to congress in a
+special message, the complaints alleged by the representative of the
+French republic against the government of the United States. These
+complaints embracing most of the transactions of the legislative and
+executive departments, in relation to the belligerent powers, a
+particular and careful review of almost every act of the
+administration, which could affect those powers, became indispensable.
+The principal object for the mission of General Pinckney to Paris,
+having been to make full and fair explanations of the principles and
+conduct of the American government, this review was addressed to that
+minister. It presented a minute and comprehensive detail of all the
+points of controversy which had arisen between the two nations; and
+defended the measures which had been adopted in America, with a
+clearness, and a strength of argument, believed to be irresistible. To
+place the subject in a point of view, admitting of no possible
+misunderstanding, the secretary of state had annexed to his own full
+and demonstrative reasoning, documents, establishing the real fact in
+each particular case, and the correspondence relating to it.</p>
+
+<p>This letter, with its accompanying documents, was laid before
+congress.</p>
+
+<p>Those who read these valuable papers will not be surprised, that the
+President should have relied upon their efficacy in removing from the
+government of France, all impressions unfavourable to the fairness of
+intention which had influenced the conduct of the United States; and
+in effacing from the bosoms of the great body of the American people,
+all those unjust and injurious suspicions which had been entertained
+against their own administration. Should their immediate operation on
+the executive of France disappoint his hopes, he persuaded himself
+that he could not mistake their influence in America; and he felt the
+most entire conviction that the accusations against the United States
+would cease, with the evidence that those accusations were
+countenanced and supported by a great portion of the American people.</p>
+
+<p>These documents were communicated to the public; but, unfortunately,
+their effect at home was not such as had been expected, and they were
+consequently inoperative abroad. The fury of political controversy
+seemed to sustain no diminution; and the American character continued
+to be degraded by reciprocal criminations, which the two great parties
+made upon each other, of being under a British, and a French
+influence.</p>
+
+<p>The measures particularly recommended by the President in his speech,
+at the opening of the session, were not adopted; and neither the
+debates in Congress, nor the party publications with which the nation
+continued to be agitated, furnished reasonable ground for the hope,
+that the political intemperance which had prevailed from the
+establishment of the republican form of government in France, was
+about to be succeeded by a more conciliatory spirit.</p>
+
+<p><a name="p326">The</a> President contemplated with a degree of pleasure<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> seldom felt
+at the resignation of power, his approaching retirement to the
+delightful scenes of domestic and rural life.</p>
+
+<p>It was impossible to be absolutely insensible to the bitter
+invectives, and malignant calumnies of which he had long been the
+object. Yet in one instance only, did he depart from the rule he had
+prescribed for his conduct regarding them. Apprehending permanent
+injury from the republication of certain spurious letters which have
+been already noticed, he, on the day which terminated his official
+character, addressed to the secretary of state the following letter.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">He denies the authenticity of certain spurious letters
+published as his in 1776.</div>
+
+<p>&quot;Dear Sir,</p>
+
+<p>&quot;At the conclusion of my public employments, I have thought it
+expedient to notice the publication of certain forged letters which
+first appeared in the year 1777, and were obtruded upon the public as
+mine. They are said by the editor to have been found in a small
+portmanteau that I had left in the care of my mulatto servant named
+Billy, who, it is pretended, was taken prisoner at Fort Lee, in 1776.
+The period when these letters were first printed will be recollected,
+and what were the impressions they were intended to produce on the
+public mind. It was then supposed to be of some consequence to strike
+at the integrity of the motives of the American Commander-in-chief,
+and to paint his inclinations as at variance with his professions and
+his duty&#8212;another crisis in the affairs of America having occurred,
+the same weapon has been resorted to, to wound my character and
+deceive the people.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The letters in question have the dates, addresses, and signatures
+here following:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: right">New York, June 12th, 1776.</p>
+
+<p>To Mr. Lund Washington, at Mount Vernon, Fairfax county,
+Virginia.</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: right">G.W.</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: right">June 18th, 1776.</p>
+
+<p>To John Parke Custis, Esqr., at the Hon Benedict Calvert's
+Esqr., Mount Airy, Maryland.</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: right">G.W.</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: right">New York, July 8th, 1776.</p>
+
+<p>To Mr. Lund Washington, Mount Vernon, Fairfax county,
+Virginia.</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: right">G.W.</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: right">New York, July 16th, 1776.</p>
+
+<p>To Mr. Lund Washington.</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: right">G.W.</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: right">New York, July 15th, 1776.</p>
+
+<p>To Mr. Lund Washington.</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: right">G.W.</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: right">New York, July 22d, 1776.</p>
+
+<p>To Mr. Lund Washington.</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: right">G.W.</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: right">June 24th, 1776.</p>
+
+<p>To Mrs. Washington.</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: right">G.W.</p></div>
+
+<p>&quot;At the time when these letters first appeared, it was notorious to
+the army immediately under my command, and particularly to the
+gentlemen attached to my person, that my mulatto man Billy had never
+been one moment in the power of the enemy. It is also a fact that no
+part of my baggage, or any of my attendants, were captured during the
+whole course of the war. These well known facts made it unnecessary,
+during the war, to call the public attention to the forgery by any
+express declaration of mine; and a firm reliance on my fellow
+citizens, and the abundant proofs they gave of their confidence in me,
+rendered it alike unnecessary to take any formal notice of the revival
+of the imposition, during my civil administration. But as I can not
+know how soon a more serious event may succeed to that which will this
+day take place, I have thought it a duty that I owed to myself, to my
+country, and to truth, now to detail the circumstances above recited,
+and to add my solemn declaration that the letters herein described are
+a base forgery, and that I never saw or heard of them until they
+appeared in print. The present letter I commit to your care, and
+desire it may be deposited in the office of the department of state,
+as a testimony of the truth to the present generation and to
+posterity. Accept, &amp;c. &amp;c.&quot;</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">John Adams elected president, and Thomas Jefferson vice
+president.</div>
+
+<p>In February, the votes for the first and second magistrates of the
+union were opened and counted in presence of both houses; and the
+highest number appearing in favour of Mr. Adams, and the second in
+favour of Mr. Jefferson, the first was declared to be the President,
+and the second the Vice President, of the United States, for four
+years to commence on the fourth day of the ensuing March.</p>
+
+<p>On that day, the members of the senate, conducted by the Vice
+President, together with the officers of the general and state
+governments, and an immense concourse of citizens, convened in the
+hall of the house of representatives, in which the oaths were
+administered to the President.</p>
+
+<p><a name="p329">The</a> sensibility which was manifested when General Washington entered,
+did not surpass the cheerfulness which overspread his own countenance,
+nor the heartfelt pleasure with which he saw another invested with the
+powers that had so long been exercised by himself.<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">General Washington retires to Mount Vernon.</div>
+
+<p><a name="p330">After</a> the solemnities of the occasion had been concluded, and he had
+paid to his successor those respectful compliments which he believed
+to be equally due to the man and to the office, he hastened<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> to
+that real felicity which awaited him at Mount Vernon, the enjoyment of
+which he had long impatiently anticipated.</p>
+
+<p>The same marks of respect and affection for his person, which had on
+all great occasions been manifested by his fellow citizens, still
+attended him. His endeavours to render his journey private were
+unavailing; and the gentlemen of the country through which he passed,
+were still ambitious of testifying their sentiments for the man who
+had, from the birth of the republic, been deemed the first of American
+citizens. Long after his retirement, he continued to receive addresses
+from legislative bodies, and various classes of citizens, expressive
+of the high sense entertained of his services.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the extraordinary popularity of the first President of
+the United States, scarcely has any important act of his
+administration escaped the most bitter invective.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Political situation of the United States at this period.</div>
+
+<p>On the real wisdom of the system which he pursued, every reader will
+decide for himself. Time will, in some measure, dissipate the
+prejudices and passions of the moment, and enable us to view objects
+through a medium which represents them truly.</p>
+
+<p>Without taking a full review of measures which were reprobated by one
+party and applauded by the other, the reader may be requested to
+glance his eye at the situation of the United States in 1797, and to
+contrast it with their condition in 1788.</p>
+
+<p>At home, a sound credit had been created; an immense floating debt had
+been funded in a manner perfectly satisfactory to the creditors: an
+ample revenue had been provided; those difficulties which a system of
+internal taxation, on its first introduction, is doomed to encounter,
+were completely removed; and the authority of the government was
+firmly established. Funds for the gradual payment of the debt had been
+provided; a considerable part of it had been actually discharged; and
+that system which is now operating its entire extinction, had been
+matured and adopted. The agricultural and commercial wealth of the
+nation had increased beyond all former example. The numerous tribes of
+warlike Indians, inhabiting those immense tracts which lie between the
+then cultivated country and the Mississippi, had been taught, by arms
+and by justice, to respect the United States, and to continue in
+peace. This desirable object having been accomplished, that humane
+system was established for civilizing, and furnishing them with the
+conveniences of life which improves their condition, while it secures
+their attachment.</p>
+
+<p>Abroad, the differences with Spain had been accommodated; and the free
+navigation of the Mississippi had been acquired, with the use of New
+Orleans as a place of deposit for three years, and afterwards, until
+some other equivalent place should be designated. Those causes of
+mutual exasperation which had threatened to involve the United States
+in a war with the greatest maritime and commercial power in the world,
+had been removed; and the military posts which had been occupied
+within their territory, from their existence as a nation, had been
+evacuated. Treaties had been formed with Algiers and with Tripoli, and
+no captures appear to have been made by Tunis; so that the
+Mediterranean was opened to American vessels.</p>
+
+<p>This bright prospect was indeed, in part, shaded by the discontents of
+France. Those who have attended to the particular points of difference
+between the two nations, will assign the causes to which these
+discontents are to be ascribed, and will judge whether it was in the
+power of the President to have avoided them, without surrendering the
+real independence of the nation, and the most invaluable of all rights
+&#8212;the right of self-government.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the situation of the United States at the close of
+Washington's administration. Their circumstances at its commencement
+will be recollected; and the contrast is too striking not to be
+observed.</p>
+
+<p>That this beneficial change in the affairs of America is to be
+ascribed exclusively to the wisdom which guided the national councils
+will not be pretended. That many of the causes which produced it
+originated with the government, and that their successful operation
+was facilitated, if not secured, by the system which was adopted, will
+scarcely be denied. To estimate that system correctly, their real
+influence must be allowed to those strong prejudices, and turbulent
+passions, with which it was assailed.</p>
+
+<p>Accustomed in the early part of his life to agricultural pursuits, and
+possessing a real taste for them, General Washington was particularly
+well qualified to enjoy, in retirement, that tranquil felicity which
+he had anticipated. Resuming former habits, and returning to ancient
+and well known employments, he was familiar with his new situation,
+and therefore exempt from the danger of that disappointment which is
+the common lot of those who, in old age, retire from the toils of
+business, or the cares of office, to the untried pleasures of the
+country. A large estate, which exhibited many proofs of having been
+long deprived of the attentions of its proprietor, in the management
+and improvement of which he engaged with ardour, an extensive
+correspondence, and the society of men and books, gave employment to
+every hour which was equally innocent and interesting, and furnished
+ground for the hope that the evening of a life which had been devoted
+to the public service, would be as serene, as its mid-day had been
+brilliant.</p>
+
+<p>Though devoted to these occupations, an absolute indifference to
+public affairs would have been incompatible with that love of country
+which had influenced all his conduct. Feeling strong impressions in
+favour of that system, with regard to foreign powers, which had been
+adopted by himself, and which was faithfully pursued by his successor,
+he could not be inattentive to the immense, and continued exertions,
+made by a powerful party to overturn it. Yet for a time, he sought to
+abstract himself from these political contests, and to diminish the
+interest which his feelings impelled him to take in them. His letters
+abound in paragraphs not unlike the following. &quot;I have confidence
+however in that Providence which has shielded the United States from
+the evils that have hitherto threatened them; and, as I believe the
+major part of the people of this country to be well affected to its
+constitution and government, I rest satisfied that, should a crisis
+ever arise to call forth the sense of the community, it will be strong
+in support of the honour and dignity of the nation. Therefore, however
+much I regret the opposition which has for its object the
+embarrassment of the administration, I shall view things in the 'calm
+light of mild philosophy,' and endeavour to finish my course in
+retirement and ease.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But the designs of France were soon manifested in a form which, to the
+veteran soldier and statesman of Mount Vernon, appeared to be too
+dangerous as well as unequivocal, to admit the preservation of this
+equanimity.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The French government refuses to receive General Pinckney
+as minister.</div>
+
+<p>In the executive of that republic, General Pinckney encountered
+dispositions of a very different character from that amicable and
+conciliatory temper which had dictated his mission. After inspecting
+his letter of credence, the Directory announced to him their haughty
+determination &quot;not to receive another minister plenipotentiary from
+the United States, until after the redress of grievances demanded of
+the American government, which the French republic had a right to
+expect from it.&quot; This message was succeeded, first by indecorous
+verbal communications, calculated to force the American minister out
+of France, and afterwards, by a written mandate to quit the
+territories of the republic.</p>
+
+<p>This act of hostility was accompanied with another which would explain
+the motives for this conduct, if previous measures had not rendered
+all further explanation unnecessary.</p>
+
+<p>On giving to the recalled minister his audience of leave, the
+president of the directory addressed a speech to him, in which terms
+of outrage to the government, were mingled with expressions of
+affection for the people of the United States; and the expectation of
+ruling the former, by their influence over the latter, was too clearly
+manifested not to be understood. To complete this system of hostility,
+American vessels were captured wherever found; and, under the pretext
+of their wanting a document, with which the treaty of commerce had
+been uniformly understood to dispense, they were condemned as prize.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Congress is convened.<br />President's speech.</div>
+
+<p>This serious state of things demanded a solemn consideration. On
+receiving from General Pinckney the despatches which communicated it,
+the President issued his proclamation requiring congress to meet on
+the 15th day of June. The firm and dignified speech delivered by the
+chief magistrate at the commencement of the session, exhibited that
+sensibility which a high minded and real American might be expected to
+feel, while representing to the national legislature the great and
+unprovoked outrages of a foreign government. Adverting to the audience
+of leave given by the executive Directory to Colonel Monroe, he said,
+&quot;the speech of the President discloses sentiments more alarming than
+the refusal of a minister, because more dangerous to our independence
+and union; and, at the same time, studiously marked with indignities
+towards the government of the United States. It evinces a disposition
+to separate the people from their government; to persuade them that
+they have different affections, principles, and interests from those
+of their fellow citizens whom they themselves have chosen to manage
+their common concerns; and thus to produce divisions fatal to our
+peace. Such attempts ought to be repelled with a decision which shall
+convince France, and the world, that we are not a degraded people,
+humiliated under a colonial spirit of fear, and sense of inferiority,
+fitted to be the miserable instruments of foreign influence, and
+regardless of national honour, character, and interest.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Retaining still the desire which had uniformly been manifested by the
+American government to preserve peace and friendship with all nations,
+and believing that neither the honour nor the interest of the United
+States absolutely forbade the repetition of advances for securing
+these desirable objects with France, he should,&quot; he said, &quot;institute a
+fresh attempt at negotiation, and should not fail to promote and
+accelerate an accommodation on terms compatible with the rights,
+duties, interests, and honour of the nation.&quot; But while he should be
+making these endeavours to adjust all differences with the French
+republic by amicable negotiation, he earnestly recommended it to
+congress to provide effectual measures of defence.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Three envoys extraordinary deputed to negotiate with
+France.</div>
+
+<p>To carry into effect the pacific dispositions avowed in the speech,
+three envoys extraordinary were appointed, at the head of whom General
+Pinckney was placed. Their instructions conformed to the public
+language of the President. Peace and reconciliation were to be pursued
+by all means, compatible with the honour and the faith of the United
+States; but no national engagements were to be impaired; no innovation
+to be permitted upon those internal regulations for the preservation
+of peace which had been deliberately and uprightly established; nor
+were the rights of the government to be surrendered.</p>
+
+<p>The debates in the house of representatives, on the answer to the
+speech, were long and earnest. To expressions approving the conduct of
+the executive with regard to foreign nations, the opposition was
+ardent, but unsuccessful. On the third of June, an answer was agreed
+to which contained sentiments worthy of an American legislature, and
+for which several of the leaders of the opposition voted.</p>
+
+<p>The speech of the President was well adapted to the occasion, and to
+the times. It was calculated to rouse those indignant feelings which a
+high spirited people, insulted and injured by a foreign power, can
+never fail to display, if their judgment be not blinded, or their
+sensibility to external wrongs blunted, by invincible prejudices. He
+relied principally on the manifestation of these feelings for the
+success of the negotiation; and on their real existence, for the
+defence of the national rights, should negotiation fail. His
+endeavours were not absolutely unsuccessful. Some impression was made
+on the mass of the people; but it was too slight to be productive of
+the advantages expected from it. The conduct of France was still
+openly defended; and the opinion, that the measures which had been
+adopted by the executive of the United States furnished that republic
+with just cause of war, was still publicly maintained, and
+indefatigably circulated. According to these opinions, America could
+entitle herself to peace, only by retracing the steps she had taken,
+and yielding to the demands of her justly offended but generous and
+magnanimous ally.</p>
+
+<p>Still jealous for the honour, as well as confident of the importance,
+of his country, and retaining that full conviction respecting the
+propriety of its measures which had induced their adoption, General
+Washington could not repress the solicitude with which he contemplated
+passing events. His confidential letters disclose the strong feelings
+of his own bosom, but betray no apprehensions that the French
+government would press its present system to extremities. He firmly
+believed that the hostile attitude it had assumed was to be,
+exclusively, ascribed to the conduct of those Americans who had been
+the uniform advocates of all the pretensions of France, and who were
+said to be supported by a real majority of the people; and confidently
+expected that, under the old pretext of magnanimous forbearance, the
+executive directory would, slowly, and gradually, recede from its
+present system, so soon as the error in which it originated should
+become manifest. The opinion he had always entertained of the good
+sense and patriotism of his fellow citizens, silenced every doubt
+respecting the manner in which they would act, when their real
+situation should be perceived by themselves.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenotey">1798</div>
+
+<p>For a considerable length of time, no certain intelligence reached the
+United States respecting the negotiation at Paris. At length, in the
+winter of 1798, letters were received from the American envoys,
+indicating an unfavourable state of things; and, in the spring,
+despatches arrived which announced the total failure of the mission.</p>
+
+<p>History will scarcely furnish the example of a nation, not absolutely
+degraded, which has received from a foreign power such open contumely,
+and undisguised insult, as were, on this occasion, suffered by the
+United States in the persons of their ministers.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Their treatment.</div>
+
+<p>It was insinuated that their being taken from the party<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> which had
+supported the measures of their own government furnished just cause of
+umbrage; and, under slight pretexts, the executive directory delayed
+to accredit them as the representatives of an independent nation. In
+this situation, they were assailed by persons, not indeed invested
+with formal authority, but exhibiting sufficient evidence of the
+source from which their powers were derived, who, in direct and
+explicit terms, demanded money from the United States as the condition
+which must precede, not only the reconciliation of America to France,
+but any negotiation on the differences between the two countries.</p>
+
+<p>That an advance of money by a neutral to a belligerent power would be
+an obvious departure from neutrality, though an insuperable objection
+to this demand, did not constitute the most operative reason for
+repelling it. Such were the circumstances under which it was made,
+that it could not be acceded to without a surrender of the real
+independence of the United States; nor without being, in fact, the
+commencement of a system, the end of which it was impossible to
+foresee.</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center">&#160;</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a name="image07">
+<img src="images/340.jpg" width="585" height="337" alt="Mount Vernon" /></a></p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center"><b>Mount Vernon</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p><i>This colonial mansion overlooking the Potomac River fifteen miles
+south of Washington, D.C., and famous as the home and burial-place of
+the &quot;Father of His Country,&quot; was built in 1743 by Washington's elder
+brother, Lawrence, who called it Mount Vernon, after Admiral Vernon,
+under whom he had served in the British Navy. Mount Vernon, which was
+much enlarged by President Washington, was by him bequeathed to
+Bushrod Washington, upon whose death it came into the hands of John A.
+Washington, his nephew, who sold it in 1858 to the Ladies Mount Vernon
+Association, which holds it in trust as a national shrine.</i></p>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#160;</p>
+
+<p>A decided negative was therefore given to the preliminary required by
+these unofficial agents; but they returned to the charge with
+wonderful perseverance, and used unwearied arts to work upon the fears
+of the American ministers for their country, and for themselves. The
+immense power of France was painted in glowing colours, the
+humiliation of the house of Austria was stated, and the conquest of
+Britain was confidently anticipated. In the friendship of France
+alone, it was said, could America look for safety; and the fate of
+Venice was held up to warn her of the danger which awaited those who
+incurred the displeasure of the great republic. The ministers were
+assured that, if they believed their conduct would be approved in the
+United States, they were mistaken. The means which the Directory
+possessed, in that country, to excite odium against them, were great,
+and would unquestionably be employed.</p>
+
+<p>This degrading intercourse was at length interrupted by the positive
+refusal of the envoys to hold any further communication with the
+persons employed in it.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, they urged the object of their mission with persevering but
+unavailing solicitude. The Directory still refused to acknowledge them
+in their public character; and the secretary of exterior relations, at
+unofficial visits which they made him, renewed the demand which his
+agents had unsuccessfully pressed.</p>
+
+<p>Finding the objections to their reception in their official character
+insurmountable, the American ministers made a last effort to execute
+the duties assigned to them. In a letter addressed to the secretary of
+exterior relations, they entered at large into the explanations
+committed to them by their government, and illustrated, by a variety
+of facts, the uniform friendliness of its conduct to France.<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a>
+Notwithstanding the failure of this effort, and their perfect
+conviction that all further attempts would be equally unavailing, they
+continued, with a passiveness which must search for its apology in
+their solicitude to demonstrate to the American people the real views
+of the French republic, to employ the only means in their power to
+avert the rupture which was threatened, and which appeared to be
+inevitable.</p>
+
+<p>During these transactions, occasion was repeatedly taken to insult the
+American government; open war was continued to be waged by the
+cruisers of France on American commerce; and the flag of the United
+States was a sufficient justification for the capture and condemnation
+of any vessel over which it waved.</p>
+
+<p>At length, when the demonstration became complete, that the resolution
+of the American envoys was not less fixed, than their conduct had been
+guarded and temperate, various attempts were made to induce two of
+them, voluntarily, to relinquish their station; on the failure of
+which, they were ordered to quit the territories of the republic. As
+if to aggravate this national insult, the third, who had been selected
+from that party which was said to be friendly to France, was permitted
+to remain, and was invited to resume the discussions which had been
+interrupted.</p>
+
+<p>The despatches communicating these events were laid before congress,
+and were afterwards published. The indignation which they excited was
+warm and extensive. The attempt to degrade the United States into a
+tributary nation was too obvious to be concealed; and the resentment
+produced, as well by this attempt as by the threats which accompanied
+it, was not confined to the federalists. For the moment, a spirit was
+roused on which an American may reflect with pride, and which he may
+consider as a sure protection from external danger. In every part of
+the continent, the favourite sentiment was &quot;millions for defence, not
+a cent for tribute.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The disposition still existed to justify France, by criminating the
+American government, by contending that her intentions were not really
+hostile, that her conduct was misrepresented by men under British
+influence, who wished for war, or had been deceived by unauthorized
+intriguers; that, admitting it to be otherwise, she only demanded
+those marks of friendship which, at a critical moment, she had herself
+afforded; that the real interests of the United States required a
+compliance with this demand; that it would cost more money to resist
+than to yield to it; that the resistance would infallibly be
+ineffectual; and that national honour was never secured by national
+defeat. Neither these sentiments, nor the arguments which were founded
+on them, accorded with the general feeling; and it required the
+co-operation of other causes to establish the influence of those who
+urged them.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Measures of hostility adopted by the American government
+against France.</div>
+
+<p>In congress, vigorous measures were adopted for retaliating injuries
+which had been sustained, and for repelling those which were
+threatened. Amongst these was a regular army. A regiment of
+artillerists and engineers was added to the permanent establishment;
+and the President was authorized to raise twelve additional regiments
+of infantry, and one regiment of cavalry, to serve during the
+continuance of the existing differences with the French republic if
+not sooner discharged. He was also authorized to appoint officers for
+a provisional army, and to receive and organize volunteer corps who
+would be exempt from ordinary militia duty; but neither the volunteers
+nor the officers of the provisional army were to receive pay unless
+called into actual service.</p>
+
+<p>Addresses<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> to the executive from every part of the United States
+attested the high spirit of the nation, and the answers of the
+President were well calculated to give it solidity and duration.</p>
+
+<p>No sooner had a war become probable, to the perils of which no man
+could be insensible, than the eyes of all were directed to General
+Washington, as the person who should command the American army. He
+alone could be seen at the head of a great military force without
+exciting jealousy; he alone could draw into public service, and
+arrange properly the best military talents of the nation; and he more
+than any other, could induce the utmost exertions of its physical
+strength.</p>
+
+<p>Indignant at the unprovoked injuries which had been heaped upon his
+country, and convinced that the conflict, should a war be really
+prosecuted by France with a view to conquest, would be extremely
+severe, and could be supported, on the part of America, only by a
+persevering exertion of all her force, he could not determine, should
+such a crisis arrive, to withhold those aids which it might be in his
+power to afford, should public opinion really attach to his services
+that importance which would render them essential. His own reflections
+appear to have resulted in a determination not to refuse once more to
+take the field, provided he could be permitted to secure efficient aid
+by naming the chief officers of the army, and to remain at home until
+his service in the field should be required by actual invasion.</p>
+
+<p>A confidential and interesting letter from Colonel Hamilton of the
+19th of May, on political subjects, concludes with saying, &quot;You ought
+also to be aware, my dear sir, that in the event of an open rupture
+with France, the public voice will again call you to command the
+armies of your country; and though all who are attached to you will
+from attachment as well as public considerations, deplore an occasion
+which should once more tear you from that repose to which you have so
+good a right; yet it is the opinion of all those with whom I converse
+that you will be compelled to make the sacrifice. All your past
+labours may demand, to give them efficacy, this further, this very
+great sacrifice.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You may be assured,&quot; said General Washington in reply, &quot;that my mind
+is deeply impressed with the present situation of public affairs, and
+not a little agitated by the outrageous conduct of France towards the
+United States, and at the inimitable conduct of those partisans who
+aid and abet her measures. You may believe further, from assurances
+equally sincere, that if there was any thing in my power to be done
+consistently, to avert or lessen the danger of the crisis, it should
+be rendered with hand and heart.</p>
+
+<p><a name="p348">&quot;But,</a> my dear sir, dark as matters appear at present, and expedient as
+it is to be prepared for the worst that can happen, (and no man is
+more disposed to this measure than I am) I can not make up my mind
+yet, for the expectation of open war; or, in other words, for a
+formidable invasion by France. I can not believe, although I think her
+capable of any thing, that she will attempt to do more than she has
+done. When she perceives the spirit and policy of this country rising
+into resistance, and that she has falsely calculated upon support from
+a large part of the people<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> to promote her views and influence in
+it, she will desist even from those practices, unless unexpected
+events in Europe, or the acquisition of Louisiana and the Floridas,
+should induce her to continue them. And I believe further, that
+although the leaders of their party in this country will not change
+their sentiments, they will be obliged to change their plan, or the
+mode of carrying it on. The effervescence which is appearing in all
+quarters, and the desertion of their followers, will frown them into
+silence&#8212;at least for a while.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If I did not view things in this light, my mind would be infinitely
+more disquieted than it is: for, if a crisis should arrive when a
+sense of duty, or a call from my country should become so imperious as
+to leave me no choice, I should prepare for relinquishment, and go
+with as much reluctance from my present peaceful abode, as I should go
+to the tombs of my ancestors.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The opinion that prudence required preparations for open war, and that
+General Washington must once more be placed at the head of the
+American armies, strengthened every day; and on the 22d of June, the
+President addressed him a letter in which that subject was thus
+alluded to.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In forming an army, whenever I must come to that extremity, I am at
+an immense loss whether to call out the old generals, or to appoint a
+young set. If the French come here, we must learn to march with a
+quick step, and to attack, for in that way only they are said to be
+vulnerable. I must tax you, sometimes, for advice. We must have your
+name, if you will in any case permit us to use it. There will be more
+efficacy in it than in many an army.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A letter from the secretary of war, written four days afterwards,
+concludes with asking, &quot;May we flatter ourselves that, in a crisis so
+awful and important, you will accept the command of all our armies? I
+hope you will, because you alone can unite all hearts and all hands,
+if it is possible that they can be united.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>These letters reached General Washington on the same day. The
+following extract from his reply to the President will exhibit the
+course of his reflections relative to his appearance once more at the
+head of the American armies.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;At the epoch of my retirement, an invasion of these states by any
+European power, or even the probability of such an event in my days,
+was so far from being contemplated by me, that I had no conception
+either that or any other occurrence would arise in so short a period
+which could turn my eyes from the shades of Mount Vernon. But this
+seems to be the age of wonders. And it is reserved for intoxicated and
+lawless France (for purposes of Providence far beyond the reach of
+human ken) to slaughter her own citizens, and to disturb the repose of
+all the world besides. From a view of the past,&#8212;from the prospect of
+the present,&#8212;and of that which seems to be expected, it is not easy
+for me to decide satisfactorily on the part it might best become me to
+act. In case of actual invasion by a formidable force, I certainly
+should not intrench myself under the cover of age and retirement, if
+my services should be required by my country to assist in repelling
+it. And if there be good cause to expect such an event, which
+certainly must be better known to the government than to private
+citizens, delay in preparing for it may be dangerous, improper, and
+not to be justified by prudence. The uncertainty however of the
+latter, in my mind, creates my embarrassment; for I can not bring it
+to believe, regardless as the French are of treaties, and of the laws
+of nations, and capable as I conceive them to be of any species of
+despotism and injustice, that they will attempt to invade this country
+after such a uniform and unequivocal expression of the determination
+of the people in all parts to oppose them with their lives and
+fortunes. That they have been led to believe by their agents and
+partisans among us that we are a divided people, that the latter are
+opposed to their own government, and that the show of a small force
+would occasion a revolt, I have no doubt; and how far these men (grown
+desperate) will further attempt to deceive, and may succeed in keeping
+up the deception, is problematical. Without that, the folly of the
+Directory in such an attempt would, I conceive, be more conspicuous,
+if possible, than their wickedness.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Having with candour made this disclosure of the state of my mind, it
+remains only for me to add, that to those who knew me best, it is best
+known that, should imperious circumstances induce me to exchange once
+more the smooth paths of retirement for the thorny ways of public
+life, at a period too when repose is more congenial to nature, it
+would be productive of sensations which can be more easily conceived
+than expressed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>His letter to the secretary of war was more detailed and more
+explicit. &quot;It can not,&quot; he said, &quot;be necessary for me to promise to
+you or to others who know my sentiments, that to quit the tranquillity
+of retirement, and enter the boundless field of responsibility, would
+be productive of sensations which a better pen than I possess would
+find it difficult to describe. Nevertheless, the principle by which my
+conduct has been actuated through life, would not surfer me, in any
+great emergency, to withhold any services I could render when required
+by my country;&#8212;especially in a case where its dearest rights are
+assailed by lawless ambition and intoxicated power, in contempt of
+every principle of justice, and in violation of solemn compact, and of
+laws which govern all civilized nations:&#8212;and this too with the
+obvious intent to sow thick the seeds of disunion for the purpose of
+subjugating our government, and destroying our independence and
+happiness.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Under circumstances like these, accompanied by an actual invasion of
+our territory, it would be difficult for me, at any time, to remain an
+idle spectator, under the plea of age or retirement. With sorrow, it
+is true, I should quit the shades of my peaceful abode, and the ease
+and happiness I now enjoy, to encounter anew the turmoils of war, to
+which, possibly, my strength and powers might be found incompetent.
+These, however, should not be stumbling blocks in my own way. But
+there are other things highly important for me to ascertain and settle
+before I could give a definite answer to your question.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>1st. The propriety in the opinion of the public, so far as
+that opinion has been expressed in conversation, of my
+appearing again on the public theatre, after declaring the
+sentiments I did in my valedictory address of September,
+1796.</p>
+
+<p>2dly. A conviction in my own breast, from the best
+information that can be obtained, that it is the wish of my
+country that its military force should be committed to my
+charge; and,</p>
+
+<p>3dly. That the army now to be formed should be so appointed
+as to afford a well grounded hope of its doing honour to the
+country, and credit to him who commands it in the field.</p></div>
+
+<p>&quot;On each of these heads you must allow me to make observations.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>General Washington then proceeded to detail his sentiments on those
+points on which his consent to take command of the army must depend.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">General Washington appointed commander-in-chief of the
+American Army.</div>
+
+<p>Some casual circumstances delayed the reception of the letters of the
+President and secretary of war for several days, in consequence of
+which, before the answer of General Washington reached the seat of
+government, the President had nominated him to the chief command of
+all the armies raised or to be raised in the United States, with the
+rank of Lieutenant General; and the senate had unanimously advised and
+consented to his appointment.</p>
+
+<p>By the secretary of war, who was directed to wait upon him with his
+commission, the President addressed to him the following letter:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. M'Henry, the secretary of war, will have the honour to wait on
+you in my behalf, to impart to you a step I have ventured to take,
+which I should have been happy to have communicated in person, had
+such a journey, at this time, been in my power.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My reasons for this measure will be too well known to need any
+explanation to the public. Every friend and every enemy of America
+will comprehend them at first blush. To you, sir, I owe all the
+apology I can make. The urgent necessity I am in of your advice and
+assistance, indeed of your conduct and direction of the war, is all I
+can urge; and that is a sufficient justification to myself and to the
+world. I hope it will be so considered by yourself. Mr. M'Henry will
+have the honour to consult you upon the organization of the army, and
+upon every thing relating to it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Open instructions, signed by the President, were on the same day
+delivered to the secretary of war, of which the following is a copy:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is my desire that you embrace the first opportunity to set out on
+your journey to Mount Vernon, and wait on General Washington with the
+commission of Lieutenant General and Commander-in-chief of the armies
+of the United States, which, by the advice and consent of the senate,
+has been signed by me.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The reasons and motives which prevailed on me to venture on such a
+step as the nomination of this great and illustrious character, whose
+voluntary resignation alone occasioned my introduction to the office I
+now hold, were too numerous to be detailed in this letter, and are too
+obvious and important to escape the observation of any part of America
+or Europe. But as it is a movement of great delicacy, it will require
+all your address to communicate the subject in a manner that shall be
+inoffensive to his feelings, and consistent with all the respect that
+is due from me to him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If the General should decline the appointment, all the world will be
+silent, and respectfully acquiesce. If he should accept it, all the
+world, except the enemies of his country, will rejoice. If he should
+come to no decisive determination, but take the subject into
+consideration, I shall not appoint any other lieutenant general until
+his conclusion is known.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;His advice in the formation of a list of officers would be extremely
+desirable to me. The names of Lincoln, Morgan, Knox, Hamilton, Gates,
+Pinckney, Lee, Carrington, Hand, Muhlenberg, Dayton, Burr, Brooks,
+Cobb, Smith, as well as the present Commander-in-chief, may be
+mentioned to him, and any others that occur to you. Particularly, I
+wish to have his opinion on the men most suitable for inspector
+general, adjutant general, and quarter master general.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;His opinion on all subjects would have great weight, and I wish you
+to obtain from him as much of his reflections upon the times and the
+service as you can.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The communications between General Washington and the secretary of war
+appear to have been full and unreserved. The impressions of the former
+respecting the critical and perilous situation of his country had
+previously determined him to yield to the general desire, and accept
+the commission offered him, provided he could be permitted to select
+for the high departments of the army, and especially for the military
+staff, those in whom he could place the greatest confidence. Being
+assured that there was every reason to believe his wishes in this
+respect would not be thwarted, he gave to the secretary the
+arrangement<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> which he would recommend for the principal stations in
+the army; and, on the 13th of July, addressed the following letter to
+the President.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I had the honour, on the evening of the 11th instant, to receive from
+the hands of the secretary at war, your favour of the seventh,
+announcing that you had, with the advice and consent of the senate,
+appointed me Lieutenant General and Commander-in-chief of the armies
+raised or to be raised for the service of the United States.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I can not express how greatly affected I am at this new proof of
+public confidence, and at the highly flattering manner in which you
+have been pleased to make the communication. At the same time, I must
+not conceal from you my earnest wish that the choice had fallen upon a
+man less declined in years, and better qualified to encounter the
+usual vicissitudes of war.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You know, sir, what calculations I had made relative to the probable
+course of events on my retiring from office, and the determination,
+with which I had consoled myself, of closing the remnant of my days in
+my present peaceful abode. You will therefore be at no loss to
+conceive and appreciate the sensations I must have experienced, to
+bring my mind to any conclusion that would pledge me, at so late a
+period of life, to leave scenes I sincerely love, to enter upon the
+boundless field of public action, incessant trouble, and high
+responsibility.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was not possible for me to remain ignorant of, or indifferent to
+recent transactions. The conduct of the Directory of France towards
+our country; their insidious hostility to its government; their
+various practices to withdraw the affections of the people from it;
+the evident tendency of their arts, and those of their agents, to
+countenance and invigorate opposition; their disregard of solemn
+treaties and the laws of nations; their war upon our defenceless
+commerce; their treatment of our ministers of peace; and their
+demands, amounting to tribute, could not fail to excite in me
+sentiments corresponding with those my countrymen have so generally
+expressed in their affectionate addresses to you.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Believe me, sir, no man can more cordially approve the wise and
+prudent measures of your administration. They ought to inspire
+universal confidence, and will no doubt, combined with the state of
+things, call from congress such laws and means as will enable you to
+meet the full force and extent of the crisis.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Satisfied, therefore, that you have sincerely wished and endeavoured
+to avert war, and exhausted to the last drop the cup of
+reconciliation, we can, with pure hearts, appeal to heaven for the
+justice of our cause, and may confidently trust the final result to
+that kind Providence who has heretofore, and so often, signally
+favoured the people of the United States.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thinking in this manner, and feeling how incumbent it is upon every
+person of every description to contribute, at all times, to his
+country's welfare, and especially in a moment like the present, when
+every thing we hold dear and sacred is so seriously threatened, I have
+finally determined to accept the commission of Commander-in-chief of
+the armies of the United States, with the reserve only,&#8212;that I shall
+not be called into the field until the army is in a situation to
+require my presence, or it becomes indispensable by the urgency of
+circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In making this reservation, I beg it to be understood that I do not
+mean to withhold any assistance to arrange and organize the army,
+which you may think I can afford. I take the liberty also to mention
+that I must decline having my acceptance considered as drawing after
+it any immediate charge upon the public, or that I can receive any
+emoluments annexed to the appointment before I am in a situation to
+incur expense.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>From this period, General Washington intermingled the cares and
+attentions of office with his agricultural pursuits. His solicitude
+respecting the organization of an army which he might possibly be
+required to lead against an enemy the most formidable in the world,
+was too strong to admit of his being inattentive to its arrangements.
+Yet he never did believe that an invasion of the United States would
+actually take place. His conviction that it was not the interest of
+France to wage an unprovoked war with America, and that the hostile
+measures which the executive Directory had adopted originated in the
+opinion that those measures would overthrow the administration, and
+place power in the hands of those who had uniformly supported all the
+pretensions of the French republic, remained unshaken. As a necessary
+consequence of this conviction, he was persuaded that the indignation
+which this system had excited, would effect its change. The only
+circumstance that weakened this hope, arose from the persevering
+opposition which was still maintained in congress, and from the
+evidence which was daily afforded that those party animosities, to
+which he ascribed the present dangerous crisis, were far from being
+healed. Those who had embraced the cause of France in the controversy
+between that nation and the United States, had been overwhelmed by a
+flood of testimony which silenced them for a time, but which weakened
+them more in appearance than in reality. They were visibly recovering
+both strength and confidence. It is not therefore wonderful that
+General Washington should have expressed himself more freely than had
+been his custom, respecting American parties, and that he should have
+exerted an influence which he had not been in the habit of employing,
+to induce men whose talents he respected, but who had declined
+political life, to enter into the national and state legislatures.</p>
+
+<p>Events soon demonstrated that he had not calculated unreasonably on
+the effects of the spirit manifested by his country. Although America,
+supplicating for peace, had been spurned with contempt; although the
+executive Directory had rejected with insult her repeated and sincere
+prayers to be permitted to make explanations, and had haughtily
+demanded a concession of their arrogant and unfounded claims or the
+advance of pecuniary aids, as a preliminary to negotiation;&#8212;America,
+in arms, was treated with some respect. Indirect pacific overtures
+were made, and a willingness on the part of France, to accommodate the
+existing differences on reasonable terms, was communicated.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenotey">1799</div>
+
+<p>The President, truly solicitous to restore that harmony and good
+understanding which the United States had laboured so incessantly and
+so sincerely to preserve with their ancient ally, caught at the
+overtures which were indirectly made, and again appointed three envoys
+extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary to the French republic.
+These gentlemen found the government in the hands of a person who had
+taken no part in those transactions which had embroiled the two
+countries, and who entered into negotiations with them which
+terminated in the amicable adjustment of differences.</p>
+
+<p>General Washington did not live to witness the restoration of peace.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">His death.</div>
+
+<p>On Friday the 13th of December, while attending to some improvements
+upon his estate, he was exposed to a light rain, by which his neck and
+hair became wet. Not apprehending danger from this circumstance, he
+passed the afternoon in his usual manner; but, in the night, was
+seized with an inflammatory affection of the windpipe. The disease
+commenced with a violent ague, accompanied with some pain in the upper
+and fore part of the throat, a sense of stricture in the same part, a
+cough, and a difficult rather than a painful deglutition, which were
+soon succeeded by fever, and a quick and laborious respiration.</p>
+
+<p>Believing bloodletting to be necessary, he procured a bleeder who took
+from his arm twelve or fourteen ounces of blood, but he would not
+permit a messenger to be despatched for his family physician until the
+appearance of day. About eleven in the morning Doctor Craik arrived;
+and perceiving the extreme danger of the case, requested that two
+consulting physicians should be immediately sent for. The utmost
+exertions of medical skill were applied in vain. The powers of life
+were manifestly yielding to the force of the disorder; speaking, which
+was painful from the beginning, became almost impracticable:
+respiration became more and more contracted and imperfect, until half
+past eleven on Saturday night; when, retaining the full possession of
+his intellect, he expired without a struggle.</p>
+
+<p>Believing at the commencement of his complaint, as well as through
+every succeeding stage of it, that its conclusion would be mortal, he
+submitted to the exertions made for his recovery, rather as a duty,
+than from any expectation of their efficacy. Some hours before his
+death, after repeated efforts to be understood, he succeeded in
+expressing a desire that he might be permitted to die without
+interruption. After it became impossible to get any thing down his
+throat, he undressed himself and went to bed, there to die. To his
+friend and physician, Doctor Craik, who sat on his bed, and took his
+head in his lap, he said with difficulty, &quot;Doctor, I am dying, and
+have been dying for a long time, but I am not afraid to die.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>During the short period of his illness he economized his time, in
+arranging with the utmost serenity those few concerns which required
+his attention; and anticipated his approaching dissolution with every
+demonstration of that equanimity, for which his life was so uniformly,
+and singularly, conspicuous.</p>
+
+<p>The deep and wide spreading grief occasioned by this melancholy event,
+assembled a great concourse of people for the purpose of paying the
+last tribute of respect to the first of Americans. His body, attended
+by military honours and the ceremonies of religion, was deposited in
+the family vault at Mount Vernon, on Wednesday, the 18th of December.</p>
+
+<p>So short was his illness that, at the seat of government, the
+intelligence of his death preceded that of his indisposition. It was
+first communicated by a passenger in the stage to an acquaintance whom
+he met in the street, and the report quickly reached the house of
+representatives which was then in session. The utmost dismay and
+affliction was displayed for a few minutes; after which a member
+stated in his place, the melancholy information which had been
+received. This information he said was not certain, but there was too
+much reason to believe it true.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;After receiving intelligence,&quot; he added, &quot;of a national calamity so
+heavy and afflicting, the house of representatives can be but ill
+fitted for public business.&quot; He therefore moved an adjournment. Both
+houses adjourned until the next day.</p>
+
+<p>On the succeeding day, as soon as the orders were read, the same
+member addressed the chair in the following terms:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The melancholy event which was yesterday announced with doubt, has
+been rendered but too certain. Our <span class="smcap">Washington</span> is no more! the hero,
+the patriot, and the sage of America;&#8212;the man on whom, in times of
+danger, every eye was turned, and all hopes were placed,&#8212;lives now
+only in his own great actions, and in the hearts of an affectionate
+and afflicted people.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If, sir, it had even not been usual openly to testify respect for the
+memory of those whom heaven has selected as its instruments for
+dispensing good to man, yet, such has been the uncommon worth, and
+such the extraordinary incidents which have marked the life of him
+whose loss we all deplore, that the whole American nation, impelled by
+the same feelings, would call, with one voice, for a public
+manifestation of that sorrow which is so deep and so universal.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;More than any other individual, and as much as to one individual was
+possible, has he contributed to found this our wide spreading empire,
+and to give to the western world independence and freedom.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Having effected the great object for which he was placed at the head
+of our armies, we have seen him convert the sword into the
+ploughshare, and sink the soldier into the citizen.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When the debility of our federal system had become manifest, and the
+bonds which connected this vast continent were dissolving, we have
+seen him the chief of those patriots who formed for us a constitution
+which, by preserving the union, will, I trust, substantiate and
+perpetuate those blessings which our revolution had promised to
+bestow.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In obedience to the general voice of his country calling him to
+preside over a great people, we have seen him once more quit the
+retirement he loved, and, in a season more stormy and tempestuous than
+war itself, with calm and wise determination, pursue the true
+interests of the nation, and contribute, more than any other could
+contribute, to the establishment of that system of policy, which will,
+I trust, yet preserve our peace, our honour, and our independence.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Having been twice unanimously chosen the chief magistrate of a free
+people, we have seen him, at a time when his re-election with
+universal suffrage could not be doubted, afford to the world a rare
+instance of moderation, by withdrawing from his high station to the
+peaceful walks of private life.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;However the public confidence may change, and the public affections
+fluctuate with respect to others, with respect to him, they have, in
+war and in peace, in public and in private life, been as steady as his
+own firm mind, and as constant as his own exalted virtues.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let us then, Mr. Speaker, pay the last tribute of respect and
+affection to our departed friend. Let the grand council of the nation
+display those sentiments which the nation feels. For this purpose I
+hold in my hand some resolutions which I take the liberty of offering
+to the house.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The resolutions,<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> after a preamble stating the death of General
+Washington, were in the following terms.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Resolved, that this house will wait on the President in condolence of
+this mournful event.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Resolved, that the speaker's chair be shrouded with black, and that
+the members and officers of the house wear black during the session.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Resolved, that a committee, in conjunction with one from the senate,
+be appointed to consider on the most suitable manner of paying honour
+to the memory of the <span class="smcap">Man</span>, first in war, first in peace, and first in
+the hearts of his fellow citizens.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Immediately after the passage of these resolutions, a written message
+was received from the President, accompanying a letter from Mr. Lear,
+which he said, &quot;will inform you that it had pleased Divine Providence
+to remove from this life our excellent fellow citizen, <span class="smcap">George
+Washington</span>, by the purity of his life, and a long series of services
+to his country, rendered illustrious through the world. It remains for
+an affectionate and grateful people, in whose hearts he can never die,
+to pay suitable honour to his memory.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>To the speaker and members of the house of representatives who waited
+on him in pursuance of the resolution which has been mentioned, he
+expressed the same deep-felt and affectionate respect &quot;for the most
+illustrious and beloved personage America had ever produced.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The senate, on this melancholy occasion, addressed to the President
+the following letter:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The senate of the United States respectfully take leave, sir, to
+express to you their deep regret for the loss their country sustains
+in the death of General <span class="smcap">George Washington</span>.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This event, so distressing to all our fellow citizens, must be
+peculiarly heavy to you who have long been associated with him in
+<i>deeds of patriotism</i>. Permit us, sir, to mingle our tears with yours.
+On this occasion it is manly to weep. To lose such a man, at such a
+crisis, is no common calamity to the world. Our country mourns a
+father. The Almighty disposer of human events has taken from us our
+greatest benefactor and ornament. It becomes us to submit with
+reverence, to <span class="smcap">Him</span> who 'maketh darkness his pavilion.'</p>
+
+<p>&quot;With patriotic pride we review the life of our <span class="smcap">Washington</span>, and
+compare him with those of other countries who have been pre-eminent in
+fame. Ancient and modern names are diminished before him. Greatness
+and guilt have too often been allied; but <i>his</i> fame is whiter than it
+is brilliant. The destroyers of nations stood abashed at the majesty
+of <i>his</i> virtues. It reproved the intemperance of their ambition, and
+darkened the splendour of victory. The scene is closed,&#8212;and we are no
+longer anxious lest misfortune should sully his glory; he has traveled
+on to the end of his journey, and carried with him an increasing
+weight of honour: he has deposited it safely where misfortune can not
+tarnish it; where malice can not blast it. Favoured of heaven, he
+departed without exhibiting the weakness of humanity; magnanimous in
+death, the darkness of the grave could not obscure his brightness.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Such was the man whom we deplore. Thanks to God, his glory is
+consummated. Washington yet lives on earth in his spotless
+example&#8212;his spirit is in heaven.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let his countrymen consecrate the memory of the heroic general, the
+patriotic statesman, and the virtuous sage: let them teach their
+children never to forget that the fruits of his labours and his
+example <i>are their inheritance</i>.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>To this address the President returned the following answer: &quot;I
+receive, with the most respectful and affectionate sentiments, in this
+impressive address, the obliging expressions of your regret for the
+loss our country has sustained in the death of her most esteemed,
+beloved, and admired citizen.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In the multitude of my thoughts and recollections on this melancholy
+event, you will permit me to say that I have seen him in the days of
+adversity, in some of the scenes of his deepest distress and most
+trying perplexities. I have also attended him in his highest elevation
+and most prosperous felicity, with uniform admiration of his wisdom,
+moderation, and constancy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Among all our original associates in that memorable <i>league of this
+continent</i> in 1774, which first expressed the <span class="smcap">Sovereign will of a Free
+Nation in America</span>, he was the only one remaining in the general
+government. Although with a constitution more enfeebled than his, at
+an age when he thought it necessary to prepare for retirement, I feel
+myself alone, bereaved of my last brother; yet I derive a strong
+consolation from the unanimous disposition which appears in all ages
+and classes to mingle their sorrows with mine on this common calamity
+to the world.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The life of our <span class="smcap">Washington</span> can not suffer by a comparison with those
+of other countries who have been most celebrated and exalted by fame.
+The attributes and decorations of <i>royalty</i> could only have served to
+eclipse the majesty of those virtues which made him, from being a
+modest <i>citizen</i>, a more resplendent luminary. Misfortune, had he
+lived, could hereafter have sullied his glory only with those
+superficial minds who, believing that characters and actions are
+marked by success alone, rarely deserve to enjoy it. <i>Malice</i> could
+never blast his honour, and <i>Envy</i> made him a singular exception to
+her universal rule. For himself, he had lived long enough to life and
+to glory:&#8212;for his fellow citizens, if their prayers could have been
+answered, he would have been immortal: for me, his departure is at a
+most unfortunate moment. Trusting, however, in the wise and righteous
+dominion of Providence over the passions of men, and the results of
+their councils and actions, as well as over their lives, nothing
+remains for me but <i>humble resignation</i>.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;His example is now complete; and it will teach wisdom and virtue to
+magistrates, citizens, and men, not only in the present age, but in
+future generations, as long as our history shall be read. If a Trajan
+found a Pliny, a Marcus Aurelius can never want biographers,
+eulogists, or historians.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The joint committee which had been appointed to devise the mode by
+which the nation should express its feelings on this melancholy
+occasion, reported the following resolutions:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That a marble monument be erected by the United States at the city of
+Washington, and that the family of General Washington be requested to
+permit his body to be deposited under it; and that the monument be so
+designed as to commemorate the great events of his military and
+political life.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That there be a funeral procession from congress hall to the German
+Lutheran church, in memory of General Washington, on Thursday, the
+26th instant, and that an oration be prepared at the request of
+congress, to be delivered before both houses on that day; and that the
+president of the senate, and speaker of the house of representatives,
+be desired to request one of the members of congress to prepare and
+deliver the same.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That it be recommended to the people of the United States to wear
+crape on the left arm as a mourning for thirty days.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That the President of the United States be requested to direct a copy
+of these resolutions to be transmitted to Mrs. Washington, assuring
+her of the profound respect congress will ever bear to her person and
+character, of their condolence on the late affecting dispensation of
+Providence, and entreating her assent to the interment of the remains
+of General Washington in the manner expressed in the first resolution.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That the President be requested to issue his proclamation, notifying
+to the people throughout the United States the recommendation
+contained in the third resolution.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>These resolutions passed both houses unanimously, and those which
+would admit of immediate execution were carried into effect. The whole
+nation appeared in mourning. The funeral procession was grand and
+solemn, and the eloquent oration, which was delivered on the occasion
+by General Lee, was heard with profound attention and with deep
+interest.</p>
+
+<p>Throughout the United States, similar marks of affliction were
+exhibited. In every part of the continent funeral orations were
+delivered, and the best talents of the nation were devoted to an
+expression of the nation's grief.</p>
+
+<p>To the letter of the President which transmitted to Mrs. Washington
+the resolutions of congress, and of which his secretary was the
+bearer, that lady answered, &quot;Taught by the great example which I have
+so long had before me, never to oppose my private wishes to the public
+will, I must consent to the request made by congress which you have
+had the goodness to transmit to me;&#8212;and in doing this, I need not, I
+can not say what a sacrifice of individual feeling I make to a sense
+of public duty.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The monument, however, has not been erected. That the great events of
+the political as well as military life of General Washington should be
+commemorated, could not be pleasing to those who had condemned, and
+who continued to condemn, the whole course of his administration. This
+resolution, although it passed unanimously, had many enemies. That
+party which had long constituted the opposition, and which, though the
+minority for the moment, nearly divided the house of representatives,
+declared its preference for the equestrian statue which had been voted
+by congress at the close of the war. The division between a statue and
+a monument was so nearly equal, that the session passed away without
+an appropriation for either. The public feelings soon subsided, and
+those who possessed the ascendancy over the public sentiment employed
+their influence to draw odium on the men who favoured a monument; to
+represent that measure as a part of a general system to waste the
+public money; and to impress the idea that the only proper monument to
+the memory of a meritorious citizen, was that which the people would
+erect in their affections.</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center">&#160;</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a name="image08">
+<img src="images/372.jpg" width="523" height="344" alt="Washington Tomb" /></a></p>
+
+<p style="text-align: center"><b>Resting-Place of George and Martha Washington at Mount Vernon</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p><i>Dying December 14, 1799, the body of Washington Was placed, with
+simple but impressive ceremonies, in the old family vault, from which
+it was removed in 1831 to a tomb of plain brick construction, near a
+wooded ravine a short distance from the house. Behind an iron grating
+may be seen the two sarcophagi which contain the mortal remains of
+George Washington and his wife, Martha.</i></p>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#160;</p>
+
+<p>General Washington was rather above the common size, his frame was
+robust, and his constitution vigorous&#8212;capable of enduring great
+fatigue, and requiring a considerable degree of exercise for the
+preservation of his health. His exterior created in the beholder the
+idea of strength, united with manly gracefulness.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">And character.</div>
+
+<p>His manners were rather reserved than free, though they partook
+nothing of that dryness, and sternness, which accompany reserve when
+carried to an extreme; and on all proper occasions, he could relax
+sufficiently to show how highly he was gratified by the charms of
+conversation, and the pleasures of society. His person and whole
+deportment exhibited an unaffected and indescribable dignity,
+unmingled with haughtiness, of which all who approached him were
+sensible; and the attachment of those who possessed his friendship,
+and enjoyed his intimacy, was ardent, but always respectful.</p>
+
+<p>His temper was humane, benevolent, and conciliatory; but there was a
+quickness in his sensibility to any thing apparently offensive, which
+experience had taught him to watch, and to correct.</p>
+
+<p>In the management of his private affairs he exhibited an exact yet
+liberal economy. His funds were not prodigally wasted on capricious
+and ill examined schemes, nor refused to beneficial though costly
+improvements. They remained therefore competent to that expensive
+establishment which his reputation, added to a hospitable temper, had
+in some measure imposed upon him; and to those donations which real
+distress has a right to claim from opulence.</p>
+
+<p>He made no pretensions to that vivacity which fascinates, or to that
+wit which dazzles, and frequently imposes on the understanding-More
+solid than brilliant, judgment, rather than genius, constituted the
+most prominent feature of his character.</p>
+
+<p>Without making ostentatious professions of religion, he was a sincere
+believer in the Christian faith, and a truly devout man.</p>
+
+<p>As a military man, he was brave, enterprising, and cautious. That
+malignity which was sought to strip him of all the higher qualities of
+a General, has conceded to him personal courage, and a firmness of
+resolution which neither dangers nor difficulties could shake. But
+candour will allow him other great and valuable endowments. If his
+military course does not abound with splendid achievements, it
+exhibits a series of judicious measures adapted to circumstances,
+which probably saved his country.</p>
+
+<p>Placed, without having studied the theory, or been taught in the
+school of experience the practice of war, at the head of an
+undisciplined, ill organized multitude, which was impatient of the
+restraints, and unacquainted with the ordinary duties of a camp,
+without the aid of officers possessing those lights which the
+Commander-in-chief was yet to acquire, it would have been a miracle
+indeed had his conduct been absolutely faultless. But, possessing an
+energetic and distinguishing mind, on which the lessons of experience
+were never lost, his errors, if he committed any, were quickly
+repaired; and those measures which the state of things rendered most
+adviseable, were seldom, if ever, neglected. Inferior to his adversary
+in the numbers, in the equipment, and in the discipline of his troops,
+it is evidence of real merit that no great and decisive advantages
+were ever obtained over him, and that the opportunity to strike an
+important blow never passed away unused. He has been termed the
+American Fabius; but those who compare his actions with his means,
+will perceive at least as much of Marcellus as of Fabius, in his
+character. He could not have been more enterprising, without
+endangering the cause he defended, nor have put more to hazard,
+without incurring justly the imputation of rashness. Not relying upon
+those chances which sometimes give a favourable issue to attempts
+apparently desperate, his conduct was regulated by calculations made
+upon the capacities of his army, and the real situation of his
+country. When called a second time to command the armies of the United
+States, a change of circumstances had taken place, and he meditated a
+corresponding change of conduct. In modelling the army of 1798, he
+sought for men distinguished for their boldness of execution, not less
+than for their prudence in counsel, and contemplated a system of
+continued attack. &quot;The enemy,&quot; said the General in his private
+letters, &quot;must never be permitted to gain foothold on our shores.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In his civil administration, as in his military career, ample and
+repeated proofs were exhibited of that practical good sense, of that
+sound judgment, which is perhaps the most rare, and is certainly the
+most valuable quality of the human mind. Devoting himself to the
+duties of his station, and pursuing no object distinct from the public
+good, he was accustomed to contemplate at a distance those critical
+situations in which the United States might probably be placed; and to
+digest, before the occasion required action, the line of conduct which
+it would be proper to observe. Taught to distrust first impressions,
+he sought to acquire all the information which was attainable, and to
+hear, without prejudice, all the reasons which could be urged for or
+against a particular measure. His own judgment was suspended until it
+became necessary to determine; and his decisions, thus maturely made,
+were seldom if ever to be shaken. His conduct therefore was
+systematic, and the great objects of his administration were steadily
+pursued.</p>
+
+<p>Respecting, as the first magistrate in a free government must ever do,
+the real and deliberate sentiments of the people, their gusts of
+passion passed over, without ruffling the smooth surface of his mind.
+Trusting to the reflecting good sense of the nation for approbation
+and support, he had the magnanimity to pursue its real interests, in
+opposition to its temporary prejudices; and, though far from being
+regardless of popular favour, he could never stoop to retain, by
+deserving to lose it. In more instances than one, we find him
+committing his whole popularity to hazard, and pursuing steadily, in
+opposition to a torrent which would have overwhelmed a man of ordinary
+firmness, that course which had been dictated by a sense of duty.</p>
+
+<p>In speculation, he was a real republican, devoted to the constitution
+of his country, and to that system of equal political rights on which
+it is founded. But between a balanced republic and a democracy, the
+difference is like that between order and chaos. Real liberty, he
+thought, was to be preserved, only by preserving the authority of the
+laws, and maintaining the energy of government. Scarcely did society
+present two characters which, in his opinion, less resembled each
+other, than a patriot and a demagogue.</p>
+
+<p>No man has ever appeared upon the theatre of public action, whose
+integrity was more incorruptible, or whose principles were more
+perfectly free from the contamination of those selfish and unworthy
+passions, which find their nourishment in the conflicts of party.
+Having no views which required concealment, his real and avowed
+motives were the same; and his whole correspondence does not furnish a
+single case, from which even an enemy would infer that he was capable,
+under any circumstances, of stooping to the employment of duplicity.
+No truth can be uttered with more confidence than that his ends were
+always upright, and his means always pure. He exhibits the rare
+example of a politician to whom wiles were absolutely unknown, and
+whose professions to foreign governments, and to his own countrymen,
+were always sincere. In him was fully exemplified the real
+distinction, which forever exists, between wisdom and cunning, and the
+importance as well as truth of the maxim that &quot;honesty is the best
+policy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>If Washington possessed ambition, that passion was, in his bosom, so
+regulated by principles, or controlled by circumstances, that it was
+neither vicious, nor turbulent. Intrigue was never employed as the
+means of its gratification, nor was personal aggrandizement its
+object. The various high and important stations to which he was called
+by the public voice, were unsought by himself; and, in consenting to
+fill them, he seems rather to have yielded to a general conviction
+that the interests of his country would be thereby promoted, than to
+an avidity for power.</p>
+
+<p>Neither the extraordinary partiality of the American people, the
+extravagant praises which were bestowed upon him, nor the inveterate
+opposition and malignant calumnies which he encountered, had any
+visible influence upon his conduct. The cause is to be looked for in
+the texture of his mind.</p>
+
+<p>In him, that innate and unassuming modesty which adulation would have
+offended, which the voluntary plaudits of millions could not betray
+into indiscretion, and which never obtruded upon others his claims to
+superior consideration, was happily blended with a high and correct
+sense of personal dignity, and with a just consciousness of that
+respect which is due to station. Without exertion, he could maintain
+the happy medium between that arrogance which wounds, and that
+facility which allows the office to be degraded in the person who
+fills it.</p>
+
+<p>It is impossible to contemplate the great events which have occurred
+in the United States under the auspices of Washington, without
+ascribing them, in some measure, to him. If we ask the causes of the
+prosperous issue of a war, against the successful termination of which
+there were so many probabilities? of the good which was produced, and
+the ill which was avoided, during an administration fated to contend
+with the strongest prejudices, that a combination of circumstances,
+and of passions, could produce? of the constant favour of the great
+mass of his fellow citizens, and of the confidence which, to the last
+moment of his life, they reposed in him? the answer, so far as these
+causes may be found in his character, will furnish a lesson well
+meriting the attention of those who are candidates for political fame.</p>
+
+<p>Endowed by nature with a sound judgment, and an accurate
+discriminating mind, he feared not that laborious attention which made
+him perfectly master of those subjects, in all their relations, on
+which he was to decide: and this essential quality was guided by an
+unvarying sense of moral right, which would tolerate the employment,
+only, of those means that would bear the most rigid examination; by a
+fairness of intention which neither sought nor required disguise: and
+by a purity of virtue which was not only untainted, but unsuspected.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="NOTES" id="NOTES"></a>NOTES.</h2>
+
+
+<h3><a name="NOTE1">NOTE</a>&#8212;No. I. <i>See <a href="#p9">Page 9</a>.</i></h3>
+
+<p style="text-align: center"><i>The following are copies of these interesting questions, and of the
+letter which enclosed them.</i></p>
+
+<p style="text-align: right">Philadelphia, 18th April, 1793.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Sir</span>,&#8212;The posture of affairs in Europe, particularly between France
+and Great Britain, place the United States in a delicate situation,
+and require much consideration of the measures which will be proper
+for them to observe in the war between those powers. With a view to
+forming a general plan of conduct for the executive, I have stated and
+enclosed sundry questions to be considered preparatory to a meeting at
+my house to-morrow, where I shall expect to see you at 9 o'clock, and
+to receive the result of your reflections thereon.</p>
+
+<p><i>Ques.</i> I. 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, &amp;c.? shall it contain a declaration of
+neutrality or not? what shall it contain?</p>
+
+<p><i>Ques.</i> II. Shall a minister from the republic of France be received?</p>
+
+<p><i>Ques.</i> III. If received, shall it be absolutely or with
+qualifications; and if with qualifications, of what kind?</p>
+
+<p><i>Ques.</i> IV. 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 until the government of France shall be <i>established</i>?</p>
+
+<p><i>Ques.</i> V. If they have the right, is it expedient to do either? and
+which?</p>
+
+<p><i>Ques.</i> VI. If they have an option, would it be a breach of neutrality
+to consider the treaties still in operation?</p>
+
+<p><i>Ques.</i> VII. If the treaties are to be considered as now in operation,
+is the guarantee in the treaty of alliance applicable to a defensive
+war only, or to war, either offensive or defensive?</p>
+
+<p><i>Ques.</i> VIII. Does the war in which France is engaged appear to be
+offensive or defensive on her part? or of a mixed and equivocal
+character?</p>
+
+<p><i>Ques.</i> IX. If of a mixed and equivocal character, does the guarantee
+in any event apply to such a war?</p>
+
+<p><i>Ques.</i> X. What is the effect of a guarantee, such as that to be found
+in the treaty of alliance between the United States and France?</p>
+
+<p><i>Ques.</i> XI. Does any article in either of the treaties prevent ships
+of war, other than privateers, of the powers opposed to France, from
+coming into the ports of the United States to act as convoys to their
+own merchantmen? or does it lay any other restraints upon them more
+than would apply to the ships of war of France?</p>
+
+<p><i>Ques.</i> XII. Should the future regent of France send a minister to the
+United States, ought he to be received?</p>
+
+<p><i>Ques.</i> XIII. Is it necessary or adviseable to call together the two
+houses of congress with a view to the present posture of European
+affairs? if it is, what should be the particular objects of such a
+call?</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<h3><a name="NOTE2">NOTE</a>&#8212;No. II. <i>See <a href="#p15">Page 15</a>.</i></h3>
+
+<p>The official letter announcing to the convention the appointment of
+Mr. Genet, contained a communication of a very delicate nature, which
+was immediately made public. That the French government had not
+mingled with its desire to separate America from Britain, a
+willingness to see the United States acquire a degree of strength
+which might render them truly independent, and formidable to their
+neighbours, though well known to congress, had been concealed from the
+people at large. It seems, therefore, to have been apprehended by the
+leaders of the revolution in France, that some remnant of that
+affection which had been so lavishly expressed for their fallen
+monarch while exercising sovereign power, might still be cherished in
+the American bosom, and might obstruct the endeavours they were about
+to make to produce a more intimate connexion between the two nations.
+It might be supposed that such sentiments, if they existed, would be
+effectually destroyed by a disclosure of the motives which had
+influenced the conduct of those by whom the aids so highly valued had
+been granted. The letter alluded to contains this passage: &quot;From the
+instructions that were given by the former ministry to the agents in
+that country (America) which the executive council caused to be laid
+before them, they have seen with indignation, that at the very time
+when the good people of America expressed to us their friendship and
+gratitude in the most affectionate manner, Vergennes and Montmorin
+thought, <i>that it was not suitable to France to give to America all
+the consistence of which it was capable, because it would acquire a
+strength which it might probably abuse</i>. They, therefore, enjoined on
+their agents a passive conduct in regard to that nation, and to speak
+of nothing but the personal views of the king for its prosperity. The
+operations of war were directed by the same Machiavellian maxims. The
+same duplicity was employed in the negotiations of peace; in which,
+when signed, the people for whom we had taken up arms were altogether
+neglected.&quot; The official letter brought by Mr. Genet, to the executive
+of the United States, conveyed in less explicit terms the same idea;
+and to prove the correctness of these allegations, he communicated
+copies of official documents expressing in plain terms the solicitude
+of France and Spain to exclude the United States from the Mississippi;
+their jealousies of the growing power and ambition of this country;
+and the wish of France, expressed while the question was pending, that
+the constitution might not be adopted, as it &quot;suits France that the
+United States should remain in their present state, because if they
+should acquire the consistence of which they are susceptible, they
+would soon acquire a force or a power which they would be very ready
+to abuse.&quot; The minister of the king, however, was directed not to avow
+the inclination of his sovereign on this point.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<h3><a name="NOTE3">NOTE</a>&#8212;No. III. <i>See <a href="#p40">Page 40</a>.</i></h3>
+
+<p>Of the excessive and passionate devotion which was felt for the French
+republic, and of the blind and almost equally extensive hostility to
+the measures of the administration, the gazettes of the day are
+replete with the most abundant proof. As an example of this spirit,
+the following toasts are selected, because they were given at a
+festival made by persons of some distinction, at which the governor of
+Pennsylvania and the minister of France were present.</p>
+
+<p>To commemorate the 14th of July, the anniversary of the destruction of
+the Bastille, the officers of the 2d regiment of Philadelphia militia
+assembled at Weed's ferry. Eighty-five rounds were discharged from the
+artillery in honour of the eighty-five departments of France, and the
+following toasts were given:</p>
+
+<p>1st. The <i>fourteenth</i> day of July; may it be a sabbath in the calendar
+of freedom, and a jubilee to the European world.</p>
+
+<p>2d. The <i>tenth</i> of August; may the freemen who offered up their lives
+on the altar of liberty be ever remembered as martyrs, and canonized
+as saints.</p>
+
+<p>3d. May the Bastille of despotism throughout the earth be crumbled
+into dust, and the Phoenix of freedom grow out of the ashes.</p>
+
+<p>4th. Nerve to the arm, fortitude to the heart, and triumph to the soul
+struggling for the rights of man.</p>
+
+<p>5th. May no blind attachment to men lead France to the precipice of
+that tyranny from which they have escaped.</p>
+
+<p>6th. May the sister republics of France and America be as incorporate
+as light and heat, and the man who endeavours to disunite them be
+viewed as the Arnold of his country.</p>
+
+<p>7th. May honour and probity be the principles by which the connexions
+of free nations shall be determined; and no Machiavellian commentaries
+explain the text of treaties.</p>
+
+<p>8th. <i>The treaty of alliance with France</i>: may those who attempt to
+evade or violate the political obligations and faith of our country be
+considered as traitors, and consigned to infamy.</p>
+
+<p>9th. <i>The citizen soldiers</i>, before they act may they know and approve
+the cause, and may remorse attend the man that would think of opposing
+the French while they war for the rights of man.</p>
+
+<p>10th. The <i>youth</i> of the <i>Paris legion</i>; may the rising generation of
+America imitate their heroism and love of country.</p>
+
+<p>11th. The republics of France and America; may the cause of liberty
+ever be a bond of union between the two nations.</p>
+
+<p>12th. A dagger to the bosom of that man who makes patriotism a cover
+to his ambition, and feels his country's happiness absorbed in his
+own.</p>
+
+<p>13th. May <i>French</i>, superior to <i>Roman or Grecian</i> virtue, be the
+electric fluid of freedom, that shall animate and quicken the earth.</p>
+
+<p>14th. Union and mutual confidence to the patriots of France; confusion
+and distress to the counsels of their enemies.</p>
+
+<p>15th. May the succeeding generation wonder that such beings as <i>kings</i>
+were ever permitted to exist.</p>
+
+<p>Volunteer from the chair.</p>
+
+<p>The rule of proportion; as France acted with respect to America, so
+may America act with respect to France!</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<h3><a name="NOTE4">NOTE</a>&#8212;No. IV. <i>See <a href="#p47">Page 47</a>.</i></h3>
+
+<p>Of the sensibility of the president to the calumnies against his
+administration with which the press abounded, and of their new
+direction against him personally, his correspondence furnishes but few
+evidences. The first and almost only notice taken of them is in a
+private letter of the 21st of July, to his friend General Lee, then
+governor of Virginia, an extract from which follows:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That there are in this, as in all other countries, discontented
+characters I well know; as also that these characters are actuated by
+very different views:&#8212;Some good, from an opinion that the measures of
+the general government are impure;&#8212;some bad, and (if I might be
+allowed to use so harsh an expression) diabolical, inasmuch as they
+are not only meant to impede the measures of that government
+generally, but more especially to destroy the confidence which it is
+necessary the people should place (until they have unequivocal proof
+of demerit) in their public servants:&#8212;for in this light I consider
+myself whilst I am an occupant of office; and if they were to go
+further and call me their slave, during this period, I would not
+dispute the point with them. But in what will this abuse terminate?</p>
+
+<p>&quot;For the result, as it respects myself, I care not. I have a
+consolation within of which no earthly efforts can deprive me;&#8212;and
+that is, that neither ambitious nor interested motives have influenced
+my conduct. The arrows of malevolence, therefore, however barbed and
+pointed, can never reach my most valuable part; though, whilst I am
+<i>up</i> as a <i>mark</i>, they will be continually aimed at me. The
+publications in Freneau's and Bache's papers are outrages on common
+decency; and they progress in that style in proportion as their pieces
+are treated with contempt, and passed over in silence by those against
+whom they are directed. Their tendency, however, is too obvious to be
+mistaken by men of cool and dispassionate minds;&#8212;and, in my opinion,
+ought to alarm them; because it is difficult to prescribe bounds to
+their effect.&quot;</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<h3><a name="NOTE5">NOTE</a>&#8212;No. V. <i>See <a href="#p48">Page 48</a>.</i></h3>
+
+<p style="text-align: center">They are as follows:</p>
+
+<p>1st. The original arming and equipping of vessels in the ports of the
+United States by any of the belligerent parties, for military service,
+offensive or defensive, is deemed unlawful.</p>
+
+<p>2d. Equipments of merchant vessels, by either of the belligerent
+parties in the ports of the United States, purely for the
+accommodation of them as such, is deemed lawful.</p>
+
+<p>3d. Equipments in the ports of the United States of vessels of war in
+the immediate service of the government of any of the belligerent
+parties, which if done to other vessels would be of a doubtful nature
+as being applicable either to commerce or war, are deemed lawful,
+except those which shall have made prize of the subjects, people, or
+property of France, coming with their prizes into the ports of the
+United States pursuant to the seventeenth article of our treaty of
+amity and commerce with France.</p>
+
+<p>4th. Equipments in the ports of the United States by any of the
+parties at war with France of vessels fitted for merchandise and war,
+whether with or without commissions, which are doubtful in their
+nature as being applicable either to commerce or war, are deemed
+lawful, except those which shall have made prize, &amp;c.</p>
+
+<p>5th. Equipments of any of the vessels of France, in the ports of the
+United States, which are doubtful in their nature as being applicable
+to commerce or war, are deemed lawful.</p>
+
+<p>6th. Equipments of every kind in the ports of the United States, of
+privateers of the powers at war with France, are deemed unlawful.</p>
+
+<p>7th. Equipments of vessels in the ports of the United States, which
+are of a nature solely adapted to war, are deemed unlawful; except
+those stranded or wrecked, as mentioned in the eighteenth article of
+our treaty with France, the sixteenth of our treaty with the United
+Netherlands, the ninth of our treaty with Prussia, and except those
+mentioned in the nineteenth article of our treaty with France, the
+seventeenth of our treaty with the United Netherlands, the eighteenth
+of our treaty with Prussia.</p>
+
+<p>8th. Vessels of either of the parties, not armed, or armed previous to
+their coming into the ports of the United States, which shall not have
+infringed any of the foregoing rules, may lawfully engage or enlist
+therein their own subjects or citizens, not being inhabitants of the
+United States, except privateers of the powers at war with France, and
+except those vessels which shall have made prize, &amp;c.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<h3><a name="NOTE6">NOTE</a>&#8212;No. VI. <i>See <a href="#p64">Page 64</a>.</i></h3>
+
+<p>The earnestness as well as force with which the argument against this
+measure was pressed on the British cabinet, and the extreme irritation
+it produced on the public mind, contrasted with the silence of the
+executive respecting a much more exceptionable decree of the national
+convention, and the composure of the people of the United States under
+that decree, exhibits a striking proof of the difference with which
+not only the people, but an administration, which the phrensy of the
+day accused of partiality to England, contemplated at that time the
+measures of the two nations.</p>
+
+<p>On the 9th of May, 1793, the national convention passed a decree
+relative to the commerce of neutrals; the first article of which is in
+these words: &quot;The French ships of war and privateers may stop and
+bring into the ports of the republic, such neutral vessels as are
+loaded, in whole or in part either with provisions belonging to
+neutrals and destined for enemy ports, or with merchandise belonging
+to enemies.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>On the 23d of May, in consequence of the remonstrances of Mr. Morris,
+the convention declared, &quot;that the vessels of the United States are
+not comprised in the regulations of the decree of the 9th of May.&quot; On
+the 28th of the same month the decree of the 23d was repealed, and on
+the first of July it was re-established. But on the 27th of July it
+was again repealed, and thus the decree of the 9th of May was left in
+full operation against the vessels of the United States.</p>
+
+<p>So far was this regulation from affecting the sentiments of America
+for France, that its existence was scarcely known.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<h3><a name="NOTE7">NOTE</a>&#8212;No. VII. <i>See <a href="#p90">Page 90</a>.</i></h3>
+
+<p>Before these resolutions were offered, the strength of parties was in
+some measure tried in a fuller house than that which had elected the
+speaker.</p>
+
+<p>A rule had been entered into by a former congress providing, that on
+the discussion of confidential communications from the president, the
+house should be cleared of all persons except the members and clerk.
+On taking up a confidential message relative to the truce between
+Portugal and Algiers, the doors as usual were closed. The next day
+when the subject was resumed, Mr. Nicholas expressed his opinion that
+there was no necessity for shutting the galleries; upon which the rule
+was mentioned with a request that it should be read. Mr. Madison moved
+a reconsideration of this rule. In the course of the debate on the
+motion, it was said by its advocates that secrecy in a republican
+government wounds the majesty of the sovereign people&#8212;that this
+government is in the hands of the people&#8212;and that they have a right
+to know all the transactions relative to their own affairs. This right
+ought not to be infringed incautiously, for such secrecy tends to
+diminish the confidence of the people in their own government.</p>
+
+<p>In reply to these remarks it was said, that because this government is
+republican, it will not be pretended that it can have no secrets. The
+President of the United States is the depositary of secret
+transactions. His duty may lead him to communicate them to the members
+of the house, and the success, safety, and energy of the government
+may depend on keeping those secrets inviolable. The people have a
+right to be well governed. They have interests as well as rights, and
+it is the duty of the legislature to take every possible measure to
+promote those interests. To discuss the secret transactions of the
+government publicly, was the ready way to sacrifice the public
+interest, and to deprive the government of all foreign information.
+Afterwards the rule was amended so far as to leave it in the
+discretion of the house, after receiving a confidential message, to
+debate upon it in private or in public.</p>
+
+<p>Among the resolutions reported from the committee of the whole house
+on this occasion, was one for appointing a committee to report the
+naval force which would be necessary for the protection of the
+commerce of the United States against the Algerine corsairs, together
+with an estimate of the expense. It was moved to amend this resolution
+by adding, &quot;and the ways and means for defraying the same.&quot; This
+motion revived the old party question of calling on the secretary of
+the treasury to report ways and means. The amendment was carried, Ayes
+46. Noes 44.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<h3><a name="NOTE8">NOTE</a>&#8212;No. VIII. <i>See <a href="#p147">Page 147</a>.</i></h3>
+
+<p>The private correspondence of Mr. Morris with the president exhibits a
+faithful picture, drawn by the hand of a master, of the shifting
+revolutionary scenes which with unparalleled rapidity succeeded each
+other in Paris. With the eye of an intelligent, and of an
+unimpassioned observer, he marked all passing events, and communicated
+them with fidelity. He did not mistake despotism for freedom, because
+it was sanguinary, because it was exercised by those who denominated
+themselves the people, or because it assumed the name of liberty.
+Sincerely wishing happiness and a really free government to France, he
+could not be blind to the obvious truth that the road to those
+blessings had been mistaken. It was expected by his enemies that the
+correspondence which was asked for would disclose something which
+might be deemed offensive to the rulers of the republic, and
+consequently furnish additional matter for charging the administration
+with unfriendliness to France.</p>
+
+<p>The resolution requesting all the correspondence, not even excluding
+that which the president might think proper to withhold, involved
+considerations of some delicacy, respecting which it was proper that
+the rights of the executive should be precisely understood. It was,
+therefore, laid before the cabinet, and, in conformity with their
+advice, the President sent a message to the senate informing them that
+he had examined the correspondence they requested, and had caused it
+to be copied, except in those particulars which in his judgment, for
+public considerations, ought not to be communicated; which copies he
+transmitted to them. The nature of these papers, he added, manifested
+the propriety of their being received as confidential.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<h3><a name="NOTE9">NOTE</a>&#8212;No. IX. <i>See <a href="#p164">Page 164</a>.</i></h3>
+
+<p>This opinion derived fresh confirmation from a notification
+transmitted in August, 1794, by the governor of Upper Canada to
+Captain Williamson, who was establishing a settlement on the Great
+Sodus, a bay of lake Ontario, about twenty miles from Oswego, and
+within the state of New York. Captain Williamson not being at the
+place, Lieutenant Sheaff, the bearer of the message, addressed a
+letter to him, in which he said, that he had come with instructions
+from the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada to demand by what
+authority an establishment had been ordered at that place, and to
+require that such a design be immediately relinquished for the reasons
+stated in the written declaration accompanying the letter.</p>
+
+<p>The written declaration was in these words:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am commanded to declare that, during the inexecution of the treaty
+of peace between Great Britain and the United States, and until the
+existing differences respecting it shall be mutually and finally
+adjusted, the taking possession of any part of the Indian territory,
+either for the purposes of war or sovereignty, is held to be a direct
+violation of his Britannic majesty's rights, as they unquestionably
+existed before the treaty, and has an immediate tendency to interrupt,
+and in its progress to destroy that good understanding which has
+hitherto subsisted between his Britannic majesty and the United States
+of America. I, therefore, require you to desist from any such
+aggression.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In the same spirit, complaints had been made as early as 1792, of
+encroachments made by the people of Vermont on a country confessedly
+within the territorial line of the United States, but inhabited by
+persons said to live under the protection of the British garrisons.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<h3><a name="NOTE10">NOTE</a>&#8212;No. X. <i>See <a href="#p205">Page 205</a>.</i></h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><i>On receiving the resignation of the secretary, the
+President addressed a letter to him expressive of the sense
+he entertained of his services. This letter is not found in
+the letter book, but its purport may be collected from the
+following answer.</i></p></div>
+
+<p style="text-align: right">Philadelphia, February 3d, 1795.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,&#8212;My particular acknowledgments are due for your very kind letter
+of yesterday. As often as I may recall the vexations I have endured,
+your approbation will be a great and precious consolation.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was not without a struggle that I yielded to the very urgent
+motives which impelled me to relinquish a station in which I could
+hope to be in any degree instrumental in promoting the success of an
+administration under your direction; a struggle which would have been
+far greater had I supposed that the prospect of future usefulness was
+proportioned to the sacrifices to be made.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Whatever may be my destination hereafter, I entreat you to be
+persuaded (not the less for my having been sparing in professions)
+that I shall never cease to render a just tribute to those eminent and
+excelling qualities which have been already productive of so many
+blessings to your country&#8212;that you will always have my fervent wishes
+for your public and personal felicity, and that it will be my pride to
+cultivate a continuance of that esteem, regard and friendship, of
+which you do me the honour to assure me.&quot;</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<h3><a name="NOTE11">NOTE</a>&#8212;No. XI. <i>See <a href="#p216">Page 216</a>.</i></h3>
+
+<p>The following toasts which were given at a civic feast in Philadelphia
+on the first of May, attended by a great number of American citizens,
+to celebrate the victories of France, and which was honoured by the
+presence of the minister and consul of the French republic, and of the
+consul of Holland, then subdued by the arms of France, will furnish
+some idea of the prevailing spirit of the times.</p>
+
+<p>1st. The republic of France; whose triumphs have made this day a
+jubilee; may she destroy the race of kings, and may their broken
+sceptres and crowns, like the bones and teeth of the Mammoth, be the
+only evidences that such monsters ever infested the earth.</p>
+
+<p>2d. The republic of France; may the shores of Great Britain soon hail
+the tricoloured standard, and the people rend the air with shouts of
+long live the republic.</p>
+
+<p>3d. The republic of France; may her navy clear the ocean of pirates,
+that the common highway of nations may no longer, like the highways of
+Great Britain, be a receptacle for robbers.</p>
+
+<p>4th. The republic of France; may all free nations learn of her to
+transfer their attachment from men to principles, and from individuals
+to the people.</p>
+
+<p>5th. The republic of France; may her example in the abolition of
+titles and splendour be a lesson to all republics to destroy those
+leavens of corruption.</p>
+
+<p>6th. The republic of Holland; may the flame of liberty which they have
+rekindled never be permitted to expire for want of vigilance and
+energy.</p>
+
+<p>7th. The republic of Holland; may her two sisters, the republics of
+France and America, form with her an invincible triumvirate in the
+cause of liberty.</p>
+
+<p>8th. The republic of Holland; may she again give birth to a Van Tromp
+and De Ruyter, who shall make the satellites of George tremble at
+their approach, and seek their safety in flight.</p>
+
+<p>9th. The republic of Holland; may that fortitude which sustained her
+in the dire conflict with Philip II. and the success that crowned her
+struggles, be multiplied upon her, in the hour of her regeneration.</p>
+
+<p>10th. The republic of Holland; may that government which they are
+about establishing have neither the balances of aristocracy, nor the
+checks of monarchy.</p>
+
+<p>11th. The republic of America; may the sentiment that impelled her to
+resist a British tyrant's will, and the energy which rendered it
+effectual, prompt her to repel usurpation in whatever shape it may
+assail her.</p>
+
+<p>12th. The republic of America; may the aristocracy of wealth founded
+upon the virtues, the toils, and the blood of her revolutionary armies
+soon vanish, and like the baseless fabric of a vision, leave not a
+wreck behind.</p>
+
+<p>13th. The republic of America; may her government have public good for
+its object, and be purged of the dregs of sophisticated republicanism.</p>
+
+<p>14th. The republic of America; may the alliance formed between her and
+France acquire vigour with age, and that man be branded as the enemy
+of liberty who shall endeavour to weaken or unhinge it.</p>
+
+<p>15th. The republic of America; may her administration have virtue
+enough to defy the ordeal of patriotic societies, and patriotism
+enough to cherish instead of denouncing them.</p>
+
+<p>It was not in Philadelphia alone that this temper was manifested. In
+every part of the United States, the love of France appeared to be a
+passion much more active with immense numbers, than that of America.
+Her victories were celebrated with enthusiasm, her heroes were toasted
+on public occasions, and moderation with regard to England was deemed
+a crime not readily to be pardoned.</p>
+
+<p>General Washington received an invitation to attend this feast in the
+following terms.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Sir</span>,&#8212;The subscribers, a committee in behalf of a number of American,
+French, and Dutch citizens, request the honour of your company to a
+civic festival, to be given on Friday, April 17th, appointed to
+celebrate the late victories of the French republic, and the
+emancipation of Holland.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<h3><a name="NOTE12">NOTE</a>&#8212;No. XII. <i>See <a href="#p231">Page 231</a>.</i></h3>
+
+<p>A letter addressed to his government in October, 1794, by the minister
+of the French republic was intercepted by the captain of a British
+frigate and forwarded to Mr. Hammond, by whom it was delivered about
+the last of July to the secretary of the treasury, who, on the arrival
+of the President in Philadelphia, placed it in his hands. This letter
+alluded to communications from Mr. Randolph which, in the opinion of
+the President, were excessively improper. The ecclaircissements which
+the occasion required were followed by the resignation of the
+secretary. For the purpose, he alleged, of vindicating his conduct, he
+demanded a sight of a confidential letter which had been addressed to
+him by the President, and which was left in the office. His avowed
+design was to give this as well as some others of the same description
+to the public in order to support the allegation, that in consequence
+of his attachment to France and to liberty, he had fallen a victim to
+the intrigues of a British and an aristocratic party. The answer given
+to this demand was a license which few politicians in turbulent times
+could allow to a man who had possessed the unlimited confidence of the
+person giving it. &quot;I have directed,&quot; said the President, &quot;that you
+should have the inspection of my letter of the 22d of July, agreeable
+to your request: and you are at full liberty to publish without
+reserve <i>any</i> and <i>every</i> private and confidential letter I ever wrote
+<i>you</i>: nay more&#8212;every word I ever uttered to or in your presence,
+from whence you can derive any advantage in your vindication.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As the asperity with which Mr. Randolph spoke of the President on
+other occasions as well as in his vindication, was censured by many,
+it may rescue the reputation of that gentleman from imputations which
+might be injurious to it to say that, some time before his death, he
+had the magnanimity to acknowledge the injustice of those imputations.
+A letter to the honourable Bushrod Washington, of July 2d, 1810, a
+copy of which was transmitted by Mr. Randolph to the author, contains
+the following declarations among others of similar import. &quot;I do not
+retain the smallest degree of that feeling which roused me fifteen
+years ago against some individuals. For the world contains no
+treasure, deception, or charm which can seduce me from the consolation
+of being in a state of good will towards all mankind; and I should not
+be mortified to ask pardon of any man with whom I have been at
+variance for any injury which I may have done him. If I could now
+present myself before your venerated uncle, it would be my pride to
+confess my contrition that I suffered my irritation, let the cause be
+what it might, to use some of those expressions respecting him which,
+at this moment of my indifference to the ideas of the world, I wish to
+recall, as being inconsistent with my subsequent conviction. My life
+will I hope be sufficiently extended for the recording of my sincere
+opinion of his virtues and merit, in a style which is not the result
+of a mind merely debilitated by misfortune, but of that Christian
+philosophy on which alone I depend for inward tranquillity.&quot;</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<h3><a name="NOTE13">NOTE</a>&#8212;No. XIII. <i>See <a href="#p231">Page 231</a>.</i></h3>
+
+<p>This place was offered to Mr. Henry, a gentleman of eminent talents,
+great influence, and commanding eloquence. He had led the opposition
+to the constitution in Virginia, but, after its adoption, his
+hostility had in some measure subsided. He was truly a personal friend
+of the President, and had lately manifested a temper not inimical to
+the administration. The chief magistrate was anxious to engage him in
+the public service, but was aware of the embarrassments which must
+result from placing in so confidential a station, a person whose
+opinions might lead him to thwart every measure of the executive. It
+was, therefore, necessary to come to some explanations with Mr. Henry
+on this subject, and the letter which invited him into the department
+of state opened the way for this explanation by stating truly the
+views and character of the administration. &quot;I persuade myself, sir,&quot;
+said the President, &quot;it has not escaped your observation, that a
+crisis is approaching which must, if it can not be arrested, soon
+decide whether order and good government shall be preserved, or
+anarchy and confusion ensue. I can most religiously aver that I have
+no wish incompatible with the dignity, happiness, and true interests
+of the people of this country. My ardent desire is, and my aim has
+been (as far as depended upon the executive department) to comply
+strictly with all our foreign and domestic engagements; but to keep
+the United States free from political connexions with <i>every</i> other
+country;&#8212;to see them independent of <i>all</i>, and under the influence of
+<i>none</i>. In a word, I want an <i>American</i> character; that the powers of
+Europe may be convinced we act for <i>ourselves</i> and not for <i>others</i>.
+This, in my judgment, is the only way to be respected abroad, and
+happy at home; and not by becoming the partisans of Great Britain or
+France, create dissensions, disturb the public tranquillity, and
+destroy, perhaps forever, the cement that binds the union.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am satisfied these sentiments can not be otherwise than congenial
+to your own. Your aid, therefore, in carrying them into effect would
+be flattering and pleasing to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This accurate chart of the road he was invited to travel, presented in
+itself no impediments which to Mr. Henry appeared insurmountable. By
+private considerations alone was he restrained from proceeding in it.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<h3><a name="NOTE14">NOTE</a>&#8212;No. XIV. <i>See <a href="#p272">Page 272</a>.</i></h3>
+
+<p>The course of the war in Europe had brought the two parties into
+opposition on a point on which no difference had originally existed
+between them, which gave more countenance to the charge that the
+advocates of the American government were unfriendly to France than it
+could justly claim when first made. Those who in 1793 had supported
+the proclamation of neutrality, and the whole system connected with
+it, were then, generally speaking, ardent and sincere in their wishes
+for the success of the French arms. But as the troops of the republic
+subdued Belgium and Holland; as they conquered Italy, and established
+the complete influence of France over the monarchy of Spain, this
+union of sentiment gradually disappeared. By one party it was
+contended that America could feel no interest in seeing Europe
+subjected to any one power. That to such a power, the Atlantic would
+afford no impassable barriers; and that no form of government was a
+security against national ambition. They, therefore, wished this
+series of victories to be interrupted; and that the balance of Europe
+should not be absolutely overturned. Additional strength was
+undoubtedly given to this course of reasoning by the aggressions of
+France on the United States.</p>
+
+<p>In the opinion of the opposite party, the triumphs of France were the
+triumphs of liberty. In their view every nation which was subdued, was
+a nation liberated from oppression. The fears of danger to the United
+States from the further aggrandizement of a single power were treated
+as chimerical, because that power being a republic must, consequently,
+be the friend of republics in every part of the globe, and a stranger
+to that lust of domination which was the characteristic passion of
+monarchies. Shifting with address the sentiment really avowed by their
+opponents, they ridiculed a solicitude for the existence of a balance
+of power in Europe, as an opinion that America ought to embark herself
+in the crusade of kings against France in order to preserve that
+balance.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<h3><a name="NOTE15">NOTE</a>&#8212;No. XV. <i>See <a href="#p326">Page 326</a>.</i></h3>
+
+<p>The following extract from a letter written to General Knox the day
+before the termination of his office, exhibits the sentiments with
+which he contemplated this event, and with which he viewed the
+unceasing calumnies with which his whole administration continued to
+be aspersed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;To the wearied traveller who sees a resting place, and is bending his
+body to lean thereon, I now compare myself; but to be suffered to do
+<i>this</i> in peace, is too much to be endured by <i>some</i>. To misrepresent
+my motives; to reprobate my politics; and to weaken the confidence
+which has been reposed in my administration;&#8212;are objects which can
+not be relinquished by those who will be satisfied with nothing short
+of a change in our political system. The consolation, however, which
+results from conscious rectitude, and the approving voice of my
+country unequivocally expressed by its representatives&#8212;deprives their
+sting of its poison, and places in the same point of view both the
+weakness and the malignity of their efforts.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Although the prospect of retirement is most grateful to my soul, and
+I have not a wish to mix again in the great world, or to partake in
+its politics, yet I am not without my regrets at parting with (perhaps
+never more to meet) the few intimates whom I love. Among these, be
+assured you are one.&quot;</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<h3><a name="NOTE16">NOTE</a>&#8212;No. XVI. <i>See <a href="#p329">Page 329</a>.</i></h3>
+
+<p>In the speech delivered by the President on taking the oaths of
+office, after some judicious observations on the constitution of his
+country, and on the dangers to which it was exposed, that able
+statesman thus spoke of his predecessor.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Such is the amiable and interesting system of government (and such
+are some of the abuses to which it may be exposed) which the people of
+America have exhibited, to the admiration and anxiety of the wise and
+virtuous of all nations, for eight years, under the administration of
+a citizen, who, by a long course of great actions, regulated by
+prudence, justice, temperance and fortitude, conducting a people
+inspired with the same virtues, and animated with the same ardent
+patriotism and love of liberty, to independence and peace, to
+increasing wealth and unexampled prosperity, has merited the gratitude
+of his fellow-citizens, commanded the highest praises of foreign
+nations, and secured immortal glory with posterity.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In that retirement which is his voluntary choice, may he long live to
+enjoy the delicious recollection of his services, the gratitude of
+mankind, the happy fruits of them to himself and the world, which are
+daily increasing, and that splendid prospect of the future fortunes of
+his country which is opening from year to year. His name may be still
+a rampart, and the knowledge that he lives a bulwark against all open
+or secret enemies of his country's peace.&quot;</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<h3><a name="NOTE17">NOTE</a>&#8212;No. XVII. <i>See <a href="#p330">Page 330</a>.</i></h3>
+
+<p>To testify their love for the person who had for eight years
+administered the government of the United States, the merchants of
+Philadelphia had prepared a splendid banquet for the day, to which the
+general, several officers of rank in the late army, the heads of
+departments, foreign ministers, and other persons of distinction were
+invited.</p>
+
+<p>In the rotundo in which it was given, an elegant compliment was
+prepared for the <i>principal guest</i>, which is thus described in the
+papers of the day.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Upon entering the area the general was conducted to his seat. On a
+signal given, music played Washington's march, and a scene which
+represented simple objects in the rear of the principal seat was drawn
+up, and discovered emblematical painting.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The principal was a female figure large as life, representing
+America, seated on an elevation composed of sixteen marble steps. At
+her left side, stood the federal shield and eagle, and at her feet,
+lay the cornucopia; in her right hand, she held the Indian calumet of
+peace supporting the cap of liberty: in the perspective appeared the
+temple of fame; and on her left hand, an altar dedicated to public
+gratitude, upon which incense was burning. In her left hand she held a
+scroll inscribed valedictory; and at the foot of the altar lay a
+plumed helmet and sword, from which a figure of General Washington,
+large as life, appeared, retiring down the steps, pointing with his
+right hand to the emblems of power which he had resigned, and with his
+left to a beautiful landscape representing Mount Vernon, in front of
+which oxen were seen harnessed to the plough. Over the general
+appeared a <i>Genius</i> placing a wreath of laurels on his head.&quot;</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<h3><a name="NOTE18">NOTE</a>&#8212;No. XVIII. <i>See <a href="#p348">Page 348</a>.</i></h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><i>(All footnotes on pages covered by Note No. XVIII are
+references to the correspondence of Thomas Jefferson.)</i></p></div>
+
+<p>A letter from Mr. Jefferson to Mr. Mazzei, an Italian who had passed
+some time in the United States, was published in Florence, and
+republished in the Moniteur, with some severe strictures on the
+conduct of the United States, and a remark &quot;that the French government
+had testified its resentment by breaking off communication with an
+ungrateful and faithless ally until she shall return to a more just
+and benevolent conduct. No doubt,&quot; adds the editor, &quot;it will give rise
+in the United States to discussions which may afford a triumph to the
+party of good republicans, the friends of France.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Some writers, in disapprobation of this wise and necessary measure of
+the Directory, maintain that, in the United States, the French have
+for partisans only certain demagogues who aim to overthrow the
+existing government. But their impudent falsehoods convince no one,
+and prove only, what is too evident, that they use the liberty of the
+press to serve the enemies of France.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Jefferson, in his correspondence,<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> has animadverted on the
+preceding note with such extreme bitterness, as to impose on its
+author the necessity of entering into some explanations. Censure from
+a gentleman who has long maintained an unexampled ascendency over
+public opinion, can not be entirely disregarded.</p>
+
+<p>The offence consists in the reference to the letter written by him to
+Mr. Mazzei, which was published in Florence, and republished in Paris
+by the editor of the Moniteur, then the official paper of the
+Directory. In this letter, Mr. Jefferson says, a paragraph was
+interpolated which makes him charge his own country with ingratitude
+and injustice to France.</p>
+
+<p>By the word &quot;country,&quot; Mr. Jefferson is understood to allude to the
+government, not to the people of America.</p>
+
+<p>This letter, containing the sentence now alleged to be interpolated,
+was published throughout the United States in the summer of 1797. It
+became immediately, as may well be supposed, the subject of universal
+conversation. The writer, and the individual to whom it particularly
+alludes, filled too large a space in the public mind for such a paper
+not to excite general attention and deep interest. It did excite both.</p>
+
+<p>Had it been fabricated, Mr. Jefferson, it was supposed, could not have
+permitted it to remain uncontradicted. It came in a form too
+authentic, the matter it contained affected his own reputation and
+that of the illustrious individual who is its principal subject, too
+vitally to permit the imputation to remain unnoticed. It would not, it
+could not have remained unnoticed, if untrue. Yet its genuineness was
+never questioned by Mr. Jefferson, or by any of his numerous friends.
+Not even to General Washington, as is now avowed, was it ever denied.
+Had it been denied to him, his strong sense of justice and of right
+would have compelled him to relieve the reputation of the supposed
+writer from a charge of such serious import.</p>
+
+<p>It was, of course, universally received as a genuine letter. An open
+avowal of it could not have added to the general conviction.</p>
+
+<p>The letter having this irresistible claim on the general confidence,
+no one part of it was entitled to less credit than every other. The
+interpolation of a particular sentence was neither suggested nor
+suspected. The whole was published in Europe and republished in
+America as the letter of Mr. Jefferson, with his name subscribed. The
+genuineness of no part of it was ever called into question. How then
+could the public or any individual have ventured to select a
+particular sentence, and to say&#8212;this is spurious?</p>
+
+<p>Had it been suggested by Mr. Jefferson or his confidential friends
+that the letter was in general his, but that one sentence was
+fabricated, there is not perhaps an individual in the United States
+who would have pointed to that which censured the conduct of our
+government towards France, as the fabricated sentence. That which
+placed the then chief magistrate at the head of the &quot;Anglican,
+monarchical, and aristocratical party which had sprung up,&quot; would have
+been much more probably selected. This conjecture is hazarded because,
+at the date of the letter,<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> Mr. Jefferson shared the confidence of
+General Washington, and was on terms of intimate professed friendship
+with him; while his censures of the conduct of the United States
+towards France were open and unreserved. The sentence there said to be
+interpolated would, if really written by him, have involved no
+imputation on his sincerity,&#8212;would have consisted perfectly with his
+general declarations. These declarations were so notorious, especially
+after the mission of Mr. Jay to Great Britain, and the reception of
+the treaty negotiated by him, that there was perhaps not an individual
+in the United States, at all conversant with public affairs, to whom
+they were unknown. Without reference to other proofs, sufficient
+evidence of this fact is furnished by that portion of his
+correspondence which has been selected for publication. Some examples
+will be quoted.</p>
+
+<p>In a letter of the 27th of April, 1795,<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> he says, &quot;I sincerely
+congratulate you on the great prosperities of our two first allies,
+the French and the Dutch.<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> If I could but see them now at peace
+with the rest of their continent, I should have little doubt of dining
+with Pichegru in London next autumn; for I believe I should be tempted
+to leave my clover for a while, to go and hail the dawn of
+republicanism in that island.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In a letter of September 21st, 1795,<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> after speaking of the
+discussions in the papers concerning the treaty, and alluding to the
+efforts made to give it effect as the boldest act of Hamilton and Jay
+to undermine the government, he says, &quot;a bolder party stroke was never
+struck. For it certainly is an attempt by a party who find they have
+lost their majority in one branch of the legislature, to make a law by
+the aid of the other branch and of the executive, under colour of a
+treaty, which shall bind up the hands of the adverse branch from ever
+restraining the commerce of their patron nation.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>On the 30th of November, 1795,<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> he says, &quot;I join with you in
+thinking the treaty an execrable thing.&quot; &quot;I trust the popular branch
+of the legislature will disapprove of it, and thus rid us of this
+infamous act, which is really nothing more than an alliance between
+England and the Anglo men of this country, against the legislature and
+people of the United States.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>On the 21st of December, 1795,<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a> speaking of a contemporary member
+of the cabinet, he says, &quot;The fact is that he has generally given his
+principles to the one party and his practice to the other, the oyster
+to one, and the shell to the other. Unfortunately, the shell was
+generally the lot of his friends, the French and Republicans, and the
+oyster of their antagonists.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>On the 21st of March, 1796,<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> he says, &quot;The British treaty has been
+formally at length laid before congress. All America is a tiptoe to
+see what the house of representatives will decide on it.&quot; Speaking of
+the right of the legislature to determine whether it shall go into
+effect or not, and of the vast importance of the determination, he
+adds, &quot;It is fortunate that the first decision is to be made in a case
+so palpably atrocious as to have been predetermined by all America.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>On the 27th of the same month he says,<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> &quot;If you decide in favour of
+your right to refuse co-operation, I should wonder on what occasion it
+is to be used, if not in one, where the rights, the interest, the
+honour and faith of our nation are so grossly sacrificed; where a
+faction has entered into a conspiracy with the enemies of their
+country to chain down the legislature at the feet of both; where the
+whole mass of your constituents have condemned the work in the most
+unequivocal manner, and are looking to you as their last hope to save
+them from the effects of the avarice and corruption of the first
+agent, the revolutionary machinations of others, and the
+incomprehensible acquiescence of the only honest man who has assented
+to it. I wish that his honesty and his political errors may not
+furnish a second occasion to exclaim, 'curse on his virtues, they have
+undone his country.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p>On the 12th of June, 1796,<a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> he says, &quot;Congress have risen. You will
+have seen by their proceedings what I always observed to you, that one
+man outweighs them all in influence over the people, who have
+supported his judgment against their own, and that of their
+representatives. Republicanism must lie on its oars, resign the vessel
+to its pilot, and themselves to the course he thinks best for them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>On the 22d of January, 1797,<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> he says, &quot;I sincerely deplore the
+situation of our affairs with France. War with them and consequent
+alliance with Great Britain will completely compass the object of the
+executive council from the commencement of the war between France and
+England; taken up by some of them from that moment; by others more
+latterly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>On the 17th of June, 1797,<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> he says, &quot;I have always hoped that the
+popularity of the late President being once withdrawn from active
+effect, the natural feelings of the people towards liberty would
+restore the equilibrium between the executive and legislative
+departments which had been destroyed by the superior weight and effect
+of that popularity; and that their natural feelings of moral
+obligation would discountenance the unnatural predilection of the
+executive in favour of Great Britain. But, unfortunately, the
+preceding measures had already alienated the nation who were the
+object of them, and the reaction has on the minds of our citizens an
+effect which supplies that of the Washington popularity.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;P.S. Since writing the above we have received a report that the
+French Directory has proposed a declaration of war against the United
+States to the Council of Ancients, who have rejected it. Thus we see
+two nations who love one another affectionately, brought by the ill
+temper of their executive administrations to the very brink of a
+necessity to imbrue their hands in the blood of each other.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>On the 14th of February, 1799,<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> he says, &quot;The President has
+appointed, and the senate approved, Rufus King, to enter into a treaty
+of commerce with the Russians, at London, and William Smith (Phocion)
+envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to go to
+Constantinople to make one with the Turks. So that as soon as there is
+a coalition of Turks, Russians, and English against France, we seize
+that moment to countenance it as openly as we dare, by treaties which
+we never had with them before. All this helps to fill up the measure
+of provocation towards France, and to get from them a declaration of
+war which we are afraid to be the first in making.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>If these sentiments, in perfect coincidence with the pretensions of
+France, and censuring the neutral course of the American government,
+were openly avowed by Mr. Jefferson; if, when they appeared embodied
+in a letter addressed to a correspondent in Europe, and republished
+throughout the United States, they remained, even after becoming the
+topic of universal interest and universal excitement, totally
+uncontradicted, who could suspect that any one sentence, particularly
+that avowing a sentiment so often expressed by the writer, had been
+interpolated?</p>
+
+<p>Yet Mr. Jefferson, unmindful of these circumstances, after some
+acrimonious remarks on Colonel Pickering, has said,<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a> &quot;and even
+Judge Marshall makes history descend from its dignity, and the ermine
+from its sanctity, to exaggerate, to record, and to sanction this
+forgery.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The note itself will best demonstrate the inaccuracy of this
+commentary. To this text an appeal is fearlessly made.</p>
+
+<p>This unmerited invective is followed by an accusation not less
+extraordinary. It is made a cause of crimination that the author has
+copied the remark of the Parisian editor, instead of the letter
+itself.</p>
+
+<p>To remove this reproach, he will now insert the letter, not as
+published in Europe, and transferred from the French to the American
+papers, but as preserved and avowed by Mr. Jefferson, and given to the
+world by his grandson. It is in these words.</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: right">&quot;Monticello, April 24th, 1796.<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a></p>
+
+<p>&quot;My Dear Friend,</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The aspect of our politics has wonderfully changed since you left us.
+In place of that noble love of liberty and republican government which
+carried us triumphantly through the war, an Anglican, monarchical, and
+aristocratical party has sprung up, whose avowed object is to draw
+over us the substance as it has already done the forms of the British
+government. The main body of our citizens, however, remain true to
+their republican principles; the whole landed interest is republican,
+and so is a great mass of talents. Against us are the executive, the
+judiciary, two out of three branches of the legislature, all the
+officers of the government, all who want to be officers, all timid men
+who prefer the calm of despotism to the boisterous sea of liberty,
+British merchants and Americans trading on British capitals,
+speculators and holders in the banks and public funds, a contrivance
+invented for the purposes of corruption, and for assimilating us in
+all things to the rotten as well as sound parts of the British model.
+It would give you a fever were I to name to you the apostates who have
+gone over to these heresies, men who were Samsons in the field and
+Solomons in council, but who have had their heads shorn by the harlot
+England. In short, we are likely to preserve the liberty we have
+obtained only by unremitting labours and perils. But we shall preserve
+it; and our mass of weight and wealth on the good side is so great as
+to leave no danger that force will ever be attempted against us. We
+have only to awake and snap the Lilliputian cords with which they have
+been entangling us during the first sleep which succeeded our labours.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I will forward the testimonials, &amp;c.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The reader is requested to pause, to reflect on the state of things at
+the date of this letter, and to ask himself if its inevitable tendency
+be not to strengthen the impression in the Directory of France which
+had influenced its conduct towards the United States?&#8212;If it be not in
+the same spirit with the interpolated sentence, carried to a greater
+extreme, and calculated to produce the same effect?&#8212;If the editor who
+made the interpolation might not reasonably suppose that he was only
+applying expressly to France a sentiment already indicated in terms
+too plain to be misunderstood?</p>
+
+<p>France and Great Britain were then waging deadly war against each
+other. In this mortal conflict, each sought to strengthen herself, or
+weaken her adversary by any influence to be acquired over foreign
+powers&#8212;by obtaining allies when allies were attainable, or securing
+neutrality where co-operation was not to be expected. The temper with
+which the American people contemplated this awful spectacle can not be
+forgotten. The war of our revolution, in which France fought by the
+side of America against Great Britain, was fresh in their
+recollection. Her unexamined professions of republicanism enlisted all
+their affections in her favour, and all their antipathies against the
+monarchs with whom she was contending. Feelings which were believed to
+be virtuous, and which certainly wore the imposing garb of patriotism,
+impelled them with almost irresistible force against that wise
+neutrality which the executive government had laboured to preserve,
+and had persisted in preserving with wonderful and unexampled
+firmness. France might, not unreasonably, indulge the hope that our
+government would be forced out of its neutral course, and be compelled
+to enter into the war as her ally. The letter to Mazzei could scarcely
+fail to encourage this hope.</p>
+
+<p>The suggestion had been repeatedly made, and France not only
+countenanced but acted on it, that the American people were ready to
+take part with her, and were with difficulty restrained by their
+government. That the government had fallen into the hands of an
+English party who were the more closely attached to their favourite
+nation, because they were unfriendly to republicanism, and sought to
+assimilate the government of the United States to that of England.
+Partiality to England was ingratitude to France. Monarchical
+propensities were of course anti-republican, and led to a system of
+policy separating the United States from republican France, and
+connecting them with her monarchical enemies.</p>
+
+<p>These sentiments were expressed in the interpolated sentence; and are
+intimated in terms perhaps more offensive, certainly not to be
+mistaken, in the letter as avowed.</p>
+
+<p>Review its language.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In place of that noble love of liberty and republican government
+which carried us triumphantly through the War, an Anglican,
+monarchical, and aristocratical party has sprung up, whose avowed
+object is to draw over us the substance as it has already done the
+forms of the British government.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Could this party have been friendly&#8212;must it not have been hostile to
+France? It was not only monarchical and aristocratical,&#8212;it was
+Anglican also. Consequently it was anti-Gallican. But it did not
+comprehend the mass of the people. &quot;The main body of our citizens,
+however,&quot; continues the letter, &quot;remain true to their republican
+principles; the whole landed interest is republican, and so is a great
+mass of talents.&quot; Who then composed this odious Anglican, monarchical,
+aristocratical party? The letter informs us: &quot;Against us are the
+executive, the judiciary, two out of three branches of the
+legislature, all the officers of the government, all who want to be
+officers, all timid men who prefer the calm of despotism to the
+boisterous sea of liberty, British merchants and Americans trading on
+British capitals, speculators, and holders in the banks and public
+funds.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The executive then and at least one other branch of the legislature
+were Anglican. The judiciary, a department not absolutely
+insignificant in a maritime war, was also Anglican. But the executive,
+being the organ of intercourse with foreign nations, is considered by
+them as essentially the government. This being thought Anglican, its
+course being such as to induce the writer to brand it with this odious
+epithet, ought it to excite surprise that an editor, the organ of the
+French government, made the strictures upon it which are quoted in the
+note? Are not those strictures as applicable to the letter now avowed
+as to the interpolated sentence?</p>
+
+<p>The remark that the &quot;French government had testified its resentment by
+breaking off communication with an ungrateful and faithless ally until
+she shall return to a more just and benevolent conduct,&quot; was the
+assertion of a fact which had taken place, and the commentary
+discloses its object not less plainly than did the time at which this
+fact was announced to the American government and people.<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a> &quot;It will
+give rise in the United States,&quot; says the editor, &quot;to discussions
+which may afford a triumph to the party of good republicans, the
+friends of France.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The letter, without the aid of the interpolated sentence, could not
+fail to cherish this sentiment. It states explicitly an unequivocal
+division and a decided hostility between those who administered the
+government, and the great body of land holders, who, in this country,
+are the people. The first were Anglican and monarchical, the last were
+republican, and, in the language of the Moniteur, &quot;the friends of
+France.&quot; What so certain to produce or continue the rupture of
+communication mentioned by the editor as the opinion that this
+statement was true? If we could doubt, our doubts are removed by the
+declaration that it would produce &quot;discussions in the United States
+which may afford a triumph to the party of good republicans, the
+friends of France;&quot; and by the declaration of Mr. Adet.</p>
+
+<p>The interpolated sentence then does not vary the import of the letter,
+nor change the impression it made in France, and must make on the mind
+of the reader.</p>
+
+<p>Were it otherwise, Mr. Jefferson should have directed his reproaches
+towards himself for the countenance his silent acquiescence gave to
+the opinion that the whole letter was genuine&#8212;not towards the great
+body of his countrymen who yielded implicit faith to this imposing
+testimony.</p>
+
+<p>Could such a letter from such a personage be entirely overlooked by
+the biographer of Washington? Having assumed the task of delineating
+the character, and detailing the actions and opinions of the great
+soldier and statesman of America, an essential part of which was to be
+looked for in the difficulties and the opposition he encountered and
+overcame, could a transaction which contains such strong intrinsic
+evidence of those difficulties and that opposition be passed over in
+total silence? These questions were revolved in his mind while engaged
+in this part of the work; and the result to which his judgment
+conducted him was a conviction that, though he might forbear to make
+those strictures on the letter which the relative situation of the
+writer and the individual so seriously criminated seemed to invite,
+his duty required him to notice it so far as it indicated the violence
+of party spirit at the time, the extreme to which it was carried, the
+dangers to which it led, and the difficulties which the wise and firm
+mind of Washington was doomed to encounter.</p>
+
+<p>The remarks of the French editor were quoted because they have a
+strong tendency, especially when connected with subsequent events, to
+explain the motives by which the Directory was actuated in its
+aggressions on the United States, and to justify the policy of the
+Washington administration. These remarks did not grow out of the
+interpolated sentence, nor were they confined to it. They apply to the
+whole letter. That sentence is not cited, nor is any particular
+allusion made to it, in the note which is charged with &quot;exaggerating,
+recording, and sanctioning the forgery.&quot; How then could Mr. Jefferson
+deliberately make the charge?</p>
+
+<p>In the same letter he endeavours to convey the opinion that the harsh
+and injurious strictures made to Mazzei were not intended for General
+Washington, and that this distinguished individual never applied them
+to himself.</p>
+
+<p>The evidence in support of this proposition is not derived from the
+person whose opinion Mr. Jefferson undertakes to state. The writer
+says,<a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a> &quot;I do affirm that there never passed a word, written or
+verbal, directly or indirectly, between General Washington and myself
+on the subject of that letter.&quot; If his observations on this point are
+to be considered as reasoning rather than assertion, they may be
+freely examined.</p>
+
+<p>At the head of the list of those composing the &quot;Anglican, monarchical,
+aristocratical party,&quot; the letter places &quot;the executive.&quot; &quot;Against us
+are the executive, the judiciary, two out of three branches of the
+legislature, all the officers of government, all who want to be
+officers,&quot; &amp;c.</p>
+
+<p>The letter speaks in the present tense, and the term &quot;executive&quot; can
+describe only the then actual President. Consequently, it designates
+General Washington as expressly as if he had been named.</p>
+
+<p>If this positive evidence could be strengthened by auxiliary proof, it
+is furnished by the same sentence. &quot;All officers of government, all
+who want to be officers,&quot; are included in the enumeration of those
+composing the party opposed to &quot;the main body of citizens who remained
+true to republican principles.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>By whom were these Anglican, monarchical, and aristocratical officers
+selected? By General Washington. To him alone were they indebted for
+their appointments. To whom did those &quot;who wanted to be officers&quot; look
+for the gratification of their wishes? To the same person. Would every
+individual in search of office enlist himself in a party so odious to
+&quot;the main body of our citizens,&quot; and &quot;the whole landed interest,&quot; if
+he did not think the road leading directly to that which he sought?</p>
+
+<p>As if willing to keep out of view what can not be explained away, Mr.
+Jefferson turns our attention to other passages supposed to be more
+equivocal. He insists<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a> that the letter saying &quot;that two out of the
+three branches of the legislature were against us, was an obvious
+exception of him; it being well known that the majorities in the two
+branches of the senate and representatives were the very instruments
+which carried, in opposition to the old and real republicans, the
+measures which were the subjects of condemnation in this letter.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But did these measures obtain the force of laws by the mere act of the
+senate and house of representatives? Did not the President assent to
+them? If he did, how could the expression &quot;two out of three branches
+of the legislature&quot; be an obvious exception of him? But the letter
+speaks of the then existing legislature. &quot;Against us <i>are</i> two out of
+three branches of the legislature.&quot; The fact is notorious that the
+house of representatives was, at the date of the letter, opposed to
+the administration. Mr. Jefferson himself gives us this information.
+In September, 1795,<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a> he terms the effort to carry the treaty with
+Great Britain into effect, &quot;an attempt of a party who find <i>they have
+lost their majority in one branch of the legislature</i> to make a law by
+the aid of the other branch and the executive under colour of a
+treaty,&quot; &amp;c. Mr. Jefferson then has deprived himself of this
+explanation. He could not have intended to exclude the President by
+the phrase &quot;two out of three branches of the legislature.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The same letter contains also the following expression,<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> &quot;Mr.
+Pickering quotes the passage in the letter of the men who were Samsons
+in the field and Solomons in the council, but who had their heads
+shorn by the harlot England.&quot; &quot;Now this expression also was perfectly
+understood by General Washington. He knew that I meant it for the
+Cincinnati generally; and that from what had passed between us at the
+commencement of that institution, I could not mean to include him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In the letter to Mazzei these words obviously designate distinguished
+individuals, not whole classes of men, many of whom were unknown. &quot;It
+would give you a fever were <i>I to name to you the apostates</i> who have
+gone over to these heresies; men who were Samsons in the field and
+Solomons in the council, but who have had their heads shorn by the
+harlot England.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In addition to this apparent allusion to individuals, it may be asked,
+could Mr. Jefferson mean to say that every officer engaged in the war
+of our revolution (for almost every one of them was a member of the
+Cincinnati) was an apostate who had gone over to the heresies he was
+describing? Could he mean to say that all those who had passed their
+prime of manhood in the field fighting the battles of American
+independence, and of republicanism against England, had become
+apostates from the cause to which their lives had been devoted, and
+the vile instruments of the power it was their pride and boast to have
+overthrown? That they were in a body following their ancient chief in
+a course directly opposite to that glorious career by which they had
+elevated their country to its high rank among the nations of the
+earth?</p>
+
+<p>There is other evidence that he could not have intended to fix this
+foul stigma on the officers of the revolution. They were far from
+being united in support of the administration. In Virginia certainly,
+a large number, perhaps a majority of the Cincinnati were opposed to
+it. Two<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> of them in congress at the time, and were among the most
+zealous supporters of Mr. Jefferson, and of that system of measures
+which he termed republican. The very letter under discussion contains
+an assertion incompatible with this construction of these terms. &quot;The
+whole landed interest is republican.&quot; At the date of this letter there
+were few if any members of the Cincinnati in the south who were not
+also land holders. In the southern region generally, the army of our
+revolution was officered by land holders and their sons.</p>
+
+<p>But if the writer of the letter could have intended to designate the
+members of the Cincinnati as &quot;Samsons in the field,&quot; could he also
+have alluded to them as &quot;Solomons in council?&quot; Were the brave and
+hardy men who passed their youth, not in college, not in study, but
+under arms, suddenly converted, all of them, into &quot;Solomons in
+council?&quot; That some of them were entitled to this appellation is
+acknowledged with pride and pleasure, but as a class, it could not fit
+them. It is difficult to treat the proposition seriously.</p>
+
+<p>It is impossible for the intelligent reader to concur with Mr.
+Jefferson in the conclusion he draws from these premises, when he
+says,<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a> &quot;General Washington then understanding perfectly what and
+whom I meant to designate in both phrases, and that they could not
+have any application or view to himself, could find in neither any
+cause of offence to himself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But were it otherwise, had Mr. Jefferson been as successful in the
+opinion of others as he would seem to be in his own, in proving that
+the phrases on which he reasons do not comprehend General Washington,
+what would be gained? Would it follow that the word &quot;executive&quot; did
+not mean the President, or that it excluded General Washington who was
+President when the letter was written, and had been President during
+the whole time while the laws were enacted, and the measures carried
+into execution, which he so harshly criminates? If the word
+&quot;executive&quot; must mean him, does it palliate the injury to be assured
+that the writer did not class him among &quot;Samsons in the field&quot; or
+&quot;Solomons in council?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It is matter of some surprise to find a letter written so late as
+June, 1824, on the political paragraph contained in the letter to
+Mazzei, the following averment.<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> &quot;In this information there was not
+one word which would not then have been or would not now be approved
+by every republican in the United States, looking back to those
+times.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In June, 1834, then, twenty-eight years after this extraordinary
+letter was written, and twenty-three years after its principal object
+had ceased to thwart the policy, or be an obstacle to the ambition of
+any man, Mr. Jefferson could deliberately, and on full consideration
+permit himself to make this assertion, and thus in effect to repeat
+the charge that General Washington belonged to an &quot;Anglican,
+monarchical, and aristocratical party whose <i>avowed</i> object was to
+draw over us the substance as they had already done the forms of the
+British government,&quot;&#8212;and this too while the venerated object of the
+charge was the chief magistrate of this great republic, acting under
+the obligation of a solemn oath &quot;faithfully to execute the office of
+President of the United States, and to the best of his ability to
+preserve, protect, and defend the constitution!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This unpleasant subject is dismissed. If the grave be a sanctuary
+entitled to respect, many of the intelligent and estimable friends of
+Mr. Jefferson may perhaps regret that he neither respected it himself,
+nor recollected that it is a sanctuary from which poisoned arrows
+ought never to be shot at the dead or the living.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<h3>END OF VOLUME V.</h3>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h2><a name="FOOTNOTES">FOOTNOTES</a></h2>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The day on which the palace of the Tuilleries
+was stormed and the royal government subverted.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> With this letter were addressed two others to
+the ministers at London and Paris respectively, stating the
+interest taken by the President and people of the United
+States in the fate of the Marquis de Lafayette. This
+gentleman was declared a traitor by France, and was
+imprisoned by Prussia. The ministers of the United States
+were to avail themselves of every opportunity of sounding
+the way towards his liberation, which they were to endeavour
+to obtain by informal solicitations; but, if formal ones
+should be necessary, they were to watch the moment when they
+might be urged with the best prospect of success. This
+letter was written at the sole instance of the President.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> See note
+  <a href="#NOTE1">No. I.</a> at the end of the volume.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> See note
+  <a href="#NOTE2">No. II.</a> at the end of the volume.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> The regulation alluded to as was stated by Mr.
+Jefferson in reply, did not relate to vessels arming for
+defence, but to cruisers against the enemies of France.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> They were particularly enumerated, and the
+decision was also extended to the ship Jane, an English
+armed merchantman, alleged by Mr. Genet to be a privateer,
+and the governor was requested to attend to her, and if he
+found her augmenting her force and about to depart, to cause
+her to be stopped.
+</p><p>
+The Jane had augmented her armament by replacing four old
+gun-carriages with new ones, and opening two new portholes.
+The request of the British consul that these alterations
+might be allowed was peremptorily rejected, and directions
+were given that she should be restored precisely to the
+situation in which she entered the port. Had she attempted
+to sail without obeying these orders, Governor Mifflin had
+taken measures to stop her at Mud Island.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> See note
+  <a href="#NOTE3">No. III.</a> at the end of the volume.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> See note
+  <a href="#NOTE4">No. IV.</a> at the end of the volume.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> See note
+  <a href="#NOTE5">No. V.</a> at the end of the volume.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> They received it from the secretaries of the
+treasury and of war.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> See note
+  <a href="#NOTE6">No. VI.</a> at the end of the volume.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> The state of affairs was so inauspicious to
+the continuance of peace that in a letter written in the
+month of June, to the secretary of war, the President thus
+expressed himself: &quot;It is of great importance that this
+government should be fully informed of the Spanish force in
+the Floridas, the troops which have lately arrived, the
+number of their posts, and the strength and situation of
+each; together with such other circumstances as would enable
+it to adopt correspondent measures, in case we should, in
+spite of our endeavours to avoid it, get embroiled with that
+nation. It would be too improvident, might be too late, and
+certainly would be disgraceful, to have this information to
+obtain when our plans ought to be formed.&quot; After suggesting
+the propriety of making the proper inquiries in a particular
+channel, he added, &quot;I point you to the above as one source
+only of information. My desire to obtain knowledge of these
+facts leads me to request with equal earnestness, that you
+would improve every other to ascertain them with certainty.
+No reasonable expense should be spared to accomplish objects
+of such magnitude in times so critical.&quot;</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> See note
+  <a href="#NOTE7">No. VII.</a> at the end of the volume.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Resolutions had been offered for the creation
+of a small navy to be employed in the Mediterranean.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> In the course of this debate the resolutions
+were still considered as calculated to promote the
+interests, not of the United States, but of France. Mr. Ames
+said they had <i>French</i> stamped upon the very face of them.
+This expression produced a warm retort from Colonel Parker.
+He wished there was a stamp on the forehead of every person
+to designate whether he was for France or Britain. For
+himself he would not be silent and hear that nation abused
+to whom America was indebted for her rank as a nation. He
+was firmly persuaded that but for the aid of France in the
+last war, those gentlemen now on the floor who prided
+themselves in abusing her, would not have had an opportunity
+in that place of doing it. This sentiment produced a clap in
+the galleries. This indecorum was severely reprobated, and a
+motion was made to clear the galleries. Although the debate
+shows that the degree of sensibility excited by this
+disorder was extremely different in the different parties,
+it was justified by none, and the galleries were cleared.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> A few days before the motions of Mr. Dayton
+and Mr. Clarke, a report was made by the secretary of state
+relative to the vexations of American commerce committed by
+the officers and cruisers of the belligerent powers. It was
+made from materials collected in an inquiry which had been
+instituted by the President before the meeting of congress.
+In this report, after detailing the numerous complaints
+which were made against Great Britain, the secretary
+proceeded to notice those which were brought against other
+nations. Against France, he said, it was urged that her
+privateers harassed the American trade no less than those of
+the British. That their courts of admiralty were guilty of
+equal oppression. That they had violated the treaty between
+the two nations. That a very detrimental embargo had
+detained a number of American vessels in her ports, and that
+the government had discharged a specie contract with
+assignats. The effect of this report seems to have been to
+excite a suspicion that the secretary of state was not
+sufficiently attached to liberty and to France.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> A well known term designating the most violent
+party in France.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Previous to taking the question on this bill,
+a petition had been received against Mr. Gallatin, a senator
+from the state of Pennsylvania, who was determined not to
+have been a citizen a sufficient time to qualify him under
+the constitution for a seat in the senate. This casual
+circumstance divided the senate, or the bill would probably
+have been lost.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> A clause in the resolution as proposed, which
+was understood to imply that the act for incorporating the
+bank was unconstitutional, was previously struck out by the
+same majority.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> See note
+  <a href="#NOTE8">No. VIII.</a> at the end of the volume.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> The declaration was not unfrequently made that
+the people could only be roused to a proper attention to the
+violation of their rights, and to the prodigal waste of
+their money, by perceiving the weight of their taxes. This
+was concealed from them by the indirect, and would be
+disclosed to them by the direct, system of taxation.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Two months previous to the passage of this
+resolution, the secretary of state had, by direction of the
+President, given the governor the most solemn assurances on
+this point.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Intercepted letters were laid before the
+President, showing that this expedition had been
+communicated to some members of the national convention and
+approved. It was stated that Mr. Genet, with the rank of
+major general, was to be Commander-in-chief of all forces
+raised on the American continent, and to direct their
+movements.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> See note
+  <a href="#NOTE9">No. IX.</a> at the end of the volume.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> An evasive answer having been returned to the
+pacific overture made from the Au Glaize, General Wayne was
+uncertain whether the Indians had decided for peace or war.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> The inspector had left the house and secreted
+himself. The demand of the papers was acceded to.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> This requisition was afterwards augmented to
+fifteen thousand.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> The spirit of disaffection was rapidly
+spreading, and had it not been checked by this vigorous
+exertion of the powers of the government, it would be
+difficult to say what might have been its extent. Even while
+the militia were assembling, it broke out in more than one
+county in Pennsylvania, and showed itself in a part of
+Maryland.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> The impression, he said, made by this
+moderation on the discontented, did not correspond with what
+it deserved. The acts of delusion were no longer confined to
+the efforts of designing individuals. The very forbearance
+to press prosecutions was misinterpreted into a fear of
+urging the execution of the laws, and associations of men
+began to denounce threats against the officers employed.
+From a belief that by a more formal concert their operations
+might be defeated, certain self-created societies assumed
+the tone of condemnation.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> The apprehensions entertained by the
+opposition that Colonel Hamilton would be appointed on the
+embassy to England were extreme. Among the letters to
+General Washington, are some from members of each branch of
+the legislature, advising against the mission generally, and
+dissuading him from the appointment of Colonel Hamilton
+particularly, in terms which manifest a real opinion that
+the best interests of the nation would be sacrificed by such
+an appointment. Colonel Hamilton himself recommended Mr.
+Jay.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> See note
+  <a href="#NOTE10">No. X.</a> at the end of the volume.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> In a private letter to the President, of the
+same date with the signature of the treaty, Mr. Jay said &quot;to
+do more was impossible. I ought not to conceal from you,
+that the confidence reposed in your personal character was
+visible and useful throughout the negotiation.
+</p><p>
+&quot;If there is not a good disposition in the far greater part
+of the cabinet and nation towards us, I am exceedingly
+mistaken. I do not mean an ostensible and temporizing, but a
+real good disposition.&#8212;I wish it may have a fair trial.&quot;</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> See note
+  <a href="#NOTE11">No. XI.</a> at the end of the volume.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> The chamber of commerce in New York had voted
+resolutions expressing their approbation of the treaty.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> Previous to the reception of the account of
+this order, the opinion of the secretary had been in favour
+of ratifying the treaty.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> See the Aurora from August to December, 1795.
+See, in particular, a series of essays, signed &quot;A Calm
+Observer,&quot; published from the 23d of October to the 5th of
+November, 1795.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> Gazette of the United States, 16th November,
+1795.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> See note
+  <a href="#NOTE12">No. XII.</a> at the end of the volume.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> See note
+  <a href="#NOTE13">No. XIII.</a> at the end of the volume.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> Subsequent to the mission of Mr. Adet, but
+previous to this time, the revolutionary government which
+succeeded the abolition of monarchy had yielded to the
+constitution of the republican form.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> The words of the oath of office prescribed for
+the chief magistrate.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> Mr. James Marshall.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> In the same letter Mr. Jefferson had stated
+his total abstraction from party questions.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> See note
+  <a href="#NOTE14">No. XIV.</a> at the end of the volume.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> See Monroe's View.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> At his own request, Mr. Pinckney had been
+recalled; and Mr. King, a gentleman whose talents have been
+universally acknowledged, and whose services will be long
+recollected with approbation, had succeeded him.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> The constitutional power of congress to
+appropriate money to objects of the description here
+recommended was denied by the opposition.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> Some objection has been made to the accuracy
+of this speech, as reported in the Daily Advertiser. The
+author has therefore deemed it proper to make some extracts
+from the Aurora, the leading paper of that party, of which
+Mr. Giles was a conspicuous member.
+</p><p>
+Mr. Giles, after stating that &quot;the want of wisdom and
+firmness&quot; in the administration, &quot;had conducted the affairs
+of the nation to a crisis which threatens greater calamities
+than any that has before occurred,&quot;&#8212;remarks as
+follows:&#8212;&quot;Another sentiment in the report he could not
+agree to. He did not regret the President's retiring from
+office. He hoped he would retire, and enjoy the happiness
+that awaited him in retirement. He believed it would more
+conduce to that happiness that he should retire than if he
+should remain in office. He believed the government of the
+United States, founded on the broad basis of the people,
+that they were competent to their own government, and the
+remaining of no man in office was necessary to the success
+of that government. The people would truly be in a
+calamitous situation, if one man were essential to the
+existence of the government. He was convinced that the
+United States produces a thousand citizens capable of
+filling the presidential chair, and he would trust to the
+discernment of the people for a proper choice. Though the
+voice of all America should declare the President's retiring
+as a calamity, he could not join in the declaration, because
+he did not conceive it a misfortune. He hoped the President
+would be happy in his retirement, and he hoped he would
+retire.&quot; He reverted again to that part of the report which
+declared the administration to have been wise and firm in
+its measures. &quot;He had always disapproved,&quot; he repeated, &quot;of
+the measures of that administration with respect to foreign
+relations, and many members of the house had also; he was
+therefore surprised that gentlemen should now come forward
+and wish him, in one breath, to disavow all his former
+opinions, without being previously convinced of having been
+in an error. For his own part, he conceived there was more
+cause than ever for adhering to his old opinion. The course
+of events had pointed out their propriety; and, if he was
+not much mistaken, a crisis was at hand which would confirm
+them. He wished, that while gentlemen were willing to
+compliment the President, they would have some respect for
+the feelings of others.&quot;&#8212;<i>Aurora, December 15th, 1796.</i></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> Dunlap and Claypole's Daily Advertiser,
+December 16th, 1796.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> See note
+  <a href="#NOTE15">No. XV.</a> at the end of the volume.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> See note
+  <a href="#NOTE16">No. XVI.</a> at the end of the volume.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> See note
+  <a href="#NOTE17">No. XVII.</a> at the end of the volume.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> Two of them were of the party denominated
+federal; the third was arranged with the opposition.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> It is a remarkable fact, that the answer of
+the French minister to this letter, an answer which
+criminated the American government in bitter terms, was in
+the possession of a printer in Philadelphia who had
+uniformly supported the pretensions of that republic, before
+it reached the American government.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> Having heard that the President contemplated a
+tour as far south as the district of Columbia, General
+Washington invited him to Mount Vernon, and concluded his
+letter with saying: &quot;I pray you to believe that no one has
+read the various approbatory addresses which have been
+presented to you with more heartfelt satisfaction than I
+have done, nor are there any who more sincerely wish that
+your administration of the government may be easy, happy and
+honourable to yourself, and prosperous to the country.&quot;</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> See note
+  <a href="#NOTE18">No. XVIII.</a> at the end of the volume.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> <i>The following is the list of generals, and of the
+military staff.</i></p>
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="generals">
+<tbody>
+<tr>
+  <td align="left" colspan="3">Alexander Hamilton, <i>Inspector</i>.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td align="left">Charles C. Pinckney,</td>
+  <td align="left">}</td>
+  <td align="left">&#160;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td align="left">Henry Knox, or, if either refuses</td>
+  <td align="left">}</td>
+  <td align="left">Major Generals.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td align="left">Henry Lee.</td>
+  <td align="left">}</td>
+  <td align="left">&#160;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td align="left">&#160;</td>
+  <td align="left">&#160;</td>
+  <td align="left">&#160;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td align="left">Henry Lee (if not Major General)</td>
+  <td align="left">}</td>
+  <td align="left">&#160;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td align="left">John Brooks,</td>
+  <td align="left">}</td>
+  <td align="left">&#160;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td align="left">William S. Smith, or</td>
+  <td align="left">}</td>
+  <td align="left">Brigadiers.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td align="left">John E. Howard.</td>
+  <td align="left">}</td>
+  <td align="left">&#160;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td align="left">&#160;</td>
+  <td align="left">&#160;</td>
+  <td align="left">&#160;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td align="left">Edward Hand, or</td>
+  <td align="left">}</td>
+  <td align="left">&#160;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td align="left">Jonathan Dayton, or</td>
+  <td align="left">}</td>
+  <td align="left">Adjutant General.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td align="left">William S. Smith.</td>
+  <td align="left">}</td>
+  <td align="left">&#160;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td align="left" colspan="3">Edward Carrington, Quarter Master General.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td align="left" colspan="3">James Craik, Director of the Hospital.</td>
+</tr>
+</tbody>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> These resolutions were prepared by General
+Lee, who happening not to be in his place when the
+melancholy intelligence was received and first mentioned in
+the house, placed them in the hands of the member who moved
+them.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> Vol. iv. p. 402.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> April, 1796.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> Vol. iii. p. 313.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> Holland, it will be remembered, had been
+conquered by Pichegru.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> Vol. iii. p. 316.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> Vol. iii. p. 317.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> Vol. iii. p. 319.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> Vol. iii. p. 323.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> Vol. iii. p. 324.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> Vol. iii. p. 328.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> Vol. iii. p. 347.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> Vol. iii. p. 347</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> Vol. iii. p. 418.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> Vol. iv. p. 402.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> Vol. iii. p. 327.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> It was announced by Mr. Adet in the crisis of
+the first contest for the Presidency between Mr. Adams and
+Mr. Jefferson.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> Vol. iv. p. 401.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> Vol. iv. p. 405.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> Vol. iii. p. 316.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> Vol. iv. p. 404.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> Colonels Cabell and Par.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> Vol. iv. p. 406.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> Vol. iv. p. 402.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life of George Washington, Vol. 5 (of 5), by 
+John Marshall
+
+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: The Life of George Washington, Vol. 5 (of 5)
+       Commander in Chief of the American Forces During the War
+       which Established the Independence of his Country and First
+       President of the United States
+
+Author: John Marshall
+
+Release Date: June 15, 2006 [EBook #18595]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Linda Cantoni and  David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+THE
+
+LIFE
+
+OF
+
+GEORGE WASHINGTON,
+
+COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE
+
+AMERICAN FORCES,
+
+DURING THE WAR WHICH ESTABLISHED THE INDEPENDENCE OF HIS COUNTRY, AND
+
+FIRST PRESIDENT
+
+OF THE
+
+UNITED STATES.
+
+COMPILED UNDER THE INSPECTION OF
+
+THE HONOURABLE BUSHROD WASHINGTON,
+
+FROM
+
+_ORIGINAL PAPERS_
+
+BEQUEATHED TO HIM BY HIS DECEASED RELATIVE, AND NOW IN POSSESSION OF
+THE AUTHOR.
+
+TO WHICH IS PREFIXED,
+
+AN INTRODUCTION,
+
+CONTAINING A COMPENDIOUS VIEW OF THE COLONIES PLANTED BY THE ENGLISH
+ON THE
+
+CONTINENT OF NORTH AMERICA,
+
+FROM THEIR SETTLEMENT TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF THAT WAR WHICH TERMINATED
+IN THEIR
+
+INDEPENDENCE.
+
+
+BY JOHN MARSHALL.
+
+
+VOL. V.
+
+
+THE CITIZENS' GUILD
+OF WASHINGTON'S BOYHOOD HOME
+FREDERICKSBURG, VA.
+
+1926
+
+Printed in the U.S.A.
+
+
+[Illustration: President Washington
+
+_From the portrait by John Vanderlyn, in the Capitol at Washington_
+
+_This full-length portrait of our First President is the work of an
+artist to whom Napoleon I awarded a gold medal for his "Marius Among
+the Ruins of Carthage," and another of whose masterpieces, "Ariadne in
+Naxos," is pronounced one of the finest nudes in the history of
+American art. For Vanderlyn sat many other notable public men,
+including Monroe, Madison, Calhoun, Clinton, Zachary Taylor and Aaron
+Burr, who was his patron and whose portrait by Vanderlyn hangs in the
+New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. Nevertheless, Vanderlyn failed in
+achieving the success his genius merited, and he once declared
+bitterly that "no one but a professional quack can live in America."
+Poverty paralyzed his energies, and in 1852, old and discouraged he
+retired to his native town of Kingston, New York, so poor that he had
+to borrow twenty-five cents to pay the expressage of his trunk.
+Obtaining a bed at the local hotel, he was found dead in it the next
+morning, in his seventy-seventh year._]
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+G. Washington again unanimously elected President.... War between
+Great Britain and France.... Queries of the President respecting the
+conduct to be adopted by the American government.... Proclamation of
+neutrality.... Arrival of Mr. Genet as minister from France.... His
+conduct.... Illegal proceedings of the French cruisers.... Opinions of
+the cabinet.... State of parties.... Democratic societies.... Genet
+calculates upon the partialities of the American people for France,
+and openly insults their government.... Rules laid down by the
+executive to be observed in the ports of the United States in relation
+to the powers at war.... The President requests the recall of
+Genet.... British order of 8th of June, 1793.... Decree of the
+national convention relative to neutral commerce.
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+Meeting of congress.... President's speech.... His message on the
+foreign relations of the United States.... Report of the Secretary of
+State on the commerce of the United States.... He resigns.... Is
+succeeded by Mr. Randolph.... Mr. Madison's resolutions founded on the
+above report.... Debate thereon.... Debates on the subject of a
+navy.... An embargo law.... Mission of Mr. Jay to Great Britain....
+Inquiry into the conduct of the Secretary of the Treasury, terminates
+honourably to him.... Internal taxes.... Congress adjourns.
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+Genet recalled.... Is succeeded by Mr. Fauchet.... Gouverneur Morris
+recalled, and is succeeded by Mr. Monroe.... Kentucky remonstrance....
+Intemperate resolutions of the people of that state.... General Wayne
+defeats the Indians on the Miamis.... Insurrection in the western
+parts of Pennsylvania.... Quelled by the prompt and vigorous measures
+of the government.... Meeting of Congress.... President's speech....
+Democratic societies.... Resignation of Colonel Hamilton.... Is
+succeeded by Mr. Wolcott.... Resignation of General Knox.... Is
+succeeded by Colonel Pickering.... Treaty between the United States
+and Great Britain.... Conditionally ratified by the President.... The
+treaty unpopular.... Mr. Randolph resigns.... Is succeeded by Colonel
+Pickering.... Colonel M'Henry appointed secretary at war.... Charge
+against the President rejected..... Treaty with the Indians north-west
+of the Ohio.... With Algiers.... With Spain.... Meeting of
+congress.... President's speech.... Mr. Adet succeeds Mr. Fauchet.....
+The house of representatives call upon the President for papers
+relating to the treaty with Great Britain.... He declines sending
+them.... Debates upon the treaty making power.... Upon the bill for
+making appropriations to carry into execution the treaty with Great
+Britain.... Congress adjourns.... The President endeavours to procure
+the liberation of Lafayette.
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+Letters from General Washington to Mr. Jefferson.... Hostile measures
+of France against the United States.... Mr. Monroe recalled and
+General Pinckney appointed to succeed him.... General Washington's
+valedictory address to the people of the United States.... The
+Minister of France endeavours to influence the approaching
+election.... The President's speech to congress.... He denies the
+authenticity of certain spurious letters published in 1776.... John
+Adams elected President, and Thomas Jefferson Vice President....
+General Washington retires to Mount Vernon.... Political situation of
+the United States at this period.... The French government refuses to
+receive General Pinckney as Minister.... Congress is convened....
+President's speech.... Three envoys extraordinary deputed to
+France.... Their treatment.... Measures of hostility adopted by the
+American government against France.... General Washington appointed
+Commander-in-chief of the American army.... His death.... And
+character.
+
+
+
+
+THE LIFE
+
+OF
+
+GEORGE WASHINGTON
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+     G. Washington again unanimously elected President.... War
+     between Great Britain and France.... Queries of the
+     President respecting the conduct to be adopted by the
+     American government.... Proclamation of neutrality....
+     Arrival of Mr. Genet as minister from France.... His
+     conduct.... Illegal proceedings of the French cruisers....
+     Opinions of the cabinet.... State of parties.... Democratic
+     societies.... Genet calculates upon the partialities of the
+     American people for France, and openly insults their
+     government.... Rules laid down by the executive to be
+     observed in the ports of the United States in relation to
+     the powers at war.... The President requests the recall of
+     Genet.... British order of 8th of June, 1793.... Decree of
+     the national convention relative to neutral commerce.
+
+
+{1793}
+
+The term for which the President and Vice President had been elected
+being about to expire on the third of March, the attention of the
+public had been directed to the choice of persons who should fill
+those high offices for the ensuing four years. Respecting the
+President, but one opinion prevailed. From various motives, all
+parties concurred in desiring that the present chief magistrate should
+continue to afford his services to his country. Yielding to the weight
+of the representations made to him from various quarters, General
+Washington had been prevailed upon to withhold a declaration, he had
+at one time purposed to make, of his determination to retire from
+political life.
+
+Respecting the person who should fill the office of Vice President,
+the public was divided. The profound statesman who had been called to
+the duties of that station, had drawn upon himself a great degree of
+obloquy, by some political tracts, in which he had laboured to
+maintain the proposition that a balance in government was essential to
+the preservation of liberty. In these disquisitions, he was supposed
+by his opponents to have discovered sentiments in favour of distinct
+orders in society; and, although he had spoken highly of the
+constitution of the United States, it was imagined that his balance
+could be maintained only by hereditary classes. He was also understood
+to be friendly to the system of finance which had been adopted; and
+was believed to be among the few who questioned the durability of the
+French republic. His great services, and acknowledged virtues, were
+therefore disregarded; and a competitor was sought for among those who
+had distinguished themselves in the opposition. The choice was
+directed from Mr. Jefferson by a constitutional restriction on the
+power of the electors, which would necessarily deprive him of the vote
+to be given by Virginia. It being necessary to designate some other
+opponent to Mr. Adams, George Clinton, the governor of New York, was
+selected for this purpose.
+
+Throughout the war of the revolution, this gentleman had filled the
+office of chief magistrate of his native state; and, under
+circumstances of real difficulty, had discharged its duties with a
+courage, and an energy, which secured the esteem of the
+Commander-in-chief, and gave him a fair claim to the favour of his
+country. Embracing afterwards with ardour the system of state
+supremacy, he had contributed greatly to the rejection of the
+resolutions for investing congress with the power of collecting an
+impost on imported goods, and had been conspicuous for his determined
+hostility to the constitution of the United States. His sentiments
+respecting the measures of the government were known to concur with
+those of the minority in congress.
+
+[Sidenote: George Washington again unanimously elected president.]
+
+Both parties seemed confident in their strength; and both made the
+utmost exertions to insure success. On opening the ballots in the
+senate chamber, it appeared that the unanimous suffrage of his country
+had been once more conferred on General Washington, and that Mr. Adams
+had received a plurality of the votes.
+
+The unceasing endeavours of the executive to terminate the Indian war
+by a treaty, had at length succeeded with the savages of the Wabash;
+and, through the intervention of the Six Nations, those of the Miamis
+had also been induced to consent to a conference to be held in the
+course of the ensuing spring. Though probability was against the
+success of this attempt to restore peace, all offensive operations, on
+the part of the United States, were still farther suspended. The
+Indians did not entirely abstain from hostilities; and the discontents
+of the western people were in no small degree increased by this
+temporary prohibition of all incursions into the country of their
+enemy. In Georgia, where a desire to commence hostilities against the
+southern Indians had been unequivocally manifested, this restraint
+increased the irritation against the administration.
+
+The Indian war was becoming an object of secondary magnitude. The
+critical and irritable state of things in France began so materially
+to affect the United States, as to require an exertion of all the
+prudence, and all the firmness, of the government. The 10th[1] of
+August, 1792, was succeeded in that nation by such a state of anarchy,
+and by scenes of so much blood and horror; the nation was understood
+to be so divided with respect to its future course; and the republican
+party was threatened by such a formidable external force; that there
+was much reason to doubt whether the fallen monarch would be finally
+deposed, or reinstated with a greater degree of splendour and power
+than the constitution just laid in ruins, had assigned to him. That,
+in the latter event, any partialities which might be manifested
+towards the intermediate possessors of authority, would be recollected
+with indignation, could not be questioned by an attentive observer of
+the vindictive spirit of parties;--a spirit which the deeply tragic
+scenes lately exhibited, could not fail to work up to its highest
+possible pitch. The American minister at Paris, finding himself in a
+situation not expected by his government, sought to pursue a
+circumspect line of conduct, which should in no respect compromise the
+United States. The executive council of France, disappointed at the
+coldness which that system required, communicated their
+dissatisfaction to their minister at Philadelphia. At the same time,
+Mr. Morris made full representations of every transaction to his
+government, and requested explicit instructions for the regulation of
+his future conduct.
+
+     [Footnote 1: The day on which the palace of the Tuilleries
+     was stormed and the royal government subverted.]
+
+The administration entertained no doubt of the propriety of
+recognizing the existing authority of France, whatever form it might
+assume. That every nation possessed a right to govern itself according
+to its own will, to change its institutions at discretion, and to
+transact its business through whatever agents it might think proper,
+were stated to Mr. Morris to be principles on which the American
+government itself was founded, and the application of which could be
+denied to no other people. The payment of the debt, so far as it was
+to be made in Europe, might be suspended only until the national
+convention should authorize some power to sign acquittances for the
+monies received; and the sums required for St. Domingo would be
+immediately furnished. These payments would exceed the instalments
+which had fallen due; and the utmost punctuality would be observed in
+future. These instructions were accompanied with assurances that the
+government would omit no opportunity of convincing the French people
+of its cordial wish to serve them; and with a declaration that all
+circumstances seemed to destine the two nations for the most intimate
+connexion with each other. It was also pressed upon Mr. Morris to
+seize every occasion of conciliating the affections of France to the
+United States, and of placing the commerce between the two countries
+on the best possible footing.[2]
+
+     [Footnote 2: With this letter were addressed two others to
+     the ministers at London and Paris respectively, stating the
+     interest taken by the President and people of the United
+     States in the fate of the Marquis de Lafayette. This
+     gentleman was declared a traitor by France, and was
+     imprisoned by Prussia. The ministers of the United States
+     were to avail themselves of every opportunity of sounding
+     the way towards his liberation, which they were to endeavour
+     to obtain by informal solicitations; but, if formal ones
+     should be necessary, they were to watch the moment when they
+     might be urged with the best prospect of success. This
+     letter was written at the sole instance of the President.]
+
+The feelings of the President were in perfect unison with the
+sentiments expressed in this letter. His attachment to the French
+nation was as strong, as consistent with a due regard to the interests
+of his own; and his wishes for its happiness were as ardent, as was
+compatible with the duties of a chief magistrate to the state over
+which he presided. Devoted to the principles of real liberty, and
+approving unequivocally the republican form of government, he hoped
+for a favourable result from the efforts which were making to
+establish that form, by the great ally of the United States; but was
+not so transported by those efforts, as to involve his country in
+their issue; or totally to forget that those aids which constituted
+the basis of these partial feelings, were furnished by the family
+whose fall was the source of triumph to a large portion of his fellow
+citizens.
+
+He therefore still preserved the fixed purpose of maintaining the
+neutrality of the United States, however general the war might be in
+Europe; and his zeal for the revolution did not assume so ferocious a
+character as to silence the dictates of humanity, or of friendship.
+
+Not much time elapsed before the firmness of this resolution was put
+to the test.
+
+[Sidenote: War between Great Britain and France.]
+
+Early in April, the declaration of war made by France against Great
+Britain and Holland reached the United States. This event restored
+full vivacity to a flame, which a peace of ten years had not been able
+to extinguish. A great majority of the American people deemed it
+criminal to remain unconcerned spectators of a conflict between their
+ancient enemy and republican France. The feeling upon this occasion
+was almost universal. Men of all parties partook of it. Disregarding
+totally the circumstances which led to the rupture, except the order
+which had been given to the French minister to leave London, and
+disregarding equally the fact that actual hostilities were first
+commenced by France, the war was confidently and generally pronounced
+a war of aggression on the part of Great Britain, undertaken with the
+sole purpose of imposing a monarchical government on the French
+people. The few who did not embrace these opinions, and they were
+certainly very few, were held up as objects of public detestation; and
+were calumniated as the tools of Britain, and the satellites of
+despotism.
+
+Yet the disposition to engage in the war, was far from being general.
+The inclination of the public led to a full indulgence of the most
+extravagant partiality; but not many were willing to encounter the
+consequences which that indulgence would infallibly produce. The
+situation of America was precisely that, in which the wisdom and
+foresight of a prudent and enlightened government, was indispensably
+necessary to prevent the nation from inconsiderately precipitating
+itself into calamities, which its reflecting judgment would avoid.
+
+As soon as intelligence of the rupture between France and Britain was
+received in the United States, indications were given in some of the
+seaports, of a disposition to engage in the unlawful business of
+privateering on the commerce of the belligerent powers. The President
+was firmly determined to suppress these practices, and immediately
+requested the attention of the heads of departments to this
+interesting subject.
+
+[Sidenote: Queries put by the president to his cabinet in relation to
+the conduct proper to be adopted by the American government in
+consequence of this event.]
+
+As the new and difficult situation in which the United States were
+placed suggested many delicate inquiries, he addressed a circular
+letter to the cabinet ministers, inclosing for their consideration a
+well digested series of questions, the answers to which would form a
+complete system by which to regulate the conduct of the executive in
+the arduous situations which were approaching.[3]
+
+     [Footnote 3: See note No. I. at the end of the volume.]
+
+These queries, with some of the answers of them, though submitted only
+to the cabinet, found their way to the leading members of the
+opposition; and were among the unacknowledged but operating pieces of
+testimony, on which the charge against the administration, of
+cherishing dispositions unfriendly to the French republic, was
+founded. In taking a view of the whole ground, points certainly
+occurred, and were submitted to the consideration of the cabinet, on
+which neither the chief magistrate nor his ministers felt any doubt.
+But the introduction of questions relative to these points, among
+others with which they were intimately connected, would present a more
+full view of the subject, and was incapable of producing any
+mischievous effect, while they were confined to those for whom alone
+they were intended.
+
+In the meeting of the heads of departments and the attorney general,
+which was held in consequence of this letter, it was unanimously
+agreed, that a proclamation ought to issue, forbidding the citizens of
+the United States to take part in any hostilities on the seas, with,
+or against, any of the belligerent powers; warning them against
+carrying to any of those powers articles deemed contraband according
+to the modern usages of nations; and enjoining them from all acts
+inconsistent with the duties of a friendly nation towards those at
+war.
+
+With the same unanimity, the President was advised to receive a
+minister from the republic of France; but, on the question respecting
+a qualification to his reception, a division was perceived. The
+secretary of state and the attorney general were of opinion, that no
+cause existed for departing in the present instance from the usual
+mode of acting on such occasions. The revolution in France, they
+conceived, had produced no change in the relations between the two
+nations; nor was there any thing in the alteration of government, or
+in the character of the war, which would impair the right of France to
+demand, or weaken the duty of the United States faithfully to comply
+with the engagements which had been solemnly formed.
+
+The secretaries of the treasury, and of war, held a different opinion.
+Admitting in its fullest latitude the right of a nation to change its
+political institutions according to its own will, they denied its
+right to involve other nations, _absolutely and unconditionally_, in
+the consequences of the changes which it may think proper to make.
+They maintained the right of a nation to absolve itself from the
+obligations even of real treaties, when such a change of circumstances
+takes place in the internal situation of the other contracting party,
+as so essentially to alter the existing state of things, that it may
+with good faith be pronounced to render a continuance of the connexion
+which results from them, disadvantageous or dangerous.
+
+They reviewed the most prominent of those transactions which had
+recently taken place in France, and noticed the turbulence, the fury,
+and the injustice with which they were marked. The Jacobin club at
+Paris, whose influence was well understood, had even gone so far,
+previous to the meeting of the convention, as to enter into measures
+with the avowed object of purging that body of those persons,
+favourers of royalty, who might have escaped the attention of the
+primary assemblies. This review was taken, to show that the course of
+the revolution had been attended with circumstances which militate
+against a full conviction of its having been brought to its present
+stage, by such a free, regular, and deliberate act of the nation, as
+ought to silence all scruples about the validity of what had been
+done. They appeared to doubt whether the present possessors of power
+ought to be considered as having acquired it with the real consent of
+France, or as having seized it by violence;--whether the existing
+system could be considered as permanent, or merely temporary.
+
+They were therefore of opinion, not that the treaties should be
+annulled or absolutely suspended, but that the United States should
+reserve, for future consideration and discussion, the question whether
+the operation of those treaties ought not to be deemed temporarily and
+provisionally suspended. Should this be the decision of the
+government, they thought it due to a spirit of friendly and candid
+procedure, in the most conciliating terms, to apprize the expected
+minister of this determination.
+
+On the questions relative to the application of the clause of
+guarantee to the existing war, some diversity of sentiment also
+prevailed. The secretary of state and the attorney general conceived,
+that no necessity for deciding thereon existed, while the secretaries
+of the treasury, and of war, were of opinion that the treaty of
+alliance was plainly defensive, and that the clause of guarantee did
+not apply to a war which, having been commenced by France, must be
+considered as offensive on the part of that power.
+
+Against convening congress, the opinion appears to have been
+unanimous.
+
+The cabinet being thus divided on an important part of the system
+which, in the present critical posture of affairs, ought to be adopted
+by the executive, the President signified his desire that the
+ministers would respectively state to him in writing the opinions they
+had formed, together with the reasoning and authorities by which those
+opinions were supported.
+
+The written arguments which were presented on this occasion, while
+they attest the labour, and reflect honour on the talents of those by
+whom they were formed, and evince the equal sincerity and zeal with
+which the opinions on each side were advanced, demonstrate an
+opposition of sentiment respecting the French revolution, which
+threatened to shed its influence on all measures connected with that
+event, and to increase the discord which already existed in the
+cabinet.
+
+So far as respected the reception of a minister from the French
+republic without qualifying that act by any explanations, and the
+continuing obligation of the treaties, the President appears to have
+decided in favour of the opinions given by the secretary of state and
+the attorney general.
+
+[Sidenote: Proclamation of neutrality.]
+
+The proclamation of neutrality which was prepared by the attorney
+general, in conformity with the principles which had been adopted, was
+laid before the cabinet; and, being approved, was signed by the
+President, and ordered to be published.
+
+This measure derives importance from the consideration, that it was
+the commencement of that system to which the American government
+afterwards inflexibly adhered, and to which much of the national
+prosperity is to be ascribed. It is not less important in another
+view. Being at variance with the prejudices, the feelings, and the
+passions of a large portion of the society, and being founded on no
+previous proceedings of the legislature, it presented the first
+occasion, which was thought a fit one, for openly assaulting a
+character, around which the affections of the people had thrown an
+armour theretofore deemed sacred, and for directly criminating the
+conduct of the President himself. It was only by opposing passions to
+passions, by bringing the feeling in favour of France, into conflict
+with those in favour of the chief magistrate, that the enemies of the
+administration could hope to obtain the victory.
+
+For a short time, the opponents of this measure treated it with some
+degree of delicacy. The opposition prints occasionally glanced at the
+executive; considered all governments, including that of the United
+States, as naturally hostile to the liberty of the people; and
+ascribed to this disposition, the combination of European governments
+against France, and the apathy with which this combination was
+contemplated by the executive. At the same time, the most vehement
+declamations were published, for the purpose of inflaming the
+resentments of the people against Britain; of enhancing the
+obligations of America to France; of confirming the opinions, that the
+coalition of European monarchs was directed, not less against the
+United States, than against that power to which its hostility was
+avowed, and that those who did not avow this sentiment were the
+friends of that coalition, and equally the enemies of America and
+France.
+
+These publications, in the first instance, sufficiently bitter,
+quickly assumed a highly increased degree of acrimony.
+
+As soon as the commotions which succeeded the deposition of Louis XVI.
+had, in some degree, subsided, the attention of the French government
+was directed to the United States, and the resolution was taken to
+recall the minister who had been appointed by the king; and to replace
+him with one who might be expected to enter, with more enthusiasm,
+into the views of the republic.[4]
+
+     [Footnote 4: See note No. II. at the end of the volume.]
+
+The citizen Genet, a gentleman of considerable talents, and of an
+ardent temper, was selected for this purpose.
+
+The letters he brought to the executive of the United States, and his
+instructions, which he occasionally communicated, were, in a high
+degree, flattering to the nation, and decently respectful to its
+government. But Mr. Genet was also furnished with private
+instructions, which the course of subsequent events tempted him to
+publish. These indicate that, if the American executive should not be
+found sufficiently compliant with the views of France, the resolution
+had been taken to employ with the people of the United States the same
+policy which was so successfully used with those of Europe; and thus
+to affect an object which legitimate negotiations might fail to
+accomplish.
+
+[Sidenote: Arrival of Mr. Genet as minister from France.]
+
+Mr. Genet possessed many qualities which were peculiarly adapted to
+the objects of his mission; but he seems to have been betrayed by the
+flattering reception which was given him, and by the universal fervour
+expressed for his republic, into a too speedy disclosure of his
+intentions.
+
+[Sidenote: His conduct.]
+
+On the eighth of April he arrived, not at Philadelphia, but at
+Charleston, in South Carolina, a port whose contiguity to the West
+Indies would give it peculiar convenience as a resort for privateers.
+He was received by the governor of that state, and by its citizens,
+with an enthusiasm well calculated to dissipate every doubt he might
+previously have entertained, concerning the dispositions on which he
+was to operate. At this place he continued for several days, receiving
+extravagant marks of public attachment, during which time, he
+undertook to authorize the fitting and arming of vessels in that port,
+enlisting men, and giving commissions to cruise and commit hostilities
+on nations with whom the United States were at peace. The captures
+made by these cruisers were brought into port, and the consuls of
+France were assuming, under the authority of Mr. Genet, to hold courts
+of admiralty on them, to try, condemn, and authorize their sale.
+
+From Charleston, Mr. Genet proceeded by land to Philadelphia,
+receiving on his journey, at the different towns through which he
+passed, such marks of enthusiastic attachment as had never before been
+lavished on a foreign minister. On the 16th of May, he arrived at the
+seat of government, preceded by the intelligence of his transactions
+in South Carolina. This information did not diminish the extravagant
+transports of joy with which he was welcomed by the great body of the
+inhabitants. Means had been taken to render his entry pompous and
+triumphal; and the opposition papers exultingly stated that he was met
+at Gray's ferry by "crowds who flocked from every avenue of the city,
+to meet the republican ambassador of an allied nation."
+
+The day succeeding his arrival, he received addresses of
+congratulation from particular societies, and from the citizens of
+Philadelphia, who waited on him in a body, in which they expressed
+their fervent gratitude for the "zealous and disinterested aids,"
+which the French people had furnished to America, unbounded exultation
+at the success with which their arms had been crowned, and a positive
+conviction that the safety of the United States depended on the
+establishment of the republic. The answers to these addresses were
+well calculated to preserve the idea of a complete fraternity between
+the two nations; and that their interests were identified.
+
+The day after being thus accredited by the citizens of Philadelphia,
+he was presented to the President, by whom he was received with
+frankness, and with expressions of a sincere and cordial regard for
+his nation. In the conversation which took place on this occasion, Mr.
+Genet gave the most explicit assurances that, in consequence of the
+distance of the United States from the theatre of action, and of other
+circumstances, France did not wish to engage them in the war, but
+would willingly leave them to pursue their happiness and prosperity in
+peace. The more ready faith was given to these declarations, because
+it was believed that France might derive advantages from the
+neutrality of America, which would be a full equivalent for any
+services which she could render as a belligerent.
+
+Before the ambassador of the republic had reached the seat of
+government, a long catalogue of complaints, partly founded on his
+proceedings in Charleston, had been made by the British minister to
+the American executive.
+
+This catalogue was composed of the assumptions of sovereignty already
+mentioned;--assumptions calculated to render America an instrument of
+hostility to be wielded by France against those powers with which she
+might be at war.
+
+[Sidenote: Illegal proceedings of the French cruisers.]
+
+These were still further aggravated by the commission of actual
+hostilities within the territories of the United States. The ship
+Grange, a British vessel which had been cleared out from Philadelphia,
+was captured by the French frigate L'Ambuscade within the capes of the
+Delaware, while on her way to the ocean.
+
+The prizes thus unwarrantly made, being brought within the power of
+the American government, Mr. Hammond, among other things, demanded a
+restitution of them.
+
+On many of the points suggested by the conduct of Mr. Genet, and by
+the memorials of the British minister, it would seem impossible that
+any difference of opinion could exist among intelligent men, not under
+the dominion of a blind infatuation. Accordingly it was agreed in the
+cabinet, without a dissenting voice, that the jurisdiction of every
+independent nation, within the limits of its own territory, being of a
+nature to exclude the exercise of any authority therein by a foreign
+power, the proceedings complained of, not being warranted by any
+treaty, were usurpations of national sovereignty, and violations of
+neutral rights, a repetition of which it was the duty of the
+government to prevent.
+
+It was also agreed that the efficacy of the laws should be tried
+against those citizens of the United States who had joined in
+perpetrating the offence.
+
+[Sidenote: Opinions of the Cabinet in relation thereto.]
+
+The question of restitution, except as to the Grange, was more
+dubious. The secretary of state and the attorney general contended
+that, if the commissions granted by Mr. Genet were invalid, the
+captures were totally void, and the courts would adjudge the property
+to remain in the former owners. In this point of view, therefore,
+there being a regular remedy at law, it would be irregular for the
+government to interpose.
+
+If, on the contrary, the commissions were good, then, the captures
+having been made on the high seas, under a valid commission from a
+power at war with Great Britain, the original right of the British
+owner was, by the laws of war, transferred to the captor.
+
+The legal right being in the captor, it could only be taken from him
+by an act of force, that is to say, of reprisal for the offence
+committed against the United States in the port of Charleston.
+Reprisal is a very serious thing, ought always to be preceded by a
+demand and refusal of satisfaction, is generally considered as an act
+of war, and never yet failed to produce it in the case of a nation
+able to make war.
+
+[Illustration: Martha Washington
+
+_From the portrait by James Sharples_
+
+_This is one of the three Sharples portraits of the Washington family
+and the only good profile of Martha Washington that was painted from
+life. Martha, who was a few months younger than her husband, is
+described as having been "amiable in character and lovely in person."
+By the courtesy of the period she was called Lady Washington, and
+whether in her own home or at the "federal court," she presided with
+marked dignity and grace. She died at Mount Vernon, May 22, 1802,
+having survived her husband two and a half years._
+
+Courtesy Herbert L. Pratt]
+
+Admitting the case to be of sufficient importance to require reprisal,
+and to be ripe for that step, the power of taking it was vested by the
+constitution in congress, not in the executive department of the
+government.
+
+Of the reparation for the offence committed against the United States,
+they were themselves the judges, and could not be required by a
+foreign nation, to demand more than was satisfactory to themselves. By
+disavowing the act, by taking measures to prevent its repetition, by
+prosecuting the American citizens who were engaged in it, the United
+States ought to stand justified with Great Britain; and a demand of
+further reparation by that power would be a wrong on her part.
+
+The circumstances under which these equipments had been made, in the
+first moments of the war, before the government could have time to
+take precautions against them, and its immediate disapprobation of
+those equipments, must rescue it from every imputation of being
+accessory to them, and had placed it with the offended, not the
+offending party.
+
+Those gentlemen were therefore of opinion, that the vessels which had
+been captured on the high seas, and brought into the United States, by
+privateers fitted out and commissioned in their ports, ought not to be
+restored.
+
+The secretaries of the treasury, and of war, were of different
+opinion. They urged that a neutral, permitting itself to be made an
+instrument of hostility by one belligerent against another, became
+thereby an associate in the war. If land or naval armaments might be
+formed by France within the United States, for the purpose of carrying
+on expeditions against her enemy, and might return with the spoils
+they had taken, and prepare new enterprises, it was apparent that a
+state of war would exist between America and those enemies, of the
+worst kind for them: since, while the resources of the country were
+employed in annoying them, the instruments of this annoyance would be
+occasionally protected from pursuit, by the privileges of an
+ostensible neutrality. It was easy to see that such a state of things
+could not be tolerated longer than until it should be perceived.
+
+It being confessedly contrary to the duty of the United States, as a
+neutral nation, to suffer privateers to be fitted in their ports to
+annoy the British trade, it seemed to follow that it would comport
+with their duty, to remedy the injury which may have been sustained,
+when it is in their power so to do.
+
+That the fact had been committed before the government could provide
+against it might be an excuse, but not a justification. Every
+government is responsible for the conduct of all parts of the
+community over which it presides, and is supposed to possess, at all
+times, the means of preventing infractions of its duty to foreign
+nations. In the present instance, the magistracy of the place ought to
+have prevented them. However valid this excuse might have been, had
+the privateers expedited from Charleston been sent to the French
+dominions, there to operate out of the reach of the United States, it
+could be of no avail when their prizes were brought into the American
+ports, and the government, thereby, completely enabled to administer a
+specific remedy for the injury.
+
+Although the commissions, and the captures made under them, were valid
+as between the parties at war, they were not so as to the United
+States. For the violation of their rights, they had a claim to
+reparation, and might reasonably demand, as the reparation to which
+they were entitled, restitution of the property taken, with or without
+an apology for the infringement of their sovereignty. This they had a
+right to demand as a species of reparation consonant with the nature
+of the injury, and enabling them to do justice to the party in
+injuring whom they had been made instrumental. It could be no just
+cause of complaint on the part of the captors that they were required
+to surrender a property, the means of acquiring which took their
+origin in a violation of the rights of the United States.
+
+On the other hand, there was a claim on the American government to
+arrest the effects of the injury or annoyance to which it had been
+made accessory. To insist therefore on the restitution of the property
+taken, would be to enforce a right, in order to the performance of a
+duty.
+
+These commissions, though void as to the United States, being valid as
+between the parties, the case was not proper for the decision of the
+courts of justice. The whole was an affair between the governments of
+the parties concerned, to be settled by reasons of state, not rules of
+law. It was the case of an infringement of national sovereignty to the
+prejudice of a third party, in which the government was to demand a
+reparation, with the double view of vindicating its own rights, and of
+doing justice to the suffering party.
+
+They, therefore, were of opinion that, in the case stated for their
+consideration, restitution ought to be made.
+
+On the point respecting which his cabinet was divided, the President
+took time to deliberate. Those principles on which a concurrence of
+sentiment had been manifested being considered as settled, the
+secretary of state was desired to communicate them to the ministers of
+France and Britain; and circular letters were addressed to the
+executives of the several states, requiring their co-operation, with
+force if necessary, in the execution of the rules which were
+established.
+
+The citizen Genet was much dissatisfied with these decisions of the
+American government. He thought them contrary to natural right, and
+subversive of the treaties by which the two nations were connected. In
+his exposition of these treaties, he claimed, for his own country, all
+that the two nations were restricted from conceding to others, thereby
+converting negative limitations into an affirmative grant of
+privileges to France.
+
+Without noticing a want of decorum in some of the expressions which
+Mr. Genet had employed, he was informed that the subjects on which his
+letter treated had, from respect to him, been reconsidered by the
+executive; but that no cause was perceived for changing the system
+which had been adopted. He was further informed that, in the opinion
+of the President, the United States owed it to themselves, and to the
+nations in their friendship, to expect, as a reparation for the
+offence of infringing their sovereignty, that the vessels, thus
+illegally equipped, would depart from their ports.
+
+Mr. Genet was not disposed to acquiesce in these decisions. Adhering
+to his own construction of the existing treaty, he affected to
+consider the measures of the American government as infractions of it,
+which no power in the nation had a right to make, unless the United
+States in congress assembled should determine that their solemn
+engagements should no longer be performed. Intoxicated with the
+sentiments expressed by a great portion of the people, and
+unacquainted with the firm character of the executive, he seems to
+have expected that the popularity of his nation would enable him to
+overthrow that department, or to render it subservient to his views.
+It is difficult otherwise to account for his persisting to disregard
+its decisions, and for passages with which his letters abound, such as
+the following:
+
+"Every obstruction by the government of the United States to the
+arming of French vessels must be an attempt on the rights of man, upon
+which repose the independence and laws of the United States; a
+violation of the ties which unite the people of France and America;
+and even a manifest contradiction of the system of neutrality of the
+President; for, in fact, if our merchant vessels,[5] or others, are
+not allowed to arm themselves, when the French alone are resisting the
+league of all the tyrants against the liberty of the people, they will
+be exposed to inevitable ruin in going out of the ports of the United
+States, which is certainly not the intention of the people of America.
+Their fraternal voice has resounded from every quarter around me, and
+their accents are not equivocal. They are pure as the hearts of those
+by whom they are expressed, and the more they have touched my
+sensibility, the more they must interest in the happiness of America
+the nation I represent;--the more I wish, sir, that the federal
+government should observe, as far as in their power, the public
+engagements contracted by both nations; and that, by this generous and
+prudent conduct, they will give at least to the world, the example of
+a true neutrality, which does not consist in the cowardly abandonment
+of their friends in the moment when danger menaces them, but in
+adhering strictly, if they can do no better, to the obligations they
+have contracted with them. It is by such proceedings that they will
+render themselves respectable to all the powers; that they will
+preserve their friends and deserve to augment their numbers."
+
+     [Footnote 5: The regulation alluded to as was stated by Mr.
+     Jefferson in reply, did not relate to vessels arming for
+     defence, but to cruisers against the enemies of France.]
+
+A few days previous to the reception of the letter from which the
+above is an extract, two citizens of the United States, who had been
+engaged by Mr. Genet in Charleston to cruise in the service of France,
+were arrested by the civil magistrate, in pursuance of the
+determination formed by the executive for the prosecution of persons
+having thus offended against the laws. Mr. Genet demanded their
+release in the following extraordinary terms:
+
+"I have this moment been informed that two officers in the service of
+the republic of France, citizen Gideon Henfield and John Singletary,
+have been arrested on board the privateer of the French republic, the
+Citizen Genet, and conducted to prison. The crime laid to their
+charge--the crime which my mind can not conceive, and which my pen
+almost refuses to state,--is the serving of France, and defending with
+her children the common glorious cause of liberty.
+
+"Being ignorant of any positive law or treaty which deprives Americans
+of this privilege, and authorizes officers of police arbitrarily to
+take mariners in the service of France from on board their vessels, I
+call upon your intervention, sir, and that of the President of the
+United States, in order to obtain the immediate releasement of the
+above mentioned officers, who have acquired, by the sentiments
+animating them, and by the act of their engagement, anterior to every
+act to the contrary, the right of French citizens, if they have lost
+that of American citizens."
+
+This lofty offensive style could not fail to make a deep impression on
+a mind penetrated with a just sense of those obligations by which the
+chief magistrate is bound to guard the dignity of his government, and
+to take care that his nation be not degraded in his person. Yet, in no
+single instance, did the administration, in its communications with
+Mr. Genet, permit itself to be betrayed into the use of one
+intemperate expression. The firmness with which the extravagant
+pretensions of that gentleman were resisted, proceeding entirely from
+a sense of duty and conviction of right, was unaccompanied with any
+marks of that resentment which his language and his conduct were alike
+calculated to inspire.
+
+[Sidenote: State of parties.]
+
+Mr. Genet appears to have been prevented from acquiescing in a line of
+conduct thus deliberately adopted and prudently pursued, by a belief
+that the sentiments of the people were in direct opposition to the
+measures of their government. So excessive, and so general, were the
+demonstrations of enthusiastic devotion to France; so open were their
+expressions of outrage and hostility towards all the powers at war
+with that republic; so thin was the veil which covered the chief
+magistrate from that stream of malignant opprobrium directed against
+every measure which thwarted the views of Mr. Genet; that a person
+less sanguine than that minister might have cherished the hope of
+being able ultimately to triumph over the opposition to his designs.
+Civic festivals, and other public assemblages of people, at which the
+ensigns of France were displayed in union with those of America; at
+which the red cap, as a symbol of French liberty and fraternity,
+triumphantly passed from head to head; at which toasts were given
+expressive of a desire to identify the people of America with those of
+France; and, under the imposing guise of adhering to principles not to
+men, containing allusions to the influence of the President which
+could not be mistaken; appeared to Mr. Genet to indicate a temper
+extremely favourable to his hopes, and very different from that which
+would be required for the preservation of an honest neutrality.
+Through the medium of the press, these sentiments were communicated to
+the public, and were represented as flowing from the hearts of the
+great body of the people. In various other modes, that important
+engine contributed its powerful aid to the extension of opinions,
+calculated, essentially, to vary the situation of the United States.
+The proclamation of neutrality which was treated as a royal edict, was
+not only considered as assuming powers not belonging to the executive,
+and, as evidencing the monarchical tendencies of that department, but
+as demonstrating the disposition of the government to break its
+connexions with France, and to dissolve the friendship which united
+the people of the two republics. The declaration that "the duty and
+interest of the United States required that they should with sincerity
+and good faith adopt and pursue a conduct friendly and impartial
+towards the belligerent powers," gave peculiar umbrage. The scenes of
+the revolutionary war were brought into review; the object and effect
+of British hostility were painted in glowing colours; and the
+important aids afforded by France were drawn with a pencil not less
+animated. That the conduct of Britain, since the treaty of peace had
+furnished unequivocal testimony of enmity to the United States, was
+strongly pressed. With this continuing enmity was contrasted the
+amicable dispositions professed by the French republic; and it was
+asked with indignation, whether the interests of the United States
+required that they should pursue "a line of conduct entirely impartial
+between these two powers? That the services of the one as well as the
+injuries of the other, should be forgotten? that a friend and an enemy
+should be treated with equal favour? and that neither gratitude nor
+resentment should constitute a feature of the American character?" The
+supposed freedom of the French was opposed to the imagined slavery of
+the English; and it was demanded whether "the people of America were
+alike friendly to republicanism and to monarchy? to liberty and to
+despotism?"
+
+With infectious enthusiasm it was contended, that there was a natural
+and inveterate hostility between monarchies and republics; that the
+present combination against France was a combination against liberty
+in every part of the world; and that the destinies of America were
+inseparably linked with those of the French republic.
+
+On the various points of controversy which had arisen between the
+executive and Mr. Genet, this active and powerful party openly and
+decidedly embraced the principles for which that minister contended.
+It was assumed that his demands were sanctioned by subsisting
+treaties, and that his exposition of those instruments was perfectly
+correct. The conduct of the executive in withholding privileges to
+which France was said to be entitled by the most solemn engagements,
+was reprobated with extreme acrimony; was considered as indicative of
+a desire to join the coalesced despots in their crusade against
+liberty; and as furnishing to the French republic such just motives
+for war, that it required all her moderation and forbearance to
+restrain her from declaring it against the United States.
+
+Mr. Genet was exhorted not to relax in his endeavours to maintain the
+just rights of his country; and was assured that, in the affections of
+the people, he would find a firm and certain support.
+
+These principles and opinions derived considerable aid from the
+labours and intrigues of certain societies, who had constituted
+themselves the guardians of American liberty.
+
+The manner in which that attention of the conduct of those invested
+with the power which is essential in balanced governments, may safely
+be employed, had been so misconceived, that temporary and detached
+clubs of citizens had occasionally been formed in different parts of
+the United States, for the avowed purpose of watching the conduct of
+their rulers. After the adoption of the constitution, some slight use
+was made, by its enemies, of this weapon; and, in the German
+Republican Society particularly, many of the most strenuous opponents
+of the administration were collected.
+
+[Sidenote: Democratic societies formed.]
+
+The force and power of these institutions had been fully developed,
+and their efficacy in prostrating existing establishments clearly
+ascertained by the revolution in France. The increased influence which
+they derived from corresponding with each other, had been
+unequivocally demonstrated; and soon after the arrival of Mr. Genet, a
+democratic society was formed in Philadelphia on the model of the
+Jacobin club in Paris. An anxious solicitude for the preservation of
+freedom, the very existence of which was menaced by a "European
+confederacy transcendent in power and unparalleled in iniquity;" which
+was endangered also by "the pride of wealth and arrogance of power,"
+displayed within the United States; was the motive assigned for the
+association. "A constant circulation of useful information, and a
+liberal communication of republican sentiments, were thought to be the
+best antidotes to any political poison with which the vital principle
+of civil liberty might be attacked:" and to give the more extensive
+operation to their labours, a corresponding committee was appointed,
+through whom they would communicate with other societies, which might
+be established on similar principles, throughout the United States.
+
+Faithful to their founder, and true to the real objects of their
+association, these societies continued, during the term of their
+existence, to be the resolute champions of all the encroachments
+attempted by the agents of the French republic on the government of
+the United States, and the steady defamers of the views and measures
+of the American executive.
+
+Thus strongly supported, Mr. Genet persisted in his construction of
+the treaties between the two nations; and, in defiance of the positive
+determination of the government, continued to act according to that
+construction.
+
+The President was called to Mount Vernon by urgent business, which
+detained him less than three weeks; and, in his absence, the heads of
+departments superintended the execution of those rules which had been
+previously established.
+
+In this short interval, a circumstance occurred, strongly marking the
+rashness of the minister of France, and his disrespect to the
+executive of the United States.
+
+The Little Sarah, an English merchantman, had been captured by a
+French frigate, and brought into the port of Philadelphia, where she
+was completely equipped as a privateer, and was just about to sail on
+a cruise under the name of _le petit Democrat_, when the secretary of
+the treasury communicated her situation to the secretaries of state
+and of war; in consequence of which, Governor Mifflin was desired to
+cause an examination of the fact. The warden of the port was directed
+to institute the proper inquiries; and late in the evening of the
+sixth of July, he reported her situation, and that she was to sail the
+next day.
+
+[Sidenote: Genet calculates upon the partialities of the American
+people for France and openly insults their government.]
+
+In pursuance of the instructions which had been given by the
+President, the governor immediately sent Mr. Secretary Dallas for the
+purpose of prevailing on Mr. Genet to relieve him from the employment
+of force, by detaining the vessel in port until the arrival of the
+President, who was then on his way from Mount Vernon. Mr. Dallas
+communicated this message to the French minister in terms as
+conciliatory as its nature would permit. On receiving it, he gave a
+loose to the most extravagant passion. After exclaiming with vehemence
+against the measure, he complained, in strong terms, and with many
+angry epithets, of the ill treatment which he had received from some
+of the officers of the general government, which he contrasted with
+the cordial attachment that was expressed by the people at large for
+his nation. He ascribed the conduct of those officers to principles
+inimical to the cause of France, and of liberty. He insinuated that,
+by their influence, the President had been misled; and observed with
+considerable emphasis, that the President was not the sovereign of
+this country. The powers of peace and war being vested in congress, it
+belonged to that body to decide those questions growing out of
+treaties which might involve peace or war; and the President,
+therefore, ought to have assembled the national legislature before he
+ventured to issue his proclamation of neutrality, or to prohibit, by
+his instructions to the state governors, the enjoyment of the
+particular rights which France claimed under the express stipulations
+of the treaty of commerce. The executive construction of that treaty
+was neither just nor obligatory; and he would make no engagement which
+might be construed into a relinquishment of rights which his
+constituents deemed indispensable. In the course of this vehement and
+angry declamation, he spoke of publishing his correspondence with the
+officers of government, together with a narrative of his proceedings;
+and said that, although the existing causes would warrant an abrupt
+departure, his regard for the people of America would induce him to
+remain here, amidst the insults and disgusts that he daily suffered in
+his official character from the public officers, until the meeting of
+congress; and if that body should agree in the opinions and support
+the measures of the President, he would certainly withdraw, and leave
+the dispute to be adjusted between the two nations themselves. His
+attention being again called by Mr. Dallas to the particular subject,
+he peremptorily refused to enter into any arrangements for suspending
+the departure of the privateer, and cautioned him against any attempt
+to seize her, as she belonged to the republic; and, in defence of the
+honour of her flag, would unquestionably repel force by force.
+
+On receiving the report of Mr. Dallas, Governor Mifflin ordered out
+one hundred and twenty militia, for the purpose of taking possession
+of the privateer; and communicated the case, with all its
+circumstances, to the officers of the executive government. On the
+succeeding day, Mr. Jefferson waited on Mr. Genet, in the hope of
+prevailing on him to pledge his word that the privateer should not
+leave the port until the arrival of the President. The minister was
+not less intemperate with Mr. Jefferson than he had been with Mr.
+Dallas. He indulged himself, in a repetition of nearly the same
+passionate language, and again spoke, with extreme harshness, of the
+conduct of the executive. He persisted in refusing to make any
+engagements for the detention of the vessel; and, after his rage had
+in some degree spent itself, he entreated that no attempt might be
+made to take possession of her, as her crew was on board, and force
+would be repelled by force.
+
+He then also said that she was not ready to sail immediately. She
+would change her position, and fall down the river a small distance on
+that day; but was not yet ready to sail.
+
+In communicating this conversation to Governor Mifflin, Mr. Jefferson
+stated his conviction that the privateer would remain in the river
+until the President should decide on her case; in consequence of
+which, the governor dismissed the militia, and requested the advice of
+the heads of departments on the course which it would be proper for
+him to pursue. Both the governor and Mr. Jefferson stated, that in
+reporting the conversation between Mr. Genet and himself, Mr. Dallas
+had said that Mr. Genet threatened, in express terms, "to appeal from
+the President to the people."
+
+Thus braved and insulted in the very heart of the American empire, the
+secretaries of the treasury, and of war, were of opinion that it was
+expedient to take immediate provisional measures for establishing a
+battery on Mud Island, under cover of a party of militia, with
+directions, that if the vessel should attempt to depart before the
+pleasure of the President should be known concerning her, military
+coercion should be employed to arrest her progress.
+
+The secretary of state dissenting from this opinion, the measure was
+not adopted. The vessel fell down to Chester before the arrival of the
+President, and sailed on her cruise before the power of the government
+could be interposed.
+
+On the 11th of July the President reached Philadelphia, and requested
+that his cabinet ministers would convene at his house the next day at
+nine in the morning.
+
+Among the papers placed in his hands by the secretary of state, which
+required immediate attention, were those which related to the Little
+Democrat. On reading them, a messenger was immediately despatched for
+the secretary, but he had retired, indisposed, to his seat in the
+country. Upon hearing this, the President instantly addressed a letter
+to him, of which the following is an extract. "What is to be done in
+the case of the Little Sarah, now at Chester? Is the minister of the
+French republic to set the acts of this government at defiance _with
+impunity_--and then threaten the executive with an appeal to the
+people? What must the world think of such conduct? and of the
+government of the United States in submitting to it?
+
+"These are serious questions--circumstances press for decision;--and
+as you have had time to consider them, (upon me they come
+unexpectedly,) I wish to know your opinion upon them even before
+to-morrow--for the vessel may then be gone."
+
+In answer to this letter, the secretary stated the assurances which
+had on that day been given to him by Mr. Genet, that the vessel would
+not sail before the President's decision respecting her should be
+made. In consequence of this information, immediate coercive measures
+were suspended; and in the council of the succeeding day it was
+determined to retain in port all[6] privateers which had been equipped
+by any of the belligerent powers within the United States. This
+determination was immediately communicated to Mr. Genet; but, in
+contempt of it, the Little Democrat proceeded on her cruise.
+
+     [Footnote 6: They were particularly enumerated, and the
+     decision was also extended to the ship Jane, an English
+     armed merchantman, alleged by Mr. Genet to be a privateer,
+     and the governor was requested to attend to her, and if he
+     found her augmenting her force and about to depart, to cause
+     her to be stopped.
+
+     The Jane had augmented her armament by replacing four old
+     gun-carriages with new ones, and opening two new portholes.
+     The request of the British consul that these alterations
+     might be allowed was peremptorily rejected, and directions
+     were given that she should be restored precisely to the
+     situation in which she entered the port. Had she attempted
+     to sail without obeying these orders, Governor Mifflin had
+     taken measures to stop her at Mud Island.]
+
+In this, as in every effort made by the executive to maintain the
+neutrality of the United States, that great party which denominated
+itself "THE PEOPLE," could perceive only a settled hostility to France
+and to liberty, a tame subserviency to British policy, and a desire,
+by provoking France, to engage America in the war, for the purpose of
+extirpating republican principles.[7]
+
+     [Footnote 7: See note No. III. at the end of the volume.]
+
+The administration received strong additional evidence of the
+difficulty that would attend an adherence to the system which had been
+commenced, in the acquittal of Gideon Henfield.
+
+A prosecution had been instituted against this person who had enlisted
+in Charleston on board a French privateer equipped in that port, which
+had brought her prizes into the port of Philadelphia. This prosecution
+had been directed under the advice of the attorney general, who was of
+opinion, that persons of this description were punishable for having
+violated subsisting treaties, which, by the constitution, are the
+supreme law of the land; and that they were also indictable at common
+law, for disturbing the peace of the United States.
+
+It could not be expected that the democratic party would be
+inattentive to an act so susceptible of misrepresentation. Their
+papers sounded the alarm; and it was universally asked, "what law had
+been offended, and under what statute was the indictment supported?
+Were the American people already prepared to give to a proclamation
+the force of a legislative act, and to subject themselves to the will
+of the executive? But if they were already sunk to such a state of
+degradation, were they to be punished for violating a proclamation
+which had not been published when the offence was committed, if indeed
+it could be termed an offence to engage with France, combating for
+liberty against the combined despots of Europe?"
+
+As the trial approached, a great degree of sensibility was displayed;
+and the verdict in favour of Henfield was celebrated with extravagant
+marks of joy and exultation. It bereaved the executive of the strength
+to be derived from an opinion, that punishment might be legally
+inflicted on those who should openly violate the rules prescribed for
+the preservation of neutrality; and exposed that department to the
+obloquy of having attempted a measure which the laws would not
+justify.
+
+About this time, a question growing out of the war between France and
+Britain, the decision of which would materially affect the situation
+of the United States, was presented to the consideration of the
+executive.
+
+It will be recollected that during the war which separated America
+from Britain, the celebrated compact termed the _armed neutrality_ was
+formed in the north of Europe, and announced to the belligerent
+powers. A willingness to acquiesce in the principles it asserted, one
+of which was that free bottoms should make free goods, was expressed
+by the governments engaged in the war, with the single exception of
+Great Britain. But, however favourably the United States, as a
+belligerent, might view a principle which would promote the interests
+of inferior maritime powers, they were not willing, after the
+termination of hostilities, to enter into engagements for its support
+which might endanger their future peace; and, in this spirit,
+instructions were given to their ministers in Europe.
+
+This principle was ingrafted into the treaty of commerce with France;
+but no stipulation on the subject had been made with England. It
+followed, that, with France, the character of the bottom was imparted
+to the cargo; but with Britain, the law of nations was the rule by
+which the respective rights of the belligerent and neutral were to be
+decided.
+
+Construing this rule to give security to the goods of a friend in the
+bottoms of an enemy, and to subject the goods of an enemy to capture
+in the bottoms of a friend, the British cruisers took French property
+out of American vessels, and their courts condemned it as lawful
+prize.
+
+Mr. Genet had remonstrated against the acquiescence of the American
+executive in this exposition of the law of nations, in such terms as
+he was accustomed to employ; and on the 9th of July, in the moment of
+the contest respecting the Little Democrat, he had written a letter
+demanding an immediate and positive answer to the question, what
+measures the President had taken, or would take, to cause the American
+flag to be respected? He observed, that "as the English would continue
+to carry off, with impunity, French citizens, and French property
+found on board of American vessels, without embarrassing themselves
+with the philosophical principles proclaimed by the President of the
+United States," and as the embarrassing engagements of France deprived
+her of the privileges of making reprisals at every point, it was
+necessary for the interests of both nations, quickly to agree on
+taking other measures.
+
+Not receiving an immediate answer, Mr. Genet, towards the close of
+July, again addressed the secretary of state on the subject. In this
+extraordinary letter, after complaining of the insults offered to the
+American flag by seizing the property of Frenchmen confided to its
+protection, he added, "your political rights are counted for nothing.
+In vain do the principles of neutrality establish, that friendly
+vessels make friendly goods; in vain, sir, does the President of the
+United States endeavour, by his proclamation, to reclaim the
+observation of this maxim; in vain does the desire of preserving peace
+lead to sacrifice the interests of France to that of the moment; in
+vain does the thirst of riches preponderate over honour in the
+political balance of America: all this management, all this
+condescension, all this humility, end in nothing; our enemies laugh at
+it; and the French, too confident, are punished for having believed
+that the American nation had a flag, that they had some respect for
+their laws, some conviction of their strength, and entertained some
+sentiment of their dignity. It is not possible for me, sir, to paint
+to you all my sensibility at this scandal which tends to the
+diminution of your commerce, to the oppression of ours, and to the
+debasement and vilification of republics. It is for Americans to make
+known their generous indignation at this outrage; and I must confine
+myself to demand of you a second time, to inform me of the measures
+which you have taken, in order to obtain restitution of the property
+plundered from my fellow citizens, under the protection of your flag.
+It is from our government they have learnt that the Americans were our
+allies, that the American nation was sovereign, and that they knew how
+to make themselves respected. It is then under the very same sanction
+of the French nation, that they have confided their property and
+persons to the safeguard of the American flag; and on her, they submit
+the care of causing those rights to be respected. But if our fellow
+citizens have been deceived, if you are not in a condition to maintain
+the sovereignty of your people, speak; we have guaranteed it when
+slaves, we shall be able to render it formidable, having become
+freemen."
+
+On the day preceding the date of this offensive letter, the secretary
+of state had answered that of the 9th of July; and, without noticing
+the unbecoming style in which the decision of the executive was
+demanded, had avowed and defended the opinion, that "by the general
+law of nations, the goods of an enemy found in the vessels of a friend
+are lawful prize." This fresh insult might therefore be passed over in
+silence.
+
+While a hope remained that the temperate forbearance of the executive,
+and the unceasing manifestations of its friendly dispositions towards
+the French republic, might induce the minister of that nation to
+respect the rights of the United States, and to abstain from
+violations of their sovereignty, an anxious solicitude not to impair
+the harmony which he wished to maintain between the two republics, had
+restrained the President from adopting those measures respecting Mr.
+Genet, which the conduct of that gentleman required. He had seen a
+foreign minister usurp within the territories of the United States
+some of the most important rights of sovereignty, and persist, after
+the prohibition of the government, in the exercise of those rights. In
+asserting this extravagant claim, so incompatible with national
+independence, the spirit in which it originated had been pursued, and
+the haughty style of a superior had been substituted for the
+respectful language of diplomacy. He had seen the same minister
+undertake to direct the civil government; and to pronounce, in
+opposition to the decisions of the executive, in what departments of
+the constitution of the United States had placed certain great
+national powers. To render this state of things more peculiarly
+critical and embarrassing, the person most instrumental in producing
+it, had, from his arrival, thrown himself into the arms of the people,
+stretched out to receive him; and was emboldened by their favour, to
+indulge the hope of succeeding in his endeavours, either to overthrow
+their government, or to bend it to his will. But the full experiment
+had now been made; and the result was a conviction not to be resisted,
+that moderation would only invite additional injuries, and that the
+present insufferable state of things could be terminated only by
+procuring the removal of the French minister, or by submitting to
+become, in his hands, the servile instrument of hostility against the
+enemies of his nation. Information was continually received from every
+quarter, of fresh aggressions on the principles established by the
+government; and, while the executive was thus openly disregarded and
+contemned, the members of the administration were reproached in all
+the papers of an active and restless opposition, as the violators of
+the national faith, the partisans of monarchy, and the enemies of
+liberty and of France.
+
+The unwearied efforts of that department to preserve that station in
+which the various treaties in existence had placed the nation, were
+incessantly calumniated[8] as infractions of those treaties, and
+ungrateful attempts to force the United States into the war against
+France.
+
+     [Footnote 8: See note No. IV. at the end of the volume.]
+
+The judgment of the President was never hastily formed; but, once made
+up, it was seldom to be shaken. Before the last letter of Mr. Genet
+was communicated to him, he seems to have determined to take decisive
+measures respecting that minister.
+
+[Sidenote: Rules laid down by the executive in relation to the powers
+at war within the ports of the United States.]
+
+That the course to be pursued might be well considered, the secretary
+of state was requested to collect all the correspondence with him, to
+be laid before a cabinet council about to be held for the purpose of
+adjusting a complete system of rules to be observed by the
+belligerents in the ports of the United States. These rules were
+discussed at several meetings, and finally, on the third of August,
+received the unanimous approbation of the cabinet. They[9] evidence
+the settled purpose of the executive, faithfully to observe all the
+national engagements, and honestly to perform the duties of that
+neutrality in which the war found them, and in which those engagements
+left them free to remain.
+
+     [Footnote 9: See note No. V. at the end of the volume.]
+
+[Sidenote: The president requests the recall of Genet.]
+
+In the case of the minister of the French republic, it was unanimously
+agreed that a letter should be written to Mr. Morris, the minister of
+the United States at Paris, stating the conduct of Mr. Genet, resuming
+the points of difference which had arisen between the government and
+that gentleman, assigning the reasons for the opinion of the former,
+desiring the recall of the latter, and directing that this letter,
+with those which had passed between Mr. Genet and the secretary of
+state, should be laid before the executive of the French government.
+
+To a full view of the transactions of the executive with Mr. Genet,
+and an ample justification of its measures, this able diplomatic
+performance adds assurances of unvarying attachment to France,
+expressed in such terms of unaffected sensibility, as to render
+it impossible to suspect the sincerity of the concluding
+sentiment--"that, after independence and self-government, there was
+nothing America more sincerely wished than perpetual friendship with
+them."
+
+An adequate idea of the passion it excited in Mr. Genet, who received
+the communication in September, at New York, can be produced only by a
+perusal of his letter addressed, on that occasion, to the secretary of
+state. The asperity of his language was not confined to the President,
+whom he still set at defiance, whom he charged with transcending the
+limits prescribed by the constitution, and of whose accusation before
+congress he spoke as an act of justice "which the American people,
+which the French people, which all free people were interested to
+reclaim:" nor to those "gentlemen who had been painted to him so often
+as aristocrats, partisans of monarchy, partisans of England, and
+consequently enemies of the principles which all good Frenchmen had
+embraced with a religious enthusiasm." Its bitterness was also
+extended to the secretary of state himself, whom he had been induced
+to consider as his personal friend, and who had, he said, "initiated
+him into mysteries which had inflamed his hatred against all those who
+aspire to an absolute power."
+
+During these deliberations, Mr. Genet was received in New York with
+the same remarks of partiality to his nation, and of flattering regard
+to himself, which had been exhibited in the more southern states. At
+this place too, he manifested the same desire to encourage discontent
+at the conduct of the government, and to embark America in the
+quarrel, by impressing an opinion that the existence of liberty
+depended on the success of the French republic, which he had uniformly
+avowed. In answer to an address from the republican citizens of New
+York, who had spoken of the proclamation of neutrality as relating
+only to acts of open hostility, not to the feelings of the heart; and
+who had declared that they would "exultingly sacrifice a liberal
+portion of their dearest interests could there result, on behalf of
+the French republic, an adequate advantage;" he said--"in this respect
+I can not but interpret as you have done the declaration of your
+government. They must know that the strict performance of treaties is
+the best and safest policy; they must know that good faith alone can
+inspire respectability to a nation; that a pusillanimous conduct
+provokes insult, and brings upon a country those very dangers which it
+weakly means to avert.
+
+"There is indeed too much reason to fear that you are involved in the
+general conspiracy of tyrants against liberty. They never will, they
+never can forgive you for having been the first to proclaim the rights
+of man. But you will force them to respect you by pursuing with
+firmness the only path which is consistent with your national honour
+and dignity.
+
+"The cause of France is the cause of all mankind, and no nation is
+more deeply interested than you are in its success. Whatever fate
+awaits her, you are ultimately to share. But the cause of liberty is
+great and it shall prevail.
+
+"And if France, under a despotic yoke, has been able so successfully
+to assert your rights, they can never again be endangered while she is
+at liberty to exert, in your support, that powerful arm which now
+defies the combined efforts of a whole world."
+
+While these exertions were successfully making to give increased
+force, and a wider extent, to opinions which might subvert the system
+adopted by the executive, Mr. Jay, the chief justice of the United
+States, and Mr. King, a senator representing the state, arrived in New
+York from Philadelphia. They had been preceded by a report, which was
+whispered in private circles, that the French minister had avowed a
+determination to appeal from the President to the people. The
+confidential intercourse subsisting between these gentlemen and a part
+of the administration rendering it probable that this declaration, if
+made, had been communicated to them, they were asked, whether the
+report was true; having received the information through a channel[10]
+which was entitled to the most implicit faith, they answered that it
+was.
+
+     [Footnote 10: They received it from the secretaries of the
+     treasury and of war.]
+
+Their having said so was controverted; and they were repeatedly
+required, in the public papers, to admit or deny that they had made
+such an assertion. Thus called upon, they published a certificate
+avowing that they had made the declaration imputed to them.
+
+On reflecting men this communication made a serious impression. The
+recent events in Poland, whose dismemberment and partition were easily
+traced to the admission of foreign influence, gave additional
+solemnity to the occurrence, and led to a more intent consideration of
+the awful causes which would embolden a foreign minister to utter such
+a threat.
+
+That party, which in the commencement of the contests respecting the
+constitution was denominated federal, had generally supported the
+measures of the administration.
+
+That which was denominated anti-federal, had generally opposed those
+measures. South of the Potomac especially, there was certainly many
+important exceptions to this arrangement of parties; yet as a general
+arrangement, it was unquestionably correct.
+
+In the common partialities for France, in the common hope that the
+revolution in that country would be crowned with success, and would
+produce important benefits to the human race, they had equally
+participated; but in the course to be pursued by the United States,
+the line of separation between the two parties was clear and distinct.
+The federalists were universally of opinion that, in the existing war,
+America ought to preserve a neutrality as impartial as was compatible
+with her treaties; and that those treaties had been fairly and justly
+construed by the executive. Seduced however by their wishes, and by
+their affections, they at first yielded implicit faith to the
+assurances given by Mr. Genet of the disinclination of the French
+republic to draw them from this eligible position; and from this
+belief, they receded slowly and reluctantly.
+
+They were inclined to ascribe the bitter invectives which were
+pronounced against the executive to an inveterate hostility to the
+government, and to those who administered it; and, when at length they
+were compelled to perceive that the whole influence of Mr. Genet was
+employed in stimulating and pointing these invectives, they fondly
+indulged the hope that his nation would not countenance his conduct.
+Adding to their undiminished attachment to the chief magistrate, a
+keen sense of the disgrace, the humiliation, and the danger of
+permitting the American government to be forced into any system of
+measures by the machinations of a foreign minister with the people,
+they had occasionally endeavoured, through the medium of the press, to
+keep the public mind correct; and, when it was announced that an
+appeal to themselves was threatened, they felt impelled by the
+strongest sentiments of patriotism and regard for national honour, to
+declare the indignation which the threat had inspired. In every
+quarter of the union, the people assembled in their districts, and the
+strength of parties was fully tried. The contest was warm and
+strenuous. But public opinion appeared to preponderate greatly in
+favour of neutrality, and of the proclamation by which its observance
+was directed. It was apparent too, that the American bosom still
+glowed with ardent affection for their chief magistrate; and that,
+however successful might have been the shafts directed against some of
+those who shared his confidence, the arrows aimed at himself had
+missed their mark.
+
+Yet it was not to be concealed that the indiscreet arrogance of Mr.
+Genet, the direct insults to the President, and the attachment which
+many, who were in opposition to the general measures of the
+administration, still retained for the person of that approved
+patriot, contributed essentially to the prevalence of the sentiment
+which was called forth by the occasion.
+
+In the resolutions expressing the strongest approbation of the
+measures which had been adopted, and the greatest abhorrence of
+foreign influence, a decided partiality for France was frequently
+manifested; while in those of a contrary description, respect for the
+past services of the President, and a willingness to support the
+executive in the exercises of its constitutional functions, seemed,
+when introduced, to be reluctantly placed among the more agreeable
+declarations of detestation for those who sought to dissolve the union
+between America and France, and of the devotion with which the French
+revolution ought to be espoused by all the friends of liberty.
+
+The effect which the certificate of Mr. Jay and Mr. King might
+possibly produce was foreseen; and Mr. Genet sought to avoid its
+influence by questioning its veracity. Not only had it never been
+alleged that the exceptionable expressions were used to the President
+personally, but it was certain that they had not been uttered in his
+presence. Affecting not to have adverted to this obvious circumstance,
+the minister, on the 13th of August, addressed a letter to the chief
+magistrate, which, being designed for publication, was itself the act
+he had threatened, in which he subjoined to a detail of his
+accusations against the executive, the demand of an explicit
+declaration that he had never intimated to him an intention to appeal
+to the people.
+
+On the 16th this letter was answered by the secretary of state, who,
+after acknowledging its receipt by the President, added, "I am desired
+to observe to you that it is not the established course for the
+diplomatic characters residing here to have any direct correspondence
+with him. The secretary of state is the organ through which their
+communications should pass.
+
+"The President does not conceive it to be within the line of propriety
+or duty, for him to bear evidence against a declaration, which,
+whether made to him or others, is perhaps immaterial; he therefore
+declines interfering in the case."
+
+Seldom has more conclusive testimony been offered of the ascendency
+which, in the conflicts of party, the passions maintain over reason,
+than was exhibited, on this occasion, by the zealous partisans of the
+French minister. It might have been expected that, content with
+questioning the fact, or with diverting the obloquy attending it from
+the French nation, no American would have been found hardy enough to
+justify it; and but few, to condemn those gentlemen by whose means it
+had reached the public ear. Nothing could be farther removed from this
+expectation, than the conduct that was actually observed. The censure
+merited by the expressions themselves fell, not upon the person who
+had used them, but upon those who had communicated them to the public.
+Writers of considerable political eminence, charged them as being
+members of a powerful faction who were desirous of separating America
+from France, and connecting her with England, for the purpose of
+introducing the British constitution.
+
+As if no sin could equal the crime of disclosing to the people a truth
+which, by inducing reflection, might check the flood of that passion
+for France which was deemed the surest test of patriotism, the darkest
+motives were assigned for the disclosure, and the reputation of those
+who made it has scarcely been rescued by a lapse of years, and by a
+change of the subjects of controversy, from the peculiar party odium
+with which they were at the time overwhelmed.
+
+Sentiments of a still more extraordinary nature were openly avowed. In
+a republican country, it was said, the people alone were the basis of
+government. All powers being derived from them, might, by them, be
+withdrawn at pleasure. They alone were the authors of the law, and to
+them alone, must the ultimate decision on the interpretation belong.
+From these delicate and popular truths, it was inferred, that the
+doctrine that the sovereignty of the nation resided in the departments
+of government was incompatible with the principles of liberty; and
+that, if Mr. Genet dissented from the interpretation given by the
+President to existing treaties, he might rightfully appeal to the real
+sovereign whose agent the President was, and to whom he was
+responsible for his conduct. Is the President, it was asked, a
+_consecrated_ character, that an appeal from his decisions must be
+considered criminal? or are the people in such a state of monarchical
+degradation, that to speak of consulting them is an offence as great,
+as if America groaned under a dominion equally tyrannical with the old
+monarchy of France?
+
+It was soon ascertained that Mr. Dallas, to whom this threat of
+appealing to the people had been delivered, did not admit that the
+precise words had been used. Mr. Genet then, in the coarsest terms,
+averred the falsehood of the certificate which had been published, and
+demanded from the attorney general, and from the government, that Mr.
+Jay and Mr. King should be indicted for a libel upon himself and his
+nation. That officer accompanied his refusal to institute this
+information with the declaration that any other gentleman of the
+profession, who might approve and advise the attempt, could be at no
+loss to point out a mode which would not require his intervention.
+
+While the minister of the French republic thus loudly complained of
+the unparalleled injury he received from being charged with employing
+a particular exceptionable phrase, he seized every fair occasion to
+carry into full execution the threat which he denied having made. His
+letters, written for the purpose of publication, and actually
+published by himself, accused the executive, before the tribunal of
+the people, on those specific points, from its decisions respecting
+which he was said to have threatened the appeal. As if the offence
+lay, not in perpetrating the act, but in avowing an intention to
+perpetrate it, this demonstration of his designs did not render his
+advocates the less vehement in his support, nor the less acrimonious
+in reproaching the administration, as well as Mr. Jay and Mr. King.
+
+Whilst insult was thus added to insult, the utmost vigilance of the
+executive officers was scarcely sufficient to maintain an observance
+of the rules which had been established for preserving neutrality in
+the American ports. Mr. Genet persisted in refusing to acquiesce in
+those rules; and fresh instances of attempts to violate them were
+continually recurring. Among these, was an outrage committed in
+Boston, too flagrant to be overlooked.
+
+A schooner, brought as a prize into the port of Boston by a French
+privateer, was claimed by the British owner; who instituted
+proceedings at law against her, for the purpose of obtaining a
+decision on the validity of her capture. She was rescued from the
+possession of the marshal, by an armed force acting under the
+authority of Mr. Duplaine, the French consul, which was detached from
+a frigate then lying in port. Until the frigate sailed, she was
+guarded by a part of the crew; and, notwithstanding the determination
+of the American government that the consular courts should not
+exercise a prize jurisdiction within the territories of the United
+States, Mr. Duplaine declared his purpose to take cognizance of the
+case.
+
+To this act of open defiance, it was impossible for the President to
+submit. The facts being well attested, the exequatur which had been
+granted to Mr. Duplaine was revoked, and he was forbidden further to
+exercise the consular functions. It will excite surprise that even
+this necessary measure could not escape censure. The self-proclaimed
+champions of liberty discovered in it a violation of the constitution,
+and a new indignity to France.
+
+Mr. Genet did not confine his attempts to employ the force of America
+against the enemies of his country to maritime enterprises. On his
+first arrival, he is understood to have planned an expedition against
+the Floridas, to be carried on from Georgia; and another against
+Louisiana, to be carried on from the western parts of the United
+States. Intelligence was received that the principal officers were
+engaged; and the temper of the people inhabiting the western country
+was such as to furnish some ground for the apprehension, that the
+restraints which the executive was capable of imposing, would be found
+too feeble to prevent the execution of this plan. The remonstrances of
+the Spanish commissioners on this subject, however, were answered with
+explicit assurances that the government would effectually interpose to
+defeat any expedition from the territories of the United States
+against those of Spain; and the governor of Kentucky was requested to
+co-operate in frustrating this improper application of the military
+resources of his state.
+
+It was not by the machinations of the French minister alone that the
+neutrality of the United States was endangered. The party which, under
+different pretexts, urged measures the inevitable tendency of which
+was war, derived considerable aid, in their exertions to influence the
+passions of the people, from the conduct of others of the belligerent
+powers. The course pursued both by Britain and Spain rendered the task
+of the executive still more arduous, by furnishing weapons to the
+enemies of neutrality, capable of being wielded with great effect.
+
+The resentment excited by the rigour with which the maritime powers of
+Europe retained the monopoly of their colonial commerce, had, without
+the aid of those powerful causes which had lately been brought into
+operation, been directed peculiarly against Great Britain. These
+resentments had been greatly increased. That nation had not mitigated
+the vexations and inconveniences which war necessarily inflicts on
+neutral trade, by any relaxations in her colonial policy.
+
+[Sidenote: Decree of the national convention relative to neutral
+commerce.]
+
+To this rigid and repulsive system, that of France presented a perfect
+contrast. Either influenced by the politics of the moment, or
+suspecting that, in a contest with the great maritime nations of
+Europe, her commerce must search for security in other bottoms than
+her own, she opened the ports of her colonies to every neutral flag,
+and offered to the United States a new treaty, in which it was
+understood that every mercantile distinction between Americans and
+Frenchmen should be totally abolished.
+
+With that hasty credulity which, obedient to the wishes, can not await
+the sober and deliberate decisions of the judgment, the Americans
+ascribed this change, and these propositions, to the liberal genius of
+freedom; and expected the new commercial and political systems to be
+equally durable. As if, in the term REPUBLIC, the avaricious spirit of
+commercial monopoly would lose its influence over men; as if the
+passions were to withdraw from the management of human affairs, and
+leave the helm to the guidance of reason, and of disinterested
+philanthropy; a vast proportion of the American people believed this
+novel system to be the genuine offspring of new-born liberty; and
+consequently expected that, from the success of the republican arms, a
+flood of untried good was to rush upon the world.
+
+The avidity with which the neutral merchants pressed forward to reap
+the rich and tempting harvest offered to them by the regulations and
+the wants of France, presented a harvest not less rich and tempting to
+the cruisers of her enemies. Captures to a great extent were made,
+some with, others without, justifiable cause; and the irritations
+inseparable from disappointment in gathering the fruits of a gainful
+traffic, were extensively communicated to the agricultural part of
+society.
+
+The vexations on the ocean to which neutrals are commonly exposed
+during war, were aggravated by a measure of the British cabinet, which
+war was not admitted to justify.
+
+[Sidenote: British order of 1793.]
+
+The vast military exertions of the French republic had carried many
+hands from their usual occupations, to the field; and the measures of
+government, added to the internal commotions, had discouraged labour
+by rendering its profits insecure. These causes, aided perhaps by
+unfavourable seasons, had produced a scarcity which threatened famine.
+This state of things suggested to their enemies the policy of
+increasing the internal distress, by cutting off the external supply.
+In execution of this plan, the British cruisers were instructed "to
+stop all vessels loaded wholly or in part with corn, flour, or meal,
+bound to any port in France, or any port occupied by the armies of
+France, and to send them to such ports as shall be most convenient, in
+order that such corn, meal, or flour, may be purchased on behalf of
+his majesty's government, and the ships be relieved after such
+purchase, and after a due allowance for freight; or that the masters
+of such ships on giving due security, to be approved by the court of
+admiralty, be permitted to proceed to dispose of their cargoes of
+corn, meal, or flour, in the ports of any country in amity with his
+majesty."
+
+In the particular character of the war, and in the general expressions
+of some approved modern writers on the law of nations, the British
+government sought a justification of this strong measure. But by
+neutrals generally, it was deemed an unwarrantable invasion of their
+rights; and the remonstrances made against it by the American
+government in particular, were serious and earnest. This attempt to
+make a principle, which was understood to be applicable only to
+blockaded places, subservient to the impracticable plan of starving an
+immense agricultural nation, was resisted with great strength of
+reasoning by the administration; and added, not inconsiderably, to the
+resentment felt by the body of the people.[11]
+
+     [Footnote 11: See note No. VI. at the end of the volume.]
+
+Hostilities on the ocean disclosed still another source of irritation,
+which added its copious stream to the impetuous torrent which
+threatened to sweep America into the war that desolated Europe.
+
+The British government had long been accustomed to resort to the
+practice of manning their fleet by impressment. The exercise of this
+prerogative had not been confined to the land. Merchantmen in their
+ports, and even at sea, were visited, and mariners were taken out of
+them, to be employed in the royal navy. The profits of trade enabling
+neutral merchants to give high wages, British sailors were tempted, in
+great numbers, to enter their service; but the neutral ship furnished
+no protection. Disregarding the bottom in which they sailed, the
+officers of the navy impressed them wherever found, often leaving
+scarcely hands enough to navigate the vessel into port.
+
+The Americans were peculiarly exposed to the abuse to which such
+usages are liable. Descended from the same ancestors and speaking the
+same language, the distinction between them and the English, though in
+general sufficiently marked, was not always so visible as to prevent
+unintentional error; nor were the captains of ships of war, at all
+times, very solicitous to avoid mistake. Native Americans, therefore,
+were frequently impressed, and compelled to serve against the French
+republic.
+
+The British cabinet disclaimed all pretensions to the impressment of
+real American citizens, and declared officially a willingness to
+discharge them, on the establishment of their citizenship. But time
+was necessary to procure the requisite testimonials; and those
+officers who had notoriously offended in this respect, were not so
+discountenanced by their government as to be deterred from a
+repetition of the offence. There was too, one class of citizens,
+concerning whose rights a difference of opinion prevailed, which has
+not even yet been adjusted. These were British subjects who had
+migrated to, and been adopted by, the United States.
+
+The continuance of the Indian war added still another item to this
+catalogue of discontents.
+
+The efforts of the United States to make a treaty with the savages of
+the Miamis had proved abortive. The Indians insisted on the Ohio as
+the boundary between them and the whites; and, although the American
+commissioners expressed a willingness to relinquish some of the lands
+purchased at the treaty of fort Harmar, and pressed them to propose
+some line between the boundary established by that treaty and the
+Ohio, they adhered inflexibly to their original demand.
+
+It was extensively believed in America, and information collected from
+the Indians countenanced the opinion, that they were encouraged by the
+government of Canada to persevere in this claim, and that the treaty
+was defeated by British influence. The conviction was universal that
+this influence would continue so long as the posts south of the lakes
+should be occupied by British troops; and the uneasiness which the
+detention of those posts created, daily acquired strength.
+Unfortunately, the original pretext for detaining them was not yet
+removed. The courts of the United States had not yet declared that
+British debts contracted before the war, were recoverable. In one of
+the circuits, a decision had been recently made, partly favourable,
+and partly unfavourable, to the claim of the creditor. To this
+decision writs of error had been brought, and the case was pending
+before the supreme court. The motives therefore originally assigned
+for holding the posts on the lakes still remained; and, as it was a
+maxim with the executive "to place an adversary clearly in the wrong,"
+and it was expected that the existing impediments to the fulfilment of
+the treaty on the part of the United States would soon be done away,
+it was thought unadviseable, had the military force of the union been
+equal to the object, to seize those posts, until their surrender could
+be required in consequence of a complete execution of the treaty. In
+the mean time, the British minister was earnestly pressed upon the
+subject.
+
+This prudent conduct was far from being satisfactory to the people.
+Estimating at nothing, infractions made by themselves, and rating
+highly those committed by the opposite party, they would, in any state
+of things, have complained loudly of this act of the British
+government. But, agitated as they were by the various causes which
+were perpetually acting on their passions, it is not wonderful that an
+increased influence was given to this measure; that it should be
+considered as conclusive testimony of British hostility, and should
+add to the bitterness with which the government was reproached for
+attempting a system "alike friendly and impartial to the belligerent
+powers."
+
+The causes of discontent which were furnished by Spain, though less
+the theme of public declamation, continued to be considerable.
+
+The American ministers at Madrid could make no progress in their
+negotiation. The question of limits remained unsettled, and the
+Mississippi was still closed against the Americans. In addition to
+these subjects of disquiet, the southern states were threatened with
+war from the Creeks and Cherokees, who were, with good reason,
+believed to be excited to hostility by the Spanish government. Of
+these irritating differences, that which related to the Mississippi
+was far the most operative, and embarrassing. The imagination,
+especially when warmed by discontent, bestows on a good which is
+withheld, advantages much greater than the reality will justify; and
+the people of the western country were easily persuaded to believe
+that the navigation of the Mississippi was a mine of wealth which
+would at once enrich them. That jealousy which men so readily
+entertain of the views of those with whom they do not associate, had
+favoured the efforts made by the enemies of the administration, to
+circulate the opinion that an opposition of interests existed between
+the eastern and the western people, and that the endeavours of the
+executive to open their great river were feeble and insincere. At a
+meeting of the Democratic Society in Lexington, in Kentucky, this
+sentiment was unanimously avowed in terms of peculiar disrespect to
+the government; and a committee was appointed to open a correspondence
+with the inhabitants of the whole western country, for the purpose of
+uniting them on this all important subject, and of preparing on it a
+remonstrance to the President and congress of the United States, to be
+expressed "in the bold, decent and determined language, proper to be
+used by injured freemen when they address the servants of the people."
+They claimed much merit for their moderation in having thus long, out
+of regard to their government, and affection for their fellow citizens
+on the Atlantic, abstained from the use of those means which they
+possessed for the assertion of what they termed a natural and
+unalienable right; and seemed to indicate the opinion that this
+forbearance could not be long continued. Without regarding the
+determination of Spain in the case or the poverty of the means placed
+in the hands of the executive for inducing a change in this
+determination, they demanded from the government the free use of the
+Mississippi, as if only an act of the will was necessary to insure it
+to them. Not even the probability that the public and intemperate
+expression of these dangerous dispositions would perpetuate the evil,
+could moderate them. This restless uneasy temper gave additional
+importance to the project of an expedition against Louisiana, which
+had been formed by Mr. Genet.
+
+These public causes for apprehending hostilities[12] with Spain, were
+strengthened by private communications. The government had received
+intelligence from their ministers in Europe that propositions had been
+made by the cabinet of Madrid to that of London, the object of which
+was the United States. The precise nature of these propositions was
+not ascertained, but it was understood generally, that their tendency
+was hostile.
+
+     [Footnote 12: The state of affairs was so inauspicious to
+     the continuance of peace that in a letter written in the
+     month of June, to the secretary of war, the President thus
+     expressed himself: "It is of great importance that this
+     government should be fully informed of the Spanish force in
+     the Floridas, the troops which have lately arrived, the
+     number of their posts, and the strength and situation of
+     each; together with such other circumstances as would enable
+     it to adopt correspondent measures, in case we should, in
+     spite of our endeavours to avoid it, get embroiled with that
+     nation. It would be too improvident, might be too late, and
+     certainly would be disgraceful, to have this information to
+     obtain when our plans ought to be formed." After suggesting
+     the propriety of making the proper inquiries in a particular
+     channel, he added, "I point you to the above as one source
+     only of information. My desire to obtain knowledge of these
+     facts leads me to request with equal earnestness, that you
+     would improve every other to ascertain them with certainty.
+     No reasonable expense should be spared to accomplish objects
+     of such magnitude in times so critical."]
+
+Thus unfavourable to the pacific views of the executive were the
+circumstances under which congress was to assemble.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+     Meeting of congress.... President's speech.... His message
+     on the foreign relations of the United States.... Report of
+     the Secretary of State on the commerce of the United
+     States.... He resigns.... Is succeeded by Mr. Randolph....
+     Mr. Madison's resolutions founded on the above report....
+     Debate thereon.... Debates on the subject of a navy.... An
+     embargo law.... Mission of Mr. Jay to Great Britain....
+     Inquiry into the conduct of the Secretary of the Treasury,
+     terminates honourably to him.... Internal taxes.... Congress
+     adjourns.
+
+
+{1793}
+
+[Sidenote: Meeting of Congress.]
+
+A malignant fever, believed to be infectious, had, through part of the
+summer and autumn, severely afflicted the city of Philadelphia, and
+dispersed the officers of the executive government. Although the fear
+of contagion was not entirely dispelled when the time for the meeting
+of congress arrived, yet, such was the active zeal of parties, and
+such the universal expectation that important executive communications
+would be made, and that legislative measures not less important would
+be founded on them, that both houses were full on the first day, and a
+joint committee waited on the President with the usual information
+that they were ready to receive his communications.
+
+On the fourth of December, at twelve, the President met both houses in
+the senate chamber. His speech was moderate, firm, dignified, and
+interesting. It commenced with his own re-election, his feelings at
+which were thus expressed--
+
+[Sidenote: President's speech.]
+
+"Since the commencement of the term for which I have been again called
+into office, no fit occasion has arisen for expressing to my
+fellow-citizens at large, the deep and respectful sense which I feel
+of the renewed testimony of public approbation. While on the one hand,
+it awakened my gratitude for all those instances of affectionate
+partiality with which I have been honoured by my country; on the
+other, it could not prevent an earnest wish for that retirement, from
+which no private consideration could ever have torn me. But,
+influenced by the belief that my conduct would be estimated according
+to its real motives, and that the people, and the authorities derived
+from them, would support exertions having nothing personal for their
+object, I have obeyed the suffrage which commanded me to resume the
+executive power; and I humbly implore that Being on whose will the
+fate of nations depends, to crown with success our mutual endeavours
+for the general happiness."
+
+Passing to those measures which had been adopted by the executive for
+the regulation of its conduct towards the belligerent nations, he
+observed, "as soon as the war in Europe had embraced those powers with
+whom the United States have the most extensive relations, there was
+reason to apprehend that our intercourse with them might be
+interrupted, and our disposition for peace drawn into question by
+suspicions too often entertained by belligerent nations. It seemed
+therefore to be my duty to admonish our citizens of the consequence of
+a contraband trade, and of hostile acts to any of the parties; and to
+obtain, by a declaration of the existing state of things, an easier
+admission of our rights to the immunities belonging to our situation.
+Under these impressions the proclamation which will be laid before you
+was issued.
+
+"In this posture of affairs, both new and delicate, I resolved to
+adopt general rules which should conform to the treaties, and assert
+the privileges of the United States. These were reduced into a system,
+which shall be communicated to you."
+
+After suggesting those legislative provisions on this subject, the
+necessity of which had been pointed out by experience, he proceeded to
+say,
+
+"I can not recommend to your notice measures for the fulfilment of
+_our_ duties to the rest of the world, without again pressing upon you
+the necessity of placing ourselves in a condition of complete defence,
+and of exacting from _them_ the fulfilment of their duties towards us.
+The United States ought not to indulge a persuasion that, contrary to
+the order of human events, they will forever keep at a distance those
+painful appeals to arms with which the history of every nation
+abounds. 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 prosperity--it must be known that we are, at all times, ready for
+war."
+
+These observations were followed by a recommendation to augment the
+supply of arms and ammunition in the magazines, and to improve the
+militia establishment.
+
+After referring to a communication to be subsequently made for
+occurrences relative to the connexion of the United States with
+Europe, which had, he said, become extremely interesting; and after
+reviewing Indian affairs, he particularly addressed the house of
+representatives. Having presented to them in detail some subjects of
+which it was proper they should be informed, he added;--"no pecuniary
+consideration is more urgent than the regular redemption and discharge
+of the public debt; on none can delay be more injurious, or an economy
+of time more valuable.
+
+"The productiveness of the public revenues hitherto has continued to
+be equal to the anticipations which were formed of it; but it is not
+expected to prove commensurate with all the objects which have been
+suggested. Some auxiliary provisions will therefore, it is presumed,
+be requisite; and it is hoped that these may be made consistently with
+a due regard to the convenience of our citizens, who can not but be
+sensible of the true wisdom of encountering a small present addition
+to their contributions, to obviate a future accumulation of burdens."
+
+The speech was concluded with the following impressive exhortation:
+
+"The several subjects to which I have now referred, open a wide range
+to your deliberations, and involve some of the choicest interests of
+our common country. Permit me to bring to your remembrance the
+magnitude of your task. Without an unprejudiced coolness, the welfare
+of the government may be hazarded; without harmony, as far as consists
+with freedom of sentiment, its dignity may be lost. But, as the
+legislative proceedings of the United States will never, I trust, be
+reproached for the want of temper, or of candour, so shall not the
+public happiness languish from the want of my strenuous and warmest
+co-operation."
+
+[Sidenote: His message on the subject of the foreign relations of the
+United States.]
+
+The day succeeding that on which this speech was delivered, a special
+message was sent to both houses, containing some of the promised
+communications relative to the connexion of the United States with
+foreign powers.
+
+After suggesting as a motive for this communication that it not only
+disclosed "matter of interesting inquiry to the legislature," but,
+"might indeed give rise to deliberations to which they alone were
+competent;" the President added--"the representative and executive
+bodies of France have manifested generally a friendly attachment to
+this country; have given advantages to our commerce and navigation;
+and have made overtures for placing these advantages on permanent
+ground. A decree, however, of the national assembly, subjecting
+vessels laden with provisions to be carried into their ports, and
+making enemy goods lawful prize in the vessel of a friend, contrary to
+our treaty, though revoked at one time as to the United States, has
+been since extended to their vessels also, as has been recently stated
+to us. Representations on the subject will be immediately given in
+charge to our minister there, and the result shall be communicated to
+the legislature.
+
+"It is with extreme concern I have to inform you that the person whom
+they have unfortunately appointed their minister plenipotentiary here,
+has breathed nothing of the friendly spirit of the nation which sent
+him. Their tendency on the contrary has been to involve us in a war
+abroad and discord and anarchy at home. So far as his acts, or those
+of his agents, have threatened an immediate commitment in the war, or
+flagrant insult to the authority of the laws, their effect has been
+counteracted by the ordinary cognizance of the laws, and by an
+exertion of the powers confided to me. Where their danger was not
+imminent, they have been borne with, from sentiments of regard to his
+nation, from a sense of their friendship towards us, from a conviction
+that they would not suffer us to remain long exposed to the actions of
+a person who has so little respected our mutual dispositions, and, I
+will add, from a reliance on the firmness of my fellow-citizens in
+their principles of peace and order. In the mean time I have respected
+and pursued the stipulations of our treaties, according to what I
+judged their true sense; and have withheld no act of friendship which
+their affairs have called for from us, and which justice to others
+left us free to perform. I have gone further. Rather than employ force
+for the restitution of certain vessels which I deemed the United
+States bound to restore, I thought it more adviseable to satisfy the
+parties by avowing it to be my opinion, that, if restitution were not
+made, it would be incumbent on the United States to make
+compensation."
+
+The message next proceeded to state that inquiries had been instituted
+respecting the vexations and spoliations committed on the commerce of
+the United States, the result of which when received would be
+communicated.
+
+The order issued by the British government on the 8th of June, and the
+measures taken by the executive of the United States in consequence
+thereof, were briefly noticed; and the discussions which had taken
+place in relation to the non-execution of the treaty of peace were
+also mentioned. The message was then concluded with a reference to the
+negotiations with Spain. "The public good," it was said, "requiring
+that the present state of these should be made known to the
+legislature in confidence only, they would be the subject of a
+separate and subsequent communication."
+
+This message was accompanied with copies of the correspondence between
+the secretary of state and the French minister, on the points of
+difference which subsisted between the two governments, together with
+several documents necessary for the establishment of particular facts;
+and with the letter written by Mr. Jefferson to Mr. Morris, which
+justified the conduct of the United States by arguments too clear to
+be misunderstood, and too strong ever to be encountered.
+
+The extensive discussions which had taken place relative to the
+non-execution of the treaty of peace, and the correspondence produced
+by the objectionable measures which had been adopted by the British
+government during the existing war, were also laid before the
+legislature.
+
+In a popular government, the representatives of the people may
+generally be considered as a mirror, reflecting truly the passions and
+feelings which govern their constituents. In the late elections, the
+strength of parties had been tried; and the opposition had derived so
+much aid from associating the cause of France with its own principles,
+as to furnish much reason to suspect that, in one branch of the
+legislature at least, it had become the majority. The first act of the
+house of representatives served to strengthen this suspicion. By each
+party a candidate for the chair was brought forward; and Mr.
+Muhlenberg, who was supported by the opposition, was elected by a
+majority of ten votes, against Mr. Sedgewick, whom the federalists
+supported.
+
+The answer, however, to the speech of the President, wore no tinge of
+that malignant and furious spirit which had infused itself into the
+publications of the day. Breathing the same affectionate attachment to
+his person and character which had been professed in other times, and
+being approved by every part of the house, it indicated that the
+leaders, at least, still venerated their chief magistrate, and that no
+general intention as yet existed, to involve him in the obloquy
+directed against his measures.
+
+Noticing that unanimous suffrage by which he had been again called to
+his present station, "it was," they said, "with equal sincerity and
+promptitude they embraced the occasion for expressing to him their
+congratulations on so distinguished a testimony of public approbation,
+and their entire confidence in the purity and patriotism of the
+motives which had produced this obedience to the voice of his country.
+It is," proceeded the address, "to virtues which have commanded long
+and universal reverence, and services from which have flowed great and
+lasting benefits that the tribute of praise may be paid without the
+reproach of flattery; and it is from the same sources that the fairest
+anticipations may be derived in favour of the public happiness."
+
+The proclamation of neutrality was approved in guarded terms, and the
+topics of the speech were noticed in a manner which indicated
+dispositions cordially to co-operate with the executive.
+
+On the part of the senate also, the answer to the speech was
+unfeignedly affectionate. In warm terms they expressed the pleasure
+which the re-election of the President gave them. "In the unanimity,"
+they added, "which a second time marks this important national act, we
+trace with particular satisfaction, besides the distinguished tribute
+paid to the virtues and abilities which it recognizes, another proof
+of that discernment, and constancy of sentiments and views, which have
+hitherto characterized the citizens of the United States." Speaking of
+the proclamation, they declared it to be "a measure well timed and
+wise, manifesting a watchful solicitude for the welfare of the nation,
+and calculated to promote it."
+
+In a few days, a confidential message was delivered, communicating the
+critical situation of affairs with Spain. The negotiations attempted
+with that power in regard to the interesting objects of boundary,
+navigation, and commerce, had been exposed to much delay and
+embarrassment, in consequence of the changes which the French
+revolution had effected in the political state of Europe. Meanwhile,
+the neighborhood of the Spanish colonies to the United States had
+given rise to various other subjects of discussion, one of which had
+assumed a very serious aspect.
+
+Having the best reason to suppose that the hostility of the southern
+Indians was excited by the agents of Spain, the President had directed
+the American commissioners at Madrid to make the proper
+representations on the subject, and to propose that each nation
+should, with good faith, promote the peace of the other with their
+savage neighbours.
+
+About the same time, the Spanish government entertained, or affected
+to entertain, corresponding suspicions of like hostile excitements by
+the agents of the United States, to disturb their peace with the same
+nations. The representations which were induced by these real or
+affected suspicions, were accompanied with pretensions, and made in a
+style, to which the American executive could not be inattentive. His
+Catholic Majesty asserted these claims as a patron and protector of
+those Indians. He assumed a right to mediate between them and the
+United States, and to interfere in the establishment of their
+boundaries. At length, in the very moment when those savages were
+committing daily inroads on the American frontier, at the instigation
+of Spain, as was believed, the representatives of that power,
+complaining of the aggressions of American citizens on the Indians,
+declared "that the continuation of the peace, good harmony, and
+perfect friendship of the two nations, was very problematical for the
+future, unless the United States should take more convenient measures,
+and of greater energy than those adopted for a long time past."
+
+Notwithstanding the zeal and enthusiasm with which the pretensions of
+the French republic, as asserted by their minister, continued to be
+supported out of doors, they found no open advocate in either branch
+of the legislature. That this circumstance is, in a great measure, to
+be ascribed to the temperate conduct of the executive, and to the
+convincing arguments with which its decisions were supported, ought
+not to be doubted. But when it is recollected that the odium which
+these decisions excited, sustained no diminution; that the accusation
+of hostility to France and to liberty, which originated in them, was
+not retracted; that, when afterwards many of the controverted claims
+were renewed by France, her former advocates still adhered to her; it
+is not unreasonable to suppose that other considerations mingled
+themselves with the conviction which the correspondence laid before
+the legislature was calculated to produce.
+
+An attack on the administration could be placed on no ground more
+disadvantageous than on its controversy with Mr. Genet. The conduct
+and language of that minister were offensive to reflecting men of all
+parties. The President had himself taken so decisive a part in favour
+of the measures which had been adopted, that they must be ascribed to
+him, not to his cabinet; and, of consequence, the whole weight of his
+personal character must be directly encountered, in an attempt to
+censure those measures. From this censure it would have been difficult
+to extricate the person who was contemplated by the party in
+opposition as its chief; for the secretary of state had urged the
+arguments of the administration with a degree of ability and
+earnestness, which ought to have silenced the suspicion that he might
+not feel their force.
+
+The expression of a legislative opinion, in favour of the points
+insisted on by the French minister, would probably have involved the
+nation in a calamitous war, the whole responsibility for which would
+rest on them.
+
+To these considerations was added another which could not be
+disregarded. The party in France, to which Mr. Genet owed his
+appointment, had lost its power; and his fall was the inevitable
+consequence of the fall of his patrons. That he would probably be
+recalled was known in America; and that his conduct had been
+disapproved by his government was generally believed. The future
+system of the French republic, with regard to the United States, could
+not be foreseen; and it would be committing something to hazard, not
+to wait its development.
+
+These objections did not exist to an indulgence of the partialities
+and prejudices of the nation towards the belligerent powers, in
+measures suggested by its resentment against Great Britain. But,
+independent of these considerations, it is scarcely possible to doubt
+that congress really approved the conduct of the executive with regard
+to France, and was also convinced that a course of hostility had been
+pursued by Great Britain, which the national interest and the national
+honour required them to repel. In the irritable state of the public
+temper, it was not difficult to produce this opinion.
+
+In addition to the causes of dissatisfaction with Great Britain which
+have already been suggested, others soon occurred. Under her auspices,
+a truce for one year had been lately negotiated between Portugal and
+the Regency of Algiers, which, by withdrawing a small squadron
+stationed during the war, by the former power, in the Streights,
+opened a passage into the Atlantic to the cruisers of the latter. The
+capture of American merchantmen, which was the immediate consequence
+of this measure, was believed, in the United States, to have been its
+motive. Not admitting the possibility that a desire to extricate
+Portugal from a war unproductive of any advantages, and to leave her
+maritime force free to act elsewhere, could have induced this
+interposition of England, the Americans ascribed it, exclusively, to
+that enmity to their commerce, and to that jealousy of its prosperity,
+which had, as they conceived, long marked the conduct of those who
+administered the affairs of that nation.
+
+This transaction was afterwards explained by England, and was ascribed
+to her desire to serve an ally, and to enable that ally to act more
+efficaciously in a common cause.
+
+[Illustration: George Washington
+
+_From the painting by Charles Willson Peale._
+
+_In June, 1783, Washington spent some time in Princeton, New Jersey,
+whither the Continental Congress had adjourned from Philadelphia in
+consequence of a mutiny among the unpaid troops stationed there. On
+leaving Princeton the American Commander-in-Chief donated 50 guineas
+to the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University. The trustees
+spent the money on this portrait and had it put in the frame formerly
+occupied by a picture of King George III, which was destroyed by a
+cannon ball in the Battle of Princeton. This canvas still hangs in the
+Princeton Faculty room._
+
+By Courtesy of Princeton University]
+
+From governments accustomed to trust rather to artifice, than to force
+or to reason, and influenced by vindictive passions which they have
+not strength or courage to gratify, hostility may be expected to exert
+itself in a cruel insidious policy, which unfeelingly dooms
+individuals to chains, and involves them in ruin, without having a
+tendency to effect any national object. But the British character
+rather wounds by its pride, and offends by its haughtiness, and open
+violence, than injures by the secret indulgence of a malignant, but a
+paltry and unprofitable revenge: and, certainly, such unworthy motives
+ought not lightly to be imputed to a great and magnanimous nation,
+which dares to encounter a world, and risk its existence, for the
+preservation of its station in the scale of empires, of its real
+independence, and of its liberty.
+
+But, in believing the views of the British cabinet to be unfriendly to
+the United States, America was perhaps not entirely mistaken. Indeed,
+dispositions of a different nature could not reasonably have been
+expected. It may be denied, but can not be disguised, that the
+sentiments openly expressed by a great majority of the American
+people, warranted the opinion that, notwithstanding the exertions of
+the administration, they were about to arrange themselves, in the war,
+on the side of France. In a government like that of the United States,
+no firmness on the part of the chief magistrate can long resist the
+current of popular opinion; and that opinion, without professing it,
+unquestionably led to war.
+
+If the character of the British minister at Philadelphia is to be
+collected from his intercourse with the executive of the country to
+which he was deputed, there is reason to suppose that his
+communications to his own government did not diminish the impression
+which the evidence furnished on this subject, by the American people
+themselves, was calculated to make. It is therefore not improbable,
+whatever may be the permanent views of England respecting the
+commercial prosperity of the United States, that the measures of the
+British cabinet, about this time, were taken in the belief that war
+between the two nations was a probable event.
+
+[Sidenote: Report of the secretary of state in relation to the
+commerce of the United States.]
+
+Early in the session a report was made by the secretary of state, in
+pursuance of a resolution of the house of representatives passed on
+the 23d of February, 1791, requiring him "to report to congress the
+nature and extent of the privileges and restrictions of the commercial
+intercourse of the United States with foreign nations, and the
+measures which he should think proper to be adopted for the
+improvement of the commerce and navigation of the same."
+
+This report stated the exports of the United States in articles of
+their own produce and manufacture at nineteen millions, five hundred
+and eighty-seven thousand, and fifty-five dollars; and the imports at
+nineteen millions, eight hundred and twenty-three thousand, and sixty
+dollars.
+
+Of the exports, nearly one-half was carried to the kingdom of Great
+Britain and its dominions; of the imports, about four-fifths were
+brought from the same countries. The American shipping amounted to two
+hundred and seventy-seven thousand, five hundred and nineteen tons, of
+which not quite one-sixth was employed in the trade with Great Britain
+and its dominions.
+
+In all the nations of Europe, most of the articles produced in the
+United States were subjected to heavy duties, and some of them were
+prohibited. In England, the trade of the United States was in the
+general on as good a footing as the trade of other countries; and
+several articles were more favoured than the same articles of the
+growth of other countries.
+
+The statements and arguments of this report tended to enforce the
+policy of making discriminations which might favour the commerce of
+the United States with France, and discourage that with England; and
+which might promote the increase of American navigation as a branch of
+industry, and a resource of defence.
+
+This was the last official act of the secretary of state. Early in the
+preceding summer, he had signified to the President his intention to
+retire in September from the public service; and had, with some
+reluctance, consented to postpone the execution of this intention to
+the close of the year. Retaining his purpose, he resigned his office
+on the last day of December.
+
+[Sidenote: He resigns.]
+
+This gentleman withdrew from political station at a moment when he
+stood particularly high in the esteem of his countrymen. His
+determined opposition to the financial schemes which had been proposed
+by the secretary of the treasury, and approved by the legislative and
+executive departments of the government; his ardent and undisguised
+attachment to the revolutionary party in France; the dispositions
+which he was declared to possess in regard to Great Britain; and the
+popularity of his opinions respecting the constitution of the United
+States; had devoted to him that immense party whose sentiments were
+supposed to comport with his, on most, or all of these interesting
+subjects. To the opposite party he had, of course, become particularly
+unacceptable. But the publication of his correspondence with Mr. Genet
+dissipated much of the prejudice which had been excited against him.
+He had, in that correspondence, maintained with great ability the
+opinions embraced by the federalists on those points of difference
+which had arisen between the two republics; and which, having become
+universally the subjects of discussion, had in some measure displaced
+those topics on which parties were previously divided. The partiality
+for France that was conspicuous through the whole of it, detracted
+nothing from its merit in the opinion of the friends of the
+administration, because, however decided their determination to
+support their own government in a controversy with any nation
+whatever, they felt all the partialities for that republic which the
+correspondence expressed. The hostility of his enemies therefore was,
+for a time, considerably lessened, without a corresponding diminution
+of the attachment of his friends. It would have been impracticable, in
+office, long to preserve these dispositions. And it would have been
+difficult to maintain that ascendency which he held over the minds of
+those who had supported, and probably would continue to support, every
+pretension of the French republic, without departing from principles
+and measures which he had openly and ably defended.
+
+[Sidenote: Is succeeded by Mr. Randolph.]
+
+He was immediately succeeded by Mr. Edmund Randolph; and the office of
+attorney general was filled by Mr. William Bradford, a gentleman of
+considerable eminence in Pennsylvania.
+
+{1794}
+
+On the fourth of January, the house resolved itself into a committee
+of the whole, on the report of the secretary of state, relative to the
+privileges and restrictions of the commerce of the United States; when
+Mr. Madison, after some prefatory observations, laid on the table a
+series of resolutions[13] for the consideration of the members.
+
+     [Footnote 13: See note No. VII. at the end of the volume.]
+
+[Sidenote: Mr. Madison's resolutions founded on the above report.]
+
+These memorable resolutions embraced almost completely the idea of the
+report. They imposed an additional duty on the manufactures, and on
+the tonnage of vessels, of nations having no commercial treaty with
+the United States; while they reduced the duties already imposed by
+law, on the tonnage of vessels belonging to nations having such
+commercial treaty: and they reciprocated the restrictions which were
+imposed on American navigation.
+
+[Sidenote: Debate thereon.]
+
+On the 13th of January they were taken into consideration, when the
+debate was opened by Mr. Smith of South Carolina.
+
+After noticing the importance of the subject to the best interests of
+the United States, he observed that, being purely commercial in its
+nature, he would exclude from the view he should take of it, those
+political considerations which some might think connected with it. He
+imagined it would be right to dismiss, for the present, all questions
+respecting the Indians, Algerines, and western posts. There would be a
+time for these questions; and then he should give his opinion upon
+them with firmness, and according to what he conceived to be the true
+interests of his country. The regulation of commerce gave of itself
+sufficient scope for argument, without mixing it with extraneous
+matter.
+
+After some general observations on the delicacy of the crisis, and on
+the claims of the resolutions to dispassionate investigation, he
+proceeded to consider the report on which they were founded.
+
+The great object of that report being to establish a contrast between
+France and Britain, he would request the attention of the committee to
+an accurate statement of facts, which, being compared with the report,
+would enable them to decide on the justness of its inferences.
+
+In the opinion that any late relaxations of the French republic were
+produced by interests too momentary and fluctuating to be taken as the
+basis of calculations for a permanent system, he should present a
+comparative view of the commerce of the United States to those
+countries, as it stood anterior to the revolution of France. For this
+purpose, he produced a table which had been formed by a person whose
+commercial information was highly respectable, from which he said it
+would appear, notwithstanding the plaudits so generally bestowed on
+the justice and liberality of the one nation, and the reproaches
+uttered against the other, that, with the exception of the trifling
+article of fish oil, the commerce of the United States was not more
+favoured in France than in Great Britain, and was, in many important
+articles, more favoured by the latter power, than that of other
+nations.
+
+Mr. Smith then reviewed, in detail, the advantages and disadvantages
+attending the sale of the great products of America in the ports of
+each nation, which, he conceived, were more encouraged by the British
+than by the French market.
+
+A comparative statement, he added, of the value of the exports of the
+two countries, would assist in confirming this opinion.
+
+The value of the exports to Great Britain, at the close of the year
+ending with September, 1789, was nearly double those made to France in
+the same period: and even the average of the years 1790, 1791 and
+1792, gave an annual excess to the exports to Great Britain of three
+millions, seven hundred and fifty-two thousand, seven hundred and
+sixty dollars.
+
+The great amount of merchandise imported from Britain, instead of
+being a grievance, demonstrated, in the opinion of Mr. Smith, the
+utility of the trade with that country. For the extent of the
+intercourse between the two nations, several obvious reasons might be
+assigned. Britain was the first manufacturing country in the world,
+and was more able, than any other, to supply an assortment of those
+articles which were required in the United States. She entitled
+herself, too, to the preference which was given her, by the extensive
+credit she afforded. To a young country wanting capital, credit was of
+immense advantage. It enabled them to flourish by the aid of foreign
+capital, the use of which had, more than any other circumstance,
+nourished the industry of America.
+
+By the advocates for forcing a trade with France, it was asserted that
+she could supply the wants of America on better terms than Great
+Britain. To do this, she must not only sell cheaper, but give credit,
+which, it was known her merchants either could not, or would not give.
+
+The very necessity of laying a duty on British manufactures, in order
+to find a sale for those of other countries, was a proof that the
+first could be purchased on better terms, or were better adapted to
+the market.
+
+If the object of the resolutions were the encouragement of domestic
+manufactures, there might be some semblance of argument in their
+favour. But this is not contemplated. Their avowed object is to turn
+the course of trade from one nation to another, by means which would
+subject the citizens of the United States to great inconvenience.
+
+Mr. Smith next proceeded to consider the subject with a view to
+navigation.
+
+The trade of the United States to Great Britain, for the
+transportation of their own produce, was as free in American as in
+British bottoms, a few trifling port charges excepted. In France, they
+enjoyed the advantages granted to the most favoured nation. Thus far
+the comparison was in favour of Great Britain. In the West Indies, he
+admitted the existence of a different state of things. All American
+bottoms were excluded from the British islands, with the exception of
+Turks island. In the French islands, vessels under sixty tons were
+admitted, but this advantage was common to all other nations.
+
+The effect of the difference in the regulations of the two rival
+nations in respect of navigation, was not so considerable as the
+secretary of state had supposed. He had stated the tonnage employed in
+the intercourse with France and her colonies, at 116,410 tons; and
+that employed in the commerce with Great Britain at 43,580 tons. The
+secretary was led into this miscalculation by taking for his guide,
+the actual entries of American bottoms from the dominions of each
+country in the year. As four voyages are made to the West Indies,
+while only two are made to Europe, the vessels employed in the former
+traffic will be counted four times in the year, and those employed in
+the latter will be counted only twice in the same period. The
+deceptiveness of the calculations made from these data had induced a
+call on the secretary of the treasury for an account of the actual
+tonnage employed in trade with foreign nations for one year. This
+account shows that France employs 82,510 tons, and Great Britain
+66,582 tons, of American shipping; leaving in favour of France, an
+excess of 15,928, instead of 72,830 tons, as reported by the secretary
+of state.
+
+From this comparative view taken of the regulations of the two
+nations, Mr. Smith conceived himself justified in saying, that the
+commercial system of Great Britain towards the United States, far from
+being hostile, was friendly; and that she made many discriminations in
+their favour. France, on the contrary, placed them on a better
+situation than her rival, only in one solitary instance, the
+unimportant article of fish oil.
+
+If this be a true picture of the existing state of things, and he
+could not perceive in what it was defective, was it not time, he
+asked, that the deceptions practised on the people by the eulogists of
+France and the revilers of Great Britain, should be removed?
+
+The resolutions were supported by Mr. Madison, Mr. Findley, Mr.
+Nicholas, Mr. Clarke, Mr. Smiley, Mr. Moore, and Mr. Giles.
+
+They admitted the subject before the committee to be of a commercial
+nature, but conceived it to be impracticable to do justice to the
+interests of the United States, without some allusions to politics.
+The question was in some measure general. They were to inquire how far
+it was the interest of this country by commercial regulations to vary
+the state of commerce now existing. They were of opinion that most of
+the injuries proceeding from Great Britain were inflicted for the
+promotion of her commercial objects, and were to be remedied by
+commercial resistance. The Indian war, and the Algerine attack,
+originated both in commercial views, or Great Britain must stand
+without excuse for instigating the most horrid cruelties. The
+propositions before the committee were the strongest weapon America
+possessed, and would, more probably than any other, restore her to all
+her political and commercial rights. They professed themselves the
+friends of free trade, and declared the opinion that it would be to
+the general advantage, if all commerce was free. But this rule was not
+without its exceptions. The navigation act of Great Britain was a
+proof of the effect of one exception on the prosperity of national
+commerce. The effect produced by that act was equally rapid and
+extensive.
+
+There is another exception to the advantages of a free trade, where
+the situation of a country is such with respect to another, that by
+duties on the commodities of that other, it shall not only invigorate
+its own means of rivalship, but draw from that other the hands
+employed in the production of those commodities. When such an effect
+can be produced, it is so much clear gain, and is consistent with the
+general theory of national rights.
+
+The effect of leaving commerce to regulate itself is to submit it to
+the regulation of other nations. If the United States had a commercial
+intercourse with one nation only, and should permit a free trade,
+while that nation proceeded on a monopolizing system, would not the
+carrying trade be transferred to that nation, and with it, the
+maritime strength it confers be heaped upon a rival? Then, in the same
+proportion to the freedom granted to the vessels of other nations in
+the United States, and to the burdens other nations impose on American
+vessels, will be the transfer of those maritime resources.
+
+The propositions before the committee should be examined as they
+concern navigation, manufactures, and the just principles of
+discrimination that ought to prevail in their policy to nations having
+treaties with them.
+
+With respect to navigation, it was conceded that they were not placed
+upon the same footing by the two nations with whom they had the
+greatest commercial intercourse. British vessels could bring the
+produce of all countries into any port of the United States; while
+American vessels could carry to the ports of Britain only their own
+commodities, and those only to a part of her dominions. From her ports
+in the West Indies they were entirely excluded.
+
+To exhibit at a glance the effect of the British navigation act, it
+was sufficient to compare the quantity of American and British tonnage
+employed in their intercourse with each other. The former in 1790
+amounted to 43,000 tons, and the latter to 240,000 tons. The effect of
+British policy would be further shown by showing the proportion of
+domestic tonnage employed at the same time in the intercourse with
+other European nations. With Spain the American was to the Spanish as
+five to one, with Portugal six to one, Netherlands fifteen to one,
+Denmark twelve to one, France five to one, Great Britain one to five.
+This ratio had by particular circumstances been somewhat changed. From
+calculations founded on the documents last introduced into the house,
+it appeared that, at present, the proportion of American to foreign
+tonnage employed in the American trade was, with Spain as sixteen to
+one, Portugal seventeen to one, Netherlands twenty-six to one, Denmark
+fifteen to one, Russia fourteen to one, France between four and five
+to one, and Great Britain one to three.
+
+The situation of American commerce was the more mortifying when the
+nature and amount of their exports came to be considered. They were
+not only necessaries of life, or necessaries for manufactures, and
+therefore of life to the manufacturer, but their bulkiness gave them
+an advantage over the exports of every other country. If America, to
+increase her maritime strength, should secure to herself the
+transportation of her own commodities, leaving to other nations the
+transportation of theirs, it would greatly augment the proportion of
+her shipping and of her sailors.
+
+In relation to manufactures, the regulations existing between the
+United States and Great Britain were not more equal. Out of the whole
+amount of manufactured articles imported into this country, which was
+stated in round numbers at fifteen millions, two hundred and ninety
+thousand dollars, Great Britain furnished thirteen millions, nine
+hundred and sixty thousand. In the same period, in the year 1789-90,
+the articles which the United States received from France, a country
+which actually consumed more of their produce, amounted only to one
+hundred and fifty-five thousand dollars. The balance of trade, at the
+same epoch, was greatly in favour of the United States with every
+other nation, and greatly against them with Britain. Although it might
+happen in some cases, that other advantages might be derived from an
+intercourse with a particular nation, which might compensate for an
+unfavourable balance of trade, it was impossible that this could
+happen in the intercourse with Great Britain. Other nations, however,
+viewed a balance of trade against them as a real evil; and Great
+Britain, in particular, was careful to prevent it. What then must be
+the feelings of a nation, between whom and the United States the most
+friendly relations existed, when she saw, not only the balance of
+trade against her, but that what was thus obtained from her, flowed in
+the same manner into the coffers of one of her most jealous rivals,
+and inveterate enemies?
+
+The propriety of discriminating between nations having treaties with
+the United States, and those having none, was admitted in some states
+before the establishment of the present government, and was sanctioned
+by that house during their sittings in New York. It was the practice
+of nations to make such a discrimination. It was necessary to give
+value to treaties.
+
+The disadvantages of depending on a single nation for articles of
+necessary consumption was strongly pressed; and it was added as an
+evil of most serious magnitude, more truly alarming than any other of
+its features, that this commercial dependence produced an influence in
+their councils which enabled it, the more inconvenient it became by
+its constant growth, to throw the more obstacles in the way of a
+necessary remedy.
+
+They entertained no apprehensions of injurious consequences from
+adopting the proposed resolutions. The interests of Great Britain
+would not suffer her to retaliate: and the intercourse between the two
+countries would not be interrupted further than was required by the
+convenience and the interests of the United States. But if Great
+Britain should retaliate, the effects of a commercial conflict would
+be felt by her, much more sensibly, than by the United States. Its
+effects would be felt in the shipping business, by the merchants, and
+above all by the manufacturer.
+
+Calculations were offered, by comparing the total amount of British
+exports with those to the United States, to prove, that three hundred
+thousand British manufacturers would be suddenly thrown out of
+employment, by withdrawing the trade carried on between America and
+that country. In the complication of distress to which such a measure
+would reduce them, they would consider the United States as a natural
+asylum from wretchedness. But whether they remained in discontent at
+home, or sought their fortune abroad, the evil would be considered and
+felt by the British government as equally great, and they would surely
+beware of taking any step that might provoke it.
+
+On the advantages of America in such a contest with a populous and
+manufacturing country, they dwelt with peculiar earnestness. She
+produced all the necessaries of life within herself, and could
+dispense with the articles received from others. But Great Britain,
+not producing them in sufficient abundance, was dependent on the
+United States for the supply of her most essential wants. Again, the
+manufacturer of that country was dependent on this for the sale of his
+merchandise which was to purchase his bread. Thus was produced a
+double dependence of Great Britain on the United States. She was also
+dependent on them for the raw materials which formed the basis of her
+manufactures. Her West Indies were almost completely dependent. This
+country furnished the best market for their productions, and was
+almost the only one which could supply them with the necessaries of
+life. The regulation excluding the provisions of other foreign
+countries was entitled to no consideration. It was of ancient date,
+and had remained untouched because there was no other foreign country
+by which provisions could be supplied.
+
+That the commercial regulations of Great Britain were as favourable to
+the United States as to other nations, ought not to satisfy America.
+If other nations were willing to bear impositions, or were unable to
+retaliate, their examples were not worthy of imitation. America was in
+a condition to insist, and ought to insist, on perfect commercial
+equality.
+
+It was denied that any real advantage was derived from the extensive
+credit given by the merchants of Great Britain. On the contrary, the
+use made of British capital was pronounced a great political evil. It
+increased the unfavourable balance of trade, discouraged domestic
+manufactures, and promoted luxury. But its greatest mischief was, that
+it favoured a system of British influence, which was dangerous to
+their political security.
+
+As the debate advanced, the expressions of exasperation against
+Britain became stronger; and occasionally allusions were made to those
+party questions which had long agitated the public mind, with a
+bitterness which marked their intimate connexion with the conduct of
+the United States to foreign countries.
+
+It was said to be proper in deciding the question under debate, to
+take into view political, as well as commercial considerations. Ill
+will and jealousy had at all times been the predominant features of
+the conduct of England to the United States. That government had
+grossly violated the treaty of peace, had declined a commercial
+treaty, had instigated the Indians to raise the tomahawk and scalping
+knife against American citizens, had let loose the Algerines upon
+their unprotected commerce, and had insulted their flag, and pillaged
+their trade in every quarter of the world. These facts being
+notorious, it was astonishing to hear gentlemen ask how had Britain
+injured their commerce?
+
+The conduct of France, on the contrary, had been warm and friendly.
+That nation respected American rights, and had offered to enter into
+commercial arrangements on the liberal basis of perfect reciprocity.
+
+The period which Mr. Smith had taken as that at which the systems of
+the two nations should be compared with each other, was reprobated
+with peculiar severity. It was insinuated to proceed from a wish that
+the United States should directly countenance the restoration of
+despotism; and much regret was expressed that a distrust of the
+permanency of the French revolution should be avowed. It was hoped and
+believed that the present was the settled state of things; and that
+the old order of things was unsettled for ever: that the French
+revolution was as much more permanent than had been the French
+despotism, as was the great fabric of nature, than the petty plastic
+productions of art. To exclude the period since the revolution, would
+be to exclude some of the strongest evidences of the friendship of one
+nation, and the enmity of the other.
+
+The animadversions which had been made on the report of the secretary
+of state were retorted with acrimony. It was declared that he would
+not suffer by a comparison in point of intelligence, accuracy, and
+patriotism, either with the laborious compiler of the table produced
+by Mr. Smith, or with the gentleman who had been judiciously selected
+for its interpreter. Some explanations were given of the inaccuracies
+which had been alleged; and the facts omitted were declared to be
+immaterial circumstances, which, if inserted, would have swelled the
+report, without adding to the information it communicated.
+
+In reply to the argument which stated that Great Britain did not, in
+common years, raise a sufficient quantity of grain for her own
+consumption, and would consequently afford an increasing market for
+American wheat and flour, it was remarked that this not only
+established the all important position of the dependence of that
+country on this, but suggested a very interesting reflection. It was
+that the continual increase of debt and paper machinery, will not
+produce a correspondent increase of ability in the nation to feed
+itself. That an infinity of paper will not produce an infinity of
+food.
+
+In contrasting the ability of the two nations to support a commercial
+conflict, it was said, "Great Britain, tottering under the weight of a
+king, a court, a nobility, a priesthood, armies, navies, debts, and
+all the complicated machinery of oppression which serves to increase
+the number of unproductive, and lessen the number of productive hands;
+at this moment engaged in a foreign war; taxation already carried to
+the ultimatum of financial device; the ability of the people already
+displayed in the payment of taxes, constituting a political
+phenomenon; all prove the debility of the system, and the decreptitude
+of old age. On the other hand, the United States, in the flower of
+youth; increasing in hands; increasing in wealth; and, although an
+imitative policy had unfortunately prevailed in the erection of a
+funded debt, in the establishment of an army, the anticipation of a
+navy,[14] and all the paper machinery for increasing the number of
+unproductive, and lessening the number of productive hands; yet the
+operation of natural causes has, as yet, in some degree, countervailed
+their influence, and still furnish a great superiority in comparison
+with Great Britain."
+
+An attempt was made to liken the present situation of America to that
+in which she stood at the commencement of her revolutionary war; and
+the arguments drawn from the inconvenience to which a privation of
+British manufactures would expose the people at large were answered by
+observing--"This was not the language of America at the time of the
+non-importation association; this was not her language at the time of
+the declaration of independence. Whence then this change of American
+sentiment? Has America less ability than she then had? Is she less
+prepared for a national trial than she then was? This can not be
+pretended. There is, it is true, one great change in her political
+situation. America has now a funded debt: she had no funded debt at
+those glorious epochs. May not this change of sentiment, therefore, be
+looked for in her change of situation in this respect? May it not be
+looked for in the imitative sympathetic organization of our funds with
+the British funds? May it not be looked for in the indiscriminate
+participation of citizens and foreigners in the emoluments of the
+funds? May it not be looked for in the wishes of some to assimilate
+the government of the United States to that of Great Britain? or at
+least, in wishes for a more intimate connexion?
+
+     [Footnote 14: Resolutions had been offered for the creation
+     of a small navy to be employed in the Mediterranean.]
+
+"If these causes exist, it is not difficult to find the source of the
+national debility. It is not difficult to see that the interests of
+the few, who receive and disburse the public contributions, are more
+respected than the interest of the great majority of the society, who
+furnish the contributions. It is not difficult to see that the
+government, instead of legislating for a few millions, is legislating
+for a few thousands; and that the sacredness of their rights is the
+great obstacle to a great national exertion."
+
+In addition to Mr. Smith, of South Carolina, the resolutions were
+opposed by Mr. Smith, of Maryland, Mr. Goodhue, Mr. Lea, Mr. Dexter,
+Mr. Ames, Mr. Dayton, Mr. Hartley, Mr. Tracy, Mr. Hillhouse, Mr.
+Forest, Mr. Fitzsimmons, and Mr. Foster.
+
+If, it was said, the United States had sustained political wrongs from
+Great Britain, they should feel as keenly as any persons for the
+prostrated honour of their country; but this was not the mode of
+redressing them. When that subject should be brought before congress,
+they would not be slow in taking such measures as the actual state of
+things might require. But they did not approve of retaliating injuries
+under the cloak of commercial regulations. Independent of other
+objections, it would derogate from the dignity of the American
+character.
+
+The resolutions, it was said, ought to be contemplated commercially;
+and the influence they would probably have on the United States,
+deliberately weighed. If they were adopted, it ought to be because
+they would promote the interests of America, not because they would
+benefit one foreign nation, and injure another. It was an old adage
+that there was no friendship in trade. Neither ought there to be any
+hatred. These maxims should not be forgotten in forming a judgment on
+the propositions before the committee. Their avowed objects were to
+favour the navigation and the manufactures of the United States, and
+their probable operation on these objects ought to be considered.
+
+It had been said that the American tonnage ought to bear the same
+proportion to the foreign tonnage employed in her trade, as exists
+between the bulk of her exports and imports. But the correctness of
+this principle was not admitted. The fact was otherwise, and it was
+not believed to be an evil.
+
+Great Britain carries for other nations from necessity. Her situation
+is calculated for navigation. Her country is fully peopled, so full
+that the ground is not sufficient to furnish bread for the whole.
+Instead, therefore, of ploughing the earth for subsistence, her
+subjects are obliged to plough the ocean. The defence of their coasts
+has been another cause which obliges them to abandon the more
+lucrative pursuits of agriculture, to provide for their defence. They
+have been compelled to sacrifice profit to safety.
+
+The United States possessed a fertile, extensive, and unsettled
+country; and it might well be questioned how far their real interests
+would be promoted by forcing a further acceleration of the growth of
+their marine, by impelling their citizens from the cultivation of the
+soil to the navigation of the ocean. The measures already adopted had
+been very operative; and it was by no means certain that an additional
+stimulus would be advantageous. The increased duty on foreign tonnage,
+and on goods imported in foreign bottoms, had already been attended
+with sensible effects. In 1790, the American tonnage was one-half the
+whole tonnage employed in their trade: in 1791, it was three-fifths:
+in 1792, it had increased to two-thirds. This growth was believed to
+be sufficiently rapid. It was more rapid than the growth of British
+tonnage had ever been under the fostering care of their celebrated
+navigation act. Let the existing system be left to its natural
+operation, and it was believed that it would give to the United States
+that share in the carriage of their commodities, which it was their
+interest to take.
+
+But if a different opinion prevailed, and it was conceived that
+additional encouragement ought to be given to navigation, then let the
+duty on all foreign bottoms be increased, and let the particular
+disabilities to which American vessels are subjected in any country,
+be precisely retaliated. The discriminations proposed, instead of
+increasing American navigation, were calculated to encourage the
+navigation of one foreign nation at the expense of another.
+
+The United States did not yet possess shipping sufficient for the
+exportation of their produce. The residue must reach a market in
+foreign bottoms, or rot upon their hands. They were advancing to a
+different state of things; but, in the mean time, they ought to pursue
+their interest, and employ those vessels which would best answer their
+purpose. The attempt to make it their interest to employ the vessels
+of France rather than those of Britain, by discriminating duties which
+must enhance the price of freight, was a premium to the vessels of the
+favourite nation, paid by American agriculture.
+
+The navigation act of Great Britain had been made a subject of heavy
+complaint. But that act was not particularly directed against the
+United States. It had been brought into operation while they were yet
+colonies, and was not more unfavourable to them than to others. To its
+regulations, Great Britain was strongly attached; and it was not
+probable that America could compel her to relinquish them.
+Calculations were made on the proportion of British manufactures
+consumed in America, from which it was inferred that her trade, though
+important, was not sufficiently important to force that nation to
+abandon a system which she considered as the basis of her grandeur. In
+the contest, considerable injury would be unquestionably sustained;
+and nothing was perceived in the situation of the United States, which
+should induce them to stand forth the champions of the whole
+commercial world, in order to compel the change of a system, in which
+all other nations had acquiesced. But if they were to engage in such a
+contest, it was by a similar act, by opposing disabilities to
+disabilities, that it ought to be carried on. Upon this point, several
+members who were opposed to the resolutions, avowed an opinion
+favourable to an American navigation act, and expressed their
+willingness to concur in framing regulations which meet the
+prohibitions imposed on their vessels with corresponding prohibitions.
+Thus far they were ready to go; but they were not ready to engage in a
+contest injurious to themselves, for the benefit of a foreign nation.
+
+Another avowed object of the resolutions was to favour the
+manufactures of the United States. But certainly it was not by
+discriminating duties, by endeavouring to shift commerce from one
+channel to another, that American manufactures were to be promoted.
+This was to be done by pursuing the course already adopted, by laying
+protecting duties on selected articles, in the manufacture of which
+America had made some progress; and by a prohibitory duty on others,
+of which a sufficient domestic supply could be afforded. But the
+proposed measure only went to the imposition of a tax on their own
+citizens, for the benefit of a foreign nation.
+
+If the British market afforded an assortment of goods best suited to
+their consumption, and could give them cheaper, a prohibitory duty
+imposed upon those goods would only drive their citizens to seek them
+in another market, less able to supply their wants, and at a dearer
+rate. There was nothing in this tending to encourage manufactures.
+
+If the United States were prepared to manufacture to the whole amount
+of their wants, the importation of all rival articles might be
+prohibited. But this they were not prepared to do. Their manufactures
+must advance by slow degrees; and they were not to enter into a
+measure of this kind, for the purpose of retaliating on a nation which
+had not commercially injured them.
+
+The resolutions then were adapted to the encouragement neither of the
+navigation, nor the manufactures of the United States, but of a
+foreign nation. Their effect would obviously be to force trade to
+change its natural course, by discriminations against a nation which
+had in no instance discriminated against the United States, but had
+favoured them in many points of real importance. By what commercial
+considerations could such a system be recommended?
+
+That it would be attended with great immediate inconveniences must be
+admitted; but for these, ample compensation, it had been said, was to
+be found in its remote advantages. These were, a diminution of
+American commerce with one nation, by its proportional augmentation
+with another; and a repeal of the navigation act, and of the colonial
+system of Great Britain.
+
+On the subject of forcing trade from one nation to another, which is,
+of necessity, so complicated in principle, so various and invisible in
+consequence, the legislature should never act but with the utmost
+caution. They should constantly keep in view, that trade will seek its
+own markets, find its own level, and regulate itself much better than
+it could be regulated by law. Although the government might embarrass
+it, and injure their own citizens, and even foreign nations, for a
+while, it would eventually rise above all the regulations they could
+make. Merchants, if left to themselves, would always find the best
+markets. They would buy as cheap and sell as dear as possible. Why
+drive them from those markets into others which were less
+advantageous? If trade with Britain was less free, or less profitable,
+than with France, the employment of coercive means to force it into
+French channels would be unnecessary. It would voluntarily run in
+them. That violence must be used in order to change its course,
+demonstrated that it was in its natural course.
+
+It was extraordinary to hear gentlemen complaining of British
+restrictions on American commerce, and at the same time stating her
+proportion of that commerce as a national grievance, and that the
+trade was so free as to become an injury. The very circumstance that
+she retained so large a share of it, was evidence that it did not
+experience in her ports unusual burdens. Whenever greater advantages
+were offered by other countries, there would be no need of legislative
+interference to induce the merchants to embrace them. That portion of
+trade would go to each country, for which the circumstances of each
+were calculated. If Great Britain purchased more American produce than
+she consumed, it was because, all circumstances considered, it was the
+interest of America to sell her more than she consumed. While this
+interest continued, no mischief could result from the fact; when the
+cause should cease, the effect would cease also, without the
+intervention of the legislature.
+
+It was very improbable that the resolutions under consideration would
+effect their other avowed object, a repeal of the British navigation
+act.
+
+The season, it was said, was peculiarly unfavourable to such
+experiments. The internal convulsions of France had laid her
+manufactures in ruins. She was not in a condition to supply her own
+wants, much less those of the United States. The superb column erected
+at Lyons could furnish no stimulus to the industry of her
+manufacturers.
+
+But the attempt to stop the natural intercourse between the United
+States and Great Britain, though incapable of producing on the latter
+the full effect which was desired, might inflict deep and lasting
+wounds on the most essential interests of the former. The injuries
+which their agriculture would sustain from the measure, might be long
+and severely felt.
+
+It had been proudly stated, that while America received articles which
+might be dispensed with, she furnished in return the absolute
+necessaries of life; she furnished bread, and raw materials for
+manufactures. "One would think," said Mr. Tracy, "to hear the
+declarations in this house, that all men were fed at the opening of
+our hand; and, if we shut that hand, the nations starve, and if we but
+shake the fist after it is shut, they die." And yet one great
+objection to the conduct of Britain was, her prohibitory duty on the
+importation of bread stuff while it was under a certain price.
+
+Nothing could be more deceptive than the argument founded on the
+nature of American exports. What, it was asked, would be done with the
+surplus produce of the United States? Was it to remain in the country,
+and rot upon the hands of those who raised it? If not, if it was to be
+exported, it would find its way to the place of demand. Food would
+search out those who needed it; and the raw material would be carried
+to the manufacturer whose labour could give it value.
+
+But there was a much more serious aspect in which this subject ought
+to be placed. The products of America grew in other soils than hers.
+The demands for them might be supplied by other countries. Indeed, in
+some instances, articles usually obtained from the United States would
+be excluded by a fair competition with the same articles furnished by
+other countries. The discriminations made in their favour enabled them
+to obtain a preference in the British market. By withholding those
+which were of the growth of the United States, Great Britain would not
+lose the article, but America would lose the market; and a formidable
+rival would be raised up, who would last much longer than the
+resolutions under consideration. It is easy by commercial regulations
+to do much mischief, and difficult to retrieve losses. It is
+impossible to foresee all evils which may arise out of such measures;
+and their effects may last after the cause is removed.
+
+The opponents of the resolutions persisted to consider the credit
+given by British merchants, as a solid advantage to any country which,
+like the United States, was defective in commercial capital; but they
+denied that, from that source, any political influence had arisen.
+"If," said Mr. Tracy, "we may argue from a great state, Virginia, to
+the union, this is not true; for although that state owes immense
+debts, her representatives come forward with great spirit to bring
+Great Britain to her feet. The people to the eastward do not owe the
+English merchants, and are very generally opposed to these
+regulations. These facts must convince us that the credit given by
+Great Britain, does not operate to produce a fear, and a dependence,
+which can be alarming to government."
+
+"If," said Mr. Dexter, "I have a predilection for any country besides
+my own, that bias is in favour of France, the place of my father's
+sepulture. No one, more than myself, laments the spasm of patriotism
+which convulses that nation, and hazards the cause of freedom; but I
+shall not suffer the torrent of love or hatred to sweep me from my
+post. I am sent neither to plead the cause of France nor England, but
+am delegated as a guardian of the rights and interests of America."
+
+The speakers against the resolutions universally laboured to exclude
+from all weight in the decision on them, considerations which were
+foreign to the interests of the United States. "The discussion of this
+subject," said Mr. Tracy, "has assumed an appearance which must be
+surprising to a stranger, and painful in the extreme to ourselves. The
+supreme legislature of the United States is seriously deliberating,
+not upon the welfare of our own citizens, but upon the relative
+circumstances of two European nations; and this deliberation has not
+for its object, the relative benefits of their markets to us, but
+which form of government is best and most like our own, which people
+feel the greatest affection for us, and what measures we can adopt
+which will best humble one and exalt the other.
+
+"The primary motive of these resolutions, as acknowledged by their
+defenders, is, not the increase of our agriculture, manufactures, or
+navigation, but to humble Great Britain and build up France; and
+although it is said our manufactures and navigation may receive some
+advantage, it is only mentioned as a substitute in case of failure as
+to the great object.
+
+"The discussion in favour of these resolutions has breathed nothing
+but hostility and revenge against the English; and yet _they_ put on
+the mild garb of commercial regulations. Legislatures, always cautious
+of attempting to force trade from its own channels and habits, should
+certainly be peculiarly cautious, when they do undertake such
+business, to set about it with temperance and coolness; but in this
+debate, we are told of the inexecution of a former treaty, withholding
+western posts, insults and dominations of a haughty people, that
+through the agency of Great Britain the savages are upon us on one
+side, and the Algerines on the other. The mind is roused by a group of
+evils, and then called upon to consider a statement of duties on goods
+imported from foreign countries. If the subject is commercial, why not
+treat it commercially, and attend to it with coolness? if it is a
+question of political hostility, or of war, a firmer tone may be
+adopted."
+
+On this side of the question, the conduct of Great Britain, if as
+hostile as it was represented to be, was spoken of with high
+indignation. "If," said Mr. Tracy, "these statements are founded in
+fact, I can not justify myself to my constituents, or my conscience,
+in saying the adoption of the regulations of commerce, a navigation
+act, or the whole parade of shutting ports, and freeing trade from its
+shackles, is in any degree calculated to meet or remedy the evil.
+
+"Although I deprecate war as the worst of calamities for my country,
+yet I would inquire seriously whether we had on our part, fulfilled
+the treaty with Great Britain, and would do complete justice to them
+first. I would negotiate as long and as far as patience ought to go;
+and, if I found an obstinate denial of justice, I would then lay the
+hand of force upon the western posts, and would teach the world that
+the United States were no less prompt in commanding justice to be done
+them, than they had been patient and industrious in attempting to
+obtain it by fair and peaceable means. In this view of the subject I
+should be led to say, away with your milk and water regulations; they
+are too trifling to effect objects of such importance. Are the
+Algerines to be frightened with paper resolves, or the Indians to be
+subdued, or the western posts taken, by commercial regulations? when
+we consider the subject merely as a commercial one, it goes too far,
+and attempts too much; but when considered as a war establishment, it
+falls infinitely short of the mark, and does too little."
+
+This earnest and interesting debate was protracted to a great length,
+and was conducted on both sides with great spirit and eloquence. At
+length, on the third of February, the question was taken on the first
+resolution, which was carried by a majority of five. The further
+consideration of the resolutions was then postponed until the first
+Monday in March.
+
+This animated debate was succeeded by another, on a question which
+also brought into full view, the systems that were embraced by the
+opposite parties, on some of those great national subjects which give
+a character to an administration.
+
+On the second of January, a resolution was agreed to in the house of
+representatives declaring "that a naval force adequate to the
+protection of the commerce of the United States against the Algerine
+corsairs, ought to be provided." The force proposed was to consist of
+six frigates; four of forty-four, and two of thirty-six guns.
+
+This measure was founded on the communications of the President,
+representing the improbability of being able to negotiate a peace with
+the dey of Algiers; and on undoubted information that the corsairs of
+that regency had, during their first short cruise in the Atlantic,
+captured eleven American merchantmen, and made upwards of one hundred
+prisoners; and were preparing to renew their attack on the unprotected
+vessels of the United States.
+
+In every stage of its progress this bill was most strenuously opposed.
+
+[Sidenote: Debates on the subject of a navy.]
+
+The measure was viewed simply as a present protection to commerce, and
+then as the commencement of a permanent naval establishment. In both
+characters it was reprobated with extreme severity.
+
+As a measure of protection, it was declared to be altogether
+incompetent to the attainment of its object, because the force
+contemplated was insufficient, and because it could not be brought
+into immediate use. The measure, therefore, would be totally
+inefficacious.
+
+But the object might be effected by other means, more eligible, and
+less expensive. By proper management, and a due attention to time and
+circumstances, a peace might be procured with money.
+
+Nations possessing a naval force greatly superior to the proposed
+armament, had found it to their advantage to purchase the friendship
+of the Algerines. That mode of procuring peace was recommended both by
+its efficacy, and its economy. Unless the object was obtained, the
+money would not be expended.
+
+Another mode of giving security to their commerce, preferable to the
+plan in the bill, was to purchase the protection of foreign powers.
+This might be acquired at a less expense than would be incurred in
+fitting out the proposed armament, and its utility would be immediate.
+
+But the measure was also to be considered as the commencement of a
+permanent navy. The question which this view of it presented, was one
+of the most important that could engage the consideration of the
+house. The adoption of the principle would involve a complete
+dereliction of the policy of discharging the public debt. History
+afforded no instance of a nation which continued to increase its navy,
+and at the same time to decrease its debt.
+
+To the expensiveness of the navy system were ascribed the oppression
+under which the people of England groaned, the overthrow of the French
+monarchy, and the dangers which threatened that of Great Britain. The
+expensiveness of the government was the true ground of the oppression
+of the people. The king, the nobility, the priesthood, the _army_, and
+above all, the navy. All this machinery lessens the number of
+productive, and increases the number of unproductive hands in the
+nation.
+
+The United States had already advanced full far enough in this system.
+In addition to the civil list, they had funded a debt on the
+principles of duration, had raised an army at an immense expense, and
+now a proposition was made for a navy.
+
+The system of governing by debts, was the most refined system of
+tyranny. It seemed to be a contrivance devised by politicians to
+succeed the old system of feudal tenures. Both were tyrannical, but
+the objects of their tyranny were different. The one operated on the
+person, the other operates on the pockets of the individual. The
+feudal lord was satisfied with the acknowledgment of the tenant that
+he was a slave, and the rendition of a pepper corn as an evidence of
+it; the product of his labour was left for his own support. The system
+of debts affords no such indulgence. Its true policy is to devise
+objects of expense, and to draw the greatest possible sum from the
+people in the least visible mode. No device can facilitate the system
+of debts and expense so much as a navy; and they should hold the
+liberty of the American people at a lower rate, should this policy be
+adopted.
+
+Another great objection to the establishment of a navy was, that until
+the United States should be able to contend with the great maritime
+powers on the ocean, it would be a hostage, to its full value, for
+their good behaviour. It would increase rather than lessen their
+dependence.
+
+In reply, it was said that if it had been the intention of the house
+to incur a vast expense in the establishment of a navy for vain
+parade, there might be force in some of the objections which had been
+made. But this was not the case. It was a measure, not of choice, but
+of necessity. It was extorted by the pressure of unavoidable events.
+
+It being universally admitted that their commerce required protection
+against the Algerine corsairs, the question was, simply, whether the
+plan proposed in the bill was the best mode of affording that
+protection.
+
+To decide this question, it would be proper to consider the
+substitutes which had been offered; and then to review the objections
+which had been made to the measure.
+
+The substitutes were, first, to purchase a peace; and secondly, to
+subsidize other nations to protect commerce.
+
+On the first substitute, it was said that the late communications must
+satisfy every person who had attended to them, that all hope of
+purchasing a peace must be abandoned, unless there was a manifestation
+of some force which might give effect to negotiation. So long as the
+vessels of the United States remained an easy and tempting prey to the
+cupidity of those corsairs, it would be vain to expect that they would
+sell a peace for the price the government would be willing to give, or
+that a peace would be of any duration. If the executive had
+experienced such difficulties while the Algerine cruisers had captured
+only one or two vessels, and were confined to the Mediterranean by a
+Portuguese squadron, how much less prospect was there of success after
+they had captured a considerable number of ships, were likely to
+capture many more, and were at liberty to cruise on the Atlantic to
+the very coasts of the United States? Even that little prospect of
+success would be diminished, when the dey of Algiers should understand
+that the United States would take no measures to protect their trade,
+and were afraid of the expense of a small armament.
+
+It was to be understood that they did not rely solely on the
+operations of the armament. They still looked forward to negotiation,
+and were willing to provide the means for purchasing a peace. But the
+former measure was necessary to give success to the latter, and the
+armament might be employed to advantage should negotiation fail.
+
+The other substitute was to subsidize foreign powers. The national
+dishonour of depending upon others for that protection which the
+United States were able to afford themselves, was strongly urged. But
+there were additional objections to this project. Either the nations
+in contemplation were at peace or at war with the regency of Algiers.
+If the former, it was not to be expected that they would relinquish
+that peace for any indemnification the United States could make them.
+If the latter, they had sufficient inducements to check the
+depredations of their enemies without subsidies. Such a protection
+would be hazardous, as it would be, at any time, in the power of the
+nation that should be employed, to conclude a truce with Algiers, and
+leave the trade of the United States at the mercy of her corsairs.
+While the expense of protection was perpetually to be incurred, it
+would never furnish the strength which that expense ought to give.
+
+With a navy of her own, America might co-operate to advantage with any
+power at war with Algiers, but it would be risking too much to depend
+altogether on any foreign nation.
+
+To the argument that the force was incompetent to the object, it was
+answered, that, from the documents before them, and from the diligent
+inquiries of a large committee, the number and strength of the
+Algerine corsairs had been ascertained, and the armament contemplated
+in the bill was believed to be sufficient. If gentlemen thought
+differently, it was surprising that they did not move to augment it.
+
+The expense of the frigates had been strongly urged. But the saving in
+insurance, in ships and cargoes, and in the ransom of seamen, was more
+than equivalent to this item. "But are not the slavery of our fellow
+citizens, and the national disgrace resulting from it, to be taken
+into the account? these are considerations beyond all calculation. Who
+can, after reading the affecting narratives of the unfortunate, sit
+down contented with cold calculations and syllogisms? their narratives
+ought to excite every possible exertion, not only to procure the
+release of the captured, but to prevent the increase of the number of
+these unhappy victims."
+
+That a bill providing six frigates, to exist during the war with the
+Algerines, should excite apprehensions of a large permanent navy, and
+of an immense debt, was truly astonishing. But even if the bill had
+not contained a clause enabling the President to discontinue the
+armament provided peace should be concluded with the regency of
+Algiers, the weight of the objection was denied. America was
+peculiarly fitted for a navy; she abounded in all kinds of naval
+resources, and had within herself, those means which other nations
+were obliged to obtain from abroad. Her situation, and the
+dispositions of a considerable proportion of her citizens, evinced
+still more the propriety of a naval establishment. Perhaps the country
+was not yet mature for such an establishment to any great extent. But
+the period was not far distant when it would be. The United States had
+an increasing population, much individual wealth, and considerable
+national resources. It was not believed that the expense of equipping
+a small naval armament for the protection of their commerce, would be
+insupportable.
+
+It was, however, matter of surprise, that gentlemen who had deemed the
+improvement of American navigation, as a source of defence, an object
+of so much importance as to be anxious to wage an immediate commercial
+war with Great Britain for that purpose, should avow such a fixed
+determination against resorting to that resource in any degree
+whatever, under circumstances the most urgent.
+
+The original resolution was carried only by a majority of two voices;
+but as the bill advanced, several members who were accustomed to vote
+in the opposition gave it their support; and, on the final question, a
+majority of eleven appeared in its favour. The other branch of the
+legislature concurred, and it received the cordial assent of the
+President.
+
+Pending these discussions, the irritations in which they commenced
+were greatly aggravated by accounts, that captures of American vessels
+by British cruisers were made to an extent altogether unprecedented;
+and early in March, an authentic paper was received which proved that
+those captures were not unauthorized.
+
+On the sixth of November, 1793, additional instructions had been
+issued to the ships of war and privateers of Great Britain, requiring
+them to stop and detain all ships, laden with goods the produce of any
+colony belonging to France, or carrying provisions or other supplies
+to any such colony, and to bring the same, with their cargoes, to
+legal adjudication, in the British courts of admiralty.
+
+These instructions made a serious impression on the most reflecting
+and moderate men in the United States. It was believed that they
+originated in a spirit of hostility which must lead to war; and that
+it had now become the part of prudence to prepare for that event.
+
+On the 12th of March, Mr. Sedgewick moved several resolutions, the
+objects of which were to raise a military force, and to authorize the
+President to lay an embargo. The armament was to consist of fifteen
+thousand men, who should be brought into actual service in case of war
+with any European power, but not until war should break out. In the
+mean time, they were to receive pay while assembled for the purpose of
+discipline, which was not to exceed twenty-four days in each year.
+
+After stating the motives which led to the introduction of these
+resolutions, they were laid on the table for the consideration of the
+members. Two days afterwards, a motion was made to take up that which
+related to an embargo; but this motion was negatived for the purpose
+of resuming the consideration of the commercial regulations which had
+been offered by Mr. Madison. On the motion of Mr. Nicholas, those
+resolutions were amended so as to subject the manufactures of Great
+Britain alone, instead of those of all nations having no commercial
+treaties with the United States, to the proposed augmentation of
+duties. They were again debated with great earnestness, but no
+decision on them was made.
+
+In addition to the objections urged against them as forming a
+commercial system in time of peace, they were said to be particularly
+inapplicable to the present moment. If, as was believed, the United
+States were about to be forced into a war, the public counsels ought
+to be directed to measures of defence. In that event, the resolutions
+would, at best, be useless. But the greater the danger of war, the
+more incumbent was it on the government to unite public opinion in
+support of it; and this would best be effected by observing a line of
+conduct which would furnish no just cause of hostility. The commercial
+discriminations proposed were of a hostile and irritating nature,
+might render war certain, would be considered by many as unnecessary,
+and might impair that unanimity in which the great strength of the
+country consisted. It was submitted to the gentlemen to decide whether
+it was wise to press their system through, with so small a majority as
+was in its favour.
+
+The resolutions were defended on the principle, that though not in
+themselves contributing to the national defence, they would not
+prevent the adoption of such other measures as the state of things
+might render necessary. If war should take place, they could do no
+harm. But war must at some time be succeeded by peace: and they would
+form a valuable basis for negotiation.[15]
+
+     [Footnote 15: In the course of this debate the resolutions
+     were still considered as calculated to promote the
+     interests, not of the United States, but of France. Mr. Ames
+     said they had _French_ stamped upon the very face of them.
+     This expression produced a warm retort from Colonel Parker.
+     He wished there was a stamp on the forehead of every person
+     to designate whether he was for France or Britain. For
+     himself he would not be silent and hear that nation abused
+     to whom America was indebted for her rank as a nation. He
+     was firmly persuaded that but for the aid of France in the
+     last war, those gentlemen now on the floor who prided
+     themselves in abusing her, would not have had an opportunity
+     in that place of doing it. This sentiment produced a clap in
+     the galleries. This indecorum was severely reprobated, and a
+     motion was made to clear the galleries. Although the debate
+     shows that the degree of sensibility excited by this
+     disorder was extremely different in the different parties,
+     it was justified by none, and the galleries were cleared.]
+
+[Sidenote: An embargo law.]
+
+On the 21st of March, Mr. Sedgewick's motion authorizing the President
+to lay an embargo was negatived by a majority of two voices; but in a
+few days, the consideration of that subject was resumed, and a
+resolution passed, prohibiting all trade from the United States to any
+foreign port or place for the space of thirty days, and empowering the
+President to carry the resolution into effect.
+
+This resolution was accompanied with vigorous provisional measures for
+defence, respecting the adoption of which, no considerable division of
+sentiment was avowed.
+
+While the measures of congress indicated that expectation of war, a
+public document made its appearance which seemed to demonstrate that
+Great Britain also was preparing for that event. This was the answer
+of Lord Dorchester, on the 10th of February, to a speech delivered by
+the deputies of a great number of Indian tribes assembled at Quebec.
+In this answer, his lordship had openly avowed the opinion, founded,
+as he said, on the conduct of the American people, that a war between
+Great Britain and the United States, during the present year, was
+probable, and that a new line between the two nations must then be
+drawn by the sword.
+
+This document was not authentic; but it obtained general belief, and
+contributed to confirm the opinion that war was scarcely to be
+avoided.
+
+On the 27th of March, Mr. Dayton moved a resolution for sequestering
+all debts due to British subjects, and for taking means to secure
+their payment into the treasury, as a fund out of which to indemnify
+the citizens of the United States for depredations committed on their
+commerce by British cruisers, in violation of the laws of nations.
+
+The debate on this resolution was such as was to be expected from the
+irritable state of the public mind. The invectives against the British
+nation were uttered with peculiar vehemence, and were mingled with
+allusions to the exertions of the government for the preservation of
+neutrality, censuring strongly the system which had been pursued.
+
+Before any question was taken on the proposition for sequestering
+British debts, and without a decision on those proposed by Mr.
+Madison, Mr. Clarke moved a resolution, which in some degree suspended
+the commercial regulations that had been so earnestly debated. This
+was to prohibit all intercourse with Great Britain until her
+government should make full compensation for all injuries done to the
+citizens of the United States by armed vessels, or by any person or
+persons acting under the authority of the British king; and until the
+western posts should be delivered up.[16]
+
+     [Footnote 16: A few days before the motions of Mr. Dayton
+     and Mr. Clarke, a report was made by the secretary of state
+     relative to the vexations of American commerce committed by
+     the officers and cruisers of the belligerent powers. It was
+     made from materials collected in an inquiry which had been
+     instituted by the President before the meeting of congress.
+     In this report, after detailing the numerous complaints
+     which were made against Great Britain, the secretary
+     proceeded to notice those which were brought against other
+     nations. Against France, he said, it was urged that her
+     privateers harassed the American trade no less than those of
+     the British. That their courts of admiralty were guilty of
+     equal oppression. That they had violated the treaty between
+     the two nations. That a very detrimental embargo had
+     detained a number of American vessels in her ports, and that
+     the government had discharged a specie contract with
+     assignats. The effect of this report seems to have been to
+     excite a suspicion that the secretary of state was not
+     sufficiently attached to liberty and to France.]
+
+On the fourth of April, before any decision was made on the several
+propositions which have been stated, the President laid before
+congress a letter just received from Mr. Pinckney, the minister of the
+United States at London, communicating additional instructions to the
+commanders of British armed ships, which were dated the eighth of
+January. These instructions revoked those of the sixth of November;
+and, instead of bringing in for adjudication all neutral vessels
+trading with the French islands, British cruisers were directed to
+bring in those only which were laden with cargoes the produce of the
+French islands, and were on a direct voyage from those islands to
+Europe.
+
+The letter detailed a conversation with Lord Grenville on this
+subject, in which his lordship explained the motives which had
+originally occasioned the order of the sixth of November, and gave to
+it a less extensive signification than it had received in the courts
+of vice admiralty.
+
+It was intended, he said, to be temporary, and was calculated to
+answer two purposes. One was, to prevent the abuses which might take
+place in consequence of the whole of the St. Domingo fleet having gone
+to the United States; the other was, on account of the attack designed
+upon the French West India islands by the armament under Sir John
+Jarvis and Sir Charles Grey; but it was now no longer necessary to
+continue the regulations for those purposes. His lordship added, that
+the order of the sixth of November did not direct the confiscation of
+all vessels trading with the French islands, but only that they should
+be brought in for legal adjudication; and he conceived that no vessel
+would be condemned under it, which would not have been previously
+liable to the same sentence.
+
+The influence of this communication on the party in the legislature
+which was denominated federal, was very considerable. Believing that
+the existing differences between the two nations still admitted of
+explanation and adjustment, they strenuously opposed all measures
+which were irritating in their tendency, or which might be construed
+into a dereliction of the neutral character they were desirous of
+maintaining; but they gave all their weight to those which, by putting
+the nation in a posture of defence, prepared it for war, should
+negotiation fail.
+
+On the opposite party, no change of sentiment or of views appears to
+have been produced. Their system seems to have been matured, and not
+to have originated in the feelings of the moment. They adhered to it
+therefore with inflexible perseverance; but seemed not anxious to
+press an immediate determination of the propositions which had been
+made. These propositions were discussed with great animation; but,
+notwithstanding an ascertained majority in their favour, were
+permitted to remain undecided, as if their fate depended on some
+extrinsic circumstance.
+
+Meanwhile, great exertions were made to increase the public agitation,
+and to stimulate the resentments which were felt against Great
+Britain. The artillery of the press was played with unceasing fury on
+the minority of the house of representatives; and the democratic
+societies brought their whole force into operation. Language will
+scarcely afford terms of greater outrage than were employed against
+those who sought to stem the torrent of public opinion, and to
+moderate the rage of the moment. They were denounced as a British
+faction, seeking to impose chains on their countrymen. Even the
+majority was declared to be but half roused; and to show little of
+that energy and decision which the crisis required.
+
+Unequivocal evidence, it was said, had been obtained of the
+liberticide intentions of Great Britain; and only the successes of
+freedom against tyranny, the triumphs of their magnanimous French
+brethren over slaves, had been the means of once more guaranteeing the
+independence of this country. The glorious example of France ought to
+animate the American people to every exertion to raise their prostrate
+character; and every tie of gratitude and interest should lead them to
+cement their connexion with that great republic. The proclamation of
+neutrality, though admitted to have originated in the best motives on
+the part of the President, was declared to be not only questionable in
+a constitutional point of view, but eventually to have proved
+impolitic. Being falsely construed by Great Britain into a
+manifestation of a pusillanimous disposition, it served to explain the
+aggressions of that nation. Experience now urged the abandonment of a
+line of conduct, which had fed the pride and provoked the insults of
+their unprincipled and implacable enemy; and was derogatory to the
+honour, inconsistent with the interest, and hostile to the liberties
+of their country.
+
+Their tameness under British aggressions was declared to furnish just
+cause of offence to France; since every infringement of right
+submitted to by a neutral, inflicted a correspondent injury on the
+nation at war with the offending power.
+
+The proceedings of the legislature continued to manifest a fixed
+purpose to pursue the system which had been commenced; and the public
+sentiment seemed to accord with that system. That the nation was
+advancing rapidly to a state of war, was firmly believed by many
+intelligent men, who doubted the necessity, and denied the policy of
+abandoning the neutral position which had been thus long maintained.
+In addition to the extensive calamities which must, in any state of
+things, result to the United States from a rupture with a nation which
+was the mistress of the ocean, and which furnished the best market for
+the sale of their produce, and the purchase of manufactures of
+indispensable necessity, there were considerations belonging
+exclusively to the moment, which, though operating only in a narrow
+circle, were certainly entitled to great respect.
+
+That war with Britain, during the continuance of the passionate and
+almost idolatrous devotion of a great majority of the people to the
+French republic, would throw America so completely into the arms of
+France as to leave her no longer mistress of her own conduct, was not
+the only fear which the temper of the day suggested. That the spirit
+which triumphed in that nation, and deluged it with the blood of its
+revolutionary champions, might cross the Atlantic, and desolate the
+hitherto safe and peaceful dwellings of the American people, was an
+apprehension not so entirely unsupported by appearances, as to be
+pronounced chimerical. With a blind infatuation, which treated reason
+as a criminal, immense numbers applauded a furious despotism,
+trampling on every right, and sporting with life, as the essence of
+liberty; and the few who conceived freedom to be a plant which did not
+flourish the better for being nourished with human blood, and who
+ventured to disapprove the ravages of the guillotine, were execrated
+as the tools of the coalesced despots, and as persons who, to weaken
+the affection of America for France, became the calumniators of that
+republic. Already had an imitative spirit, captivated with the
+splendour, but copying the errors of a great nation, reared up in
+every part of the continent self created corresponding societies, who,
+claiming to be the people, assumed a control over the government, and
+were loosening its bands. Already were the mountain,[17] and a
+revolutionary tribunal, favourite toasts; and already were principles
+familiarly proclaimed which, in France, had been the precursors of
+that tremendous and savage despotism, which, in the name of the
+people, and by the instrumentality of affiliated societies, had spread
+its terrific sway over that fine country, and had threatened to
+extirpate all that was wise and virtuous. That a great majority of
+those statesmen who conducted the opposition would deprecate such a
+result, furnished no security against it. When the physical force of a
+nation usurps the place of its wisdom, those who have produced such a
+state of things no longer control it.
+
+     [Footnote 17: A well known term designating the most violent
+     party in France.]
+
+These apprehensions, whether well or ill founded, produced in those
+who felt them, an increased solicitude for the preservation of peace.
+Their aid was not requisite to confirm the judgment of the President
+on this interesting subject. Fixed in his purpose of maintaining the
+neutrality of the United States, until the aggressions of a foreign
+power should clearly render neutrality incompatible with honour; and
+conceiving, from the last advices received from England, that the
+differences between the two nations had not yet attained that point,
+he determined to make one decisive effort, which should either remove
+the ostensible causes of quarrel, or demonstrate the indisposition of
+Great Britain to remove them. This determination was executed by the
+nomination of an envoy extraordinary to his Britannic majesty, which
+was announced to the senate on the 16th of April in the following
+terms:
+
+"The communications which I have made to you during your present
+session, from the despatches of our minister in London, contain a
+serious aspect of our affairs with Great Britain. But as peace ought
+to be pursued with unremitted zeal, before the last resource which has
+so often been the scourge of nations, and can not fail to check the
+advanced prosperity of the United States, is contemplated, I have
+thought proper to nominate, and do hereby nominate John Jay, as envoy
+extraordinary of the United States, to his Britannic majesty.
+
+[Sidenote: Mr. Jay appointed envoy extraordinary to Great Britain.]
+
+"My confidence in our minister plenipotentiary in London continues
+undiminished. But a mission like this, while it corresponds with the
+solemnity of the occasion, will announce to the world a solicitude for
+the friendly adjustment of our complaints, and a reluctance to
+hostility. Going immediately from the United States, such an envoy
+will carry with him a full knowledge of the existing temper and
+sensibility of our country; and will thus be taught to vindicate our
+rights with firmness, and to cultivate peace with sincerity."
+
+To those who believed the interests of the nation to require a rupture
+with England, and a still closer connexion with France, nothing could
+be more unlooked for, or more unwelcome, than this decisive measure.
+That it would influence the proceedings of congress could not be
+doubted; and it would materially affect the public mind was probable.
+Evincing the opinion of the executive that negotiation, not
+legislative hostility, was still the proper medium for accommodating
+differences with Great Britain, it threw on the legislature a great
+responsibility, if they should persist in a system calculated to
+defeat that negotiation. By showing to the people that their President
+did not yet believe war to be necessary, it turned the attention of
+many to peace; and, by suggesting the probability, rekindled the
+almost extinguished desire, of preserving that blessing.
+
+Scarcely has any public act of the President drawn upon his
+administration a greater degree of censure than this. That such would
+be its effect, could not be doubted by a person who had observed the
+ardour with which opinions that it thwarted were embraced, or the
+extremity to which the passions and contests of the moment had carried
+all orders of men. But it is the province of real patriotism to
+consult the utility, more than the popularity of a measure; and to
+pursue the path of duty, although it may be rugged.
+
+In the senate, the nomination was approved by a majority of ten
+voices; and, in the house of representatives, it was urged as an
+argument against persevering in the system which had been commenced.
+On the 18th of April, a motion for taking up the report of the
+committee of the whole house on the resolution for cutting off all
+commercial intercourse with Great Britain, was opposed, chiefly on the
+ground that, as an envoy had been nominated to the court of that
+country, no obstacle ought to be thrown in his way. The adoption of
+the resolution would be a bar to negotiation, because it used the
+language of menace, and manifested a partiality to one of the
+belligerents which was incompatible with neutrality. It was also an
+objection to the resolution that it prescribed the terms on which
+alone a treaty should be made, and was consequently an infringement of
+the right of the executive to negotiate, and an indelicacy to that
+department.
+
+In support of the motion, it was said, that the measure was strictly
+within the duty of the legislature, they having solely the right to
+regulate commerce. That, if there was any indelicacy in the clashing
+of the proceedings of the legislature and executive, it was to the
+latter, not to the former, that this indelicacy was to be imputed. The
+resolution which was the subject of debate had been several days
+depending in the house, before the nomination of an envoy
+extraordinary had been made. America having a right, as an independent
+nation, to regulate her own commerce, the resolution could not lead to
+war; on the contrary, it was the best means of bringing the
+negotiation to a happy issue.
+
+The motion for taking up the report was carried in the affirmative.
+Some embarrassment was produced by an amendment offered by Mr. Smith
+of South Carolina, who proposed to add another condition to the
+restoration of intercourse between the two countries. This was,
+compensation for the negroes carried away in violation of the treaty
+of peace. The house avoided this proposition by modifying the
+resolutions so as to expunge all that part of it which prescribed the
+conditions on which the intercourse might be restored. A bill was
+brought in conforming to this resolution, and carried by a
+considerable majority. In the senate, it was lost by the casting vote
+of the Vice President. The system which had been taken up in the house
+of representatives was pressed no further.
+
+The altercations between the executive and the minister of the French
+republic, had given birth to many questions which had been warmly
+agitated in the United States, and on which a great diversity of
+sentiment prevailed.
+
+The opinion of the administration that the relations produced by
+existing treaties, and indeed by a state of peace independent of
+treaty, imposed certain obligations on the United States, an
+observance of which it was the duty of the executive to enforce, had
+been reprobated with extreme severity. It was contended, certainly by
+the most active, perhaps by the most numerous part of the community,
+not only that the treaties had been grossly misconstrued, but also
+that, under any construction of them, the interference of the
+executive acquired the sanction of legislative authority; that, until
+the legislature should interpose and annex certain punishments to
+infractions of neutrality, the natural right possessed by every
+individual to do any act not forbidden by express law, would furnish a
+secure protection against those prosecutions which a tyrannical
+executive might direct for the crime of disregarding its illegal
+mandates. The right of the President to call out the militia for the
+detention of privateers about to violate the rules he had established,
+was, in some instances, denied; attempts to punish those who had
+engaged, within the United States, to carry on expeditions against
+foreign nations, were unsuccessful; and a grand jury had refused to
+find a bill of indictment against Mr. Duplaine, for having rescued,
+with an armed force, a vessel which had been taken into custody by an
+officer of justice. Of consequence, however decided the opinion of the
+executive might be with respect to its constitutional powers and
+duties, it was desirable to diminish the difficulties to be
+encountered in performing those duties, by obtaining the sanction of
+the legislature to the rules which had been established for the
+preservation of neutrality. The propriety of legislative provision for
+the case was suggested by the President at the commencement of the
+session, and a bill was brought into the senate, "in addition to the
+act for punishing certain crimes against the United States." This bill
+prohibited the exercise, within the American territory, of those
+various rights of sovereignty which had been claimed by Mr. Genet, and
+subjected any citizen of the United States who should be convicted of
+committing any of the offences therein enumerated, to fine and
+imprisonment. It also prohibited the condemnation and sale within the
+United States, of prizes made from the citizens or subjects of nations
+with whom they were at peace.
+
+Necessary as this measure was, the whole strength of the opposition in
+the senate was exerted to defeat it. Motions to strike out the most
+essential clause were successively repeated, and each motion was
+negatived by the casting vote of the Vice President. It was only by
+his voice that the bill finally passed.[18]
+
+     [Footnote 18: Previous to taking the question on this bill,
+     a petition had been received against Mr. Gallatin, a senator
+     from the state of Pennsylvania, who was determined not to
+     have been a citizen a sufficient time to qualify him under
+     the constitution for a seat in the senate. This casual
+     circumstance divided the senate, or the bill would probably
+     have been lost.]
+
+In the house of representatives also, this bill encountered a serious
+opposition. The sections which prohibited the sale of prizes in the
+United States, and that which declared it to be a misdemeanour to
+accept a commission from a foreign power within the territory of the
+United States, to serve against a nation with whom they were at peace,
+were struck out; but that which respected the acceptance of
+commissions was afterwards reinstated.
+
+In the course of the session, several other party questions were
+brought forward, which demonstrated, at the same time, the strength,
+and the zeal of the opposition. The subject of amending the
+constitution was revived; and a resolution was agreed to in both
+houses for altering that instrument, so far as to exempt states from
+the suits of individuals. While this resolution was before the senate,
+it was also proposed to render the officers of the bank, and the
+holders of stock, ineligible to either branch of the legislature; and
+this proposition, so far as respected officers in the bank, was
+negatived by a majority of only one vote.[19] A bill to sell the
+shares of the United States in the bank was negatived by the same
+majority.
+
+     [Footnote 19: A clause in the resolution as proposed, which
+     was understood to imply that the act for incorporating the
+     bank was unconstitutional, was previously struck out by the
+     same majority.]
+
+[Sidenote: Inquiry into the conduct of the secretary of the treasury
+terminates honourably to him.]
+
+In both houses inquiries were set on foot respecting the treasury
+department, which obviously originated in the hope of finding some
+foundation for censuring that officer, but which failed entirely. In a
+similar hope, as respected the minister of the United States at Paris,
+the senate passed a vote requesting the President to lay before that
+body, his correspondence with the French republic, and also with the
+department of state.[20]
+
+     [Footnote 20: See note No. VIII. at the end of the volume.]
+
+The preparations for an eventual war, which the aspect of public
+affairs rendered it imprudent to omit, and a heavy appropriation of a
+million, which, under the title of foreign intercourse, was made for
+the purpose of purchasing peace from Algiers, and liberating the
+Americans who were in captivity, created demands upon the treasury
+which the ordinary revenues were insufficient to satisfy.
+
+That the imposition of additional taxes had become indispensable, was
+a truth too obvious to be controverted with the semblance of reason;
+but the subjects of taxation afforded at all times an ample field for
+discussion.
+
+The committee of ways and means reported several resolutions for
+extending the internal duties to various objects which were supposed
+capable of bearing them, and also proposed an augmentation of the
+impost on foreign goods imported into the United States, and a direct
+tax. It was proposed to lay a tax on licenses to sell wines and
+spirituous liquors, on sales at auction, on pleasure carriages, on
+snuff manufactured, and on sugar refined in the United States, and
+also to lay a stamp duty.
+
+[Sidenote: Internal taxes laid.]
+
+The direct tax was not even supported by the committee. Only thirteen
+members voted in its favour. The augmentation of the duty on imposts
+met with no opposition. The internal duties were introduced in
+separate bills, that each might encounter only those objections which
+could be made to itself; and that the loss of one might not involve
+the loss of others. The resolution in favour of stamps was rejected:
+the others were carried, after repeated and obstinate debates. The
+members of the opposition were in favour of raising the whole sum
+required by additional burdens on trade, and by direct taxes.
+
+While these measures were depending before congress, memorials and
+resolutions against them were presented by the manufacturers, which
+were expressed in terms of disrespect that evidenced the sense in
+which numbers understood the doctrine, _that the people were
+sovereign, and those who administered the government, their servants_.
+This opportunity for charging the government with tyranny and
+oppression, with partiality and injustice, was too favourable not to
+be embraced by the democratic societies, those self proclaimed
+watchful sentinels over the rights of the people. A person
+unacquainted with those motives which, in the struggle of party, too
+often influence the conduct of men, would have supposed a direct tax
+to be not only in itself more eligible, but to be more acceptable to
+the community than those which were proposed. To the more judicious
+observers of the springs of human action, the reverse was known to be
+the fact.
+
+[Illustration: George Washington's Bedroom at Mount Vernon
+
+_It was in this room that Washington expired, December 14, 1799. Two
+days previously he was exposed in the saddle, for several hours, to
+cold and snow, and contracted acute laryngitis for which he was
+ineffectually treated in the primitive manner of the period. A short
+time before ceasing to breathe, he said: "I die hard; but I am not
+afraid to go. I believed from my first attack that I should not
+survive it. My breath cannot last long." A little later he murmured:
+"I feel myself going. I thank you for your attentions; but I pray you
+to take no more trouble about me. Let me go off quietly. I cannot last
+long." After giving some instructions about his burial he became
+easier, felt his own pulse, and died without a struggle._]
+
+The friends of the administration supported the proposed system
+against every objection to it, because they believed it to be more
+productive, and less unpopular, than a direct tax. It is not
+impossible that what recommended the system to one party, might
+constitute a real objection to it with those who believed that the
+public interest required a change[21] in the public councils.
+
+     [Footnote 21: The declaration was not unfrequently made that
+     the people could only be roused to a proper attention to the
+     violation of their rights, and to the prodigal waste of
+     their money, by perceiving the weight of their taxes. This
+     was concealed from them by the indirect, and would be
+     disclosed to them by the direct, system of taxation.]
+
+On the ninth of June, this active and stormy session was closed by an
+adjournment to the first Monday in the succeeding November.
+
+[Sidenote: Congress adjourns.]
+
+The public was not less agitated than the legislature had been, by
+those interesting questions which had occasioned some of the most
+animated and eloquent discussions that had ever taken place on the
+floor of the house of representatives. Mr. Madison's resolutions
+especially, continued to be the theme of general conversation; and,
+for a long time, divided parties throughout the United States. The
+struggle for public opinion was ardent; and each party supported its
+pretensions, not only with those arguments which each deemed
+conclusive, but also by those reciprocal criminations which, perhaps,
+each, in part, believed.
+
+The opposition declared that the friends of the administration were an
+aristocratic and corrupt faction, who, from a desire to introduce
+monarchy, were hostile to France, and under the influence of Britain;
+that they sought every occasion to increase expense, to augment debt,
+to multiply the public burdens, to create armies and navies, and, by
+the instrumentality of all this machinery, to govern and enslave the
+people: that they were a paper nobility, whose extreme sensibility at
+every measure which threatened the funds, induced a tame submission to
+injuries and insults, which the interests and honour of the nation
+required them to resist.
+
+The friends of the administration retorted, that the opposition was
+prepared to sacrifice the best interests of their country on the altar
+of the French revolution. That they were willing to go to war for
+French, not for American objects: that while they urged war they
+withheld the means of supporting it, in order the more effectually to
+humble and disgrace the government: that they were so blinded by their
+passion for France as to confound crimes with meritorious deeds, and
+to abolish the natural distinction between virtue and vice: that the
+principles which they propagated, and with which they sought to
+intoxicate the people, were, in practice, incompatible with the
+existence of government. That they were the apostles of anarchy, not
+of freedom; and were consequently not the friends of real and rational
+liberty.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+     Genet recalled.... Is succeeded by Mr. Fauchet....
+     Gouverneur Morris recalled, and is succeeded by Mr.
+     Monroe.... Kentucky remonstrance.... Intemperate resolutions
+     of the people of that state.... General Wayne defeats the
+     Indians on the Miamis.... Insurrection in the western parts
+     of Pennsylvania.... Quelled by the prompt and vigorous
+     measures of the government.... Meeting of Congress....
+     President's speech.... Democratic societies.... Resignation
+     of Colonel Hamilton.... Is succeeded by Mr. Wolcott....
+     Resignation of General Knox.... Is succeeded by Colonel
+     Pickering.... Treaty between the United States and Great
+     Britain.... Conditionally ratified by the President.... The
+     treaty unpopular.... Mr. Randolph resigns.... Is succeeded
+     by Colonel Pickering.... Colonel M'Henry appointed secretary
+     of war.... Charge against the President rejected..... Treaty
+     with the Indians north-west of the Ohio.... With Algiers....
+     With Spain.... Meeting of Congress.... President's
+     speech.... Mr. Adet succeeds Mr. Fauchet..... The house of
+     representatives call upon the President for papers relating
+     to the treaty with Great Britain.... He declines sending
+     them.... Debates upon the treaty making power.... Upon the
+     bill for making appropriations to carry into execution the
+     treaty with Great Britain.... Congress adjourns.... The
+     President endeavours to procure the liberation of Lafayette.
+
+
+{1794}
+
+That the most material of those legislative measures on which the two
+great parties of the United States were divided, might be presented in
+one unbroken view, some transactions have been passed over, which will
+now be noticed.
+
+In that spirit of conciliation, which adopts the least irritating
+means for effecting its objects, the President had resolved to bear
+with the insults, the resistance, and the open defiance of Mr. Genet,
+until his appeal to the friendship and the policy of the French
+republic should be fairly tried. Early in January, this resolution was
+shaken, by fresh proofs of the perseverance of that minister, in a
+line of conduct, not to be tolerated by a nation, which has not
+surrendered all pretensions to self government. Mr. Genet had
+meditated, and deliberately planned, two expeditions to be carried on
+from the territories of the United States, against the dominions of
+Spain; and had, as minister of the French republic, granted
+commissions to citizens of the United States, who were privately
+recruiting troops for the proposed service. The first was destined
+against the Floridas, and the second against Louisiana. The detail of
+the plans had been settled. The pay, rations, clothing, plunder, and
+division of the conquered lands to be allotted to the military; and
+the proportion of the acquisitions to be reserved to the republic of
+France, were arranged. The troops destined to act against the Floridas
+were to be raised in the three southern states, were to rendezvous in
+Georgia, were to be aided by a body of Indians and were to co-operate
+with the French fleet, should one arrive on the coast. This scheme had
+been the subject of a correspondence between the executive and Mr.
+Genet, but was in full progress in the preceding December, when by the
+vigilance of the legislature of South Carolina, it was more
+particularly developed, and some of the principal agents were
+arrested.
+
+About the same time, intelligence less authentic, but wearing every
+circumstance of probability, was received, stating that the expedition
+against Louisiana, which was to be carried on down the Ohio from
+Kentucky, was in equal maturity.
+
+[Sidenote: Genet recalled.]
+
+This intelligence seemed to render a further forbearance incompatible
+with the dignity, perhaps with the safety of the United States. The
+question of superseding the diplomatic functions of Mr. Genet, and
+depriving him of the privileges attached to that character, was
+brought before the cabinet; and a message to congress was prepared,
+communicating these transactions, and avowing a determination to adopt
+that measure within ---- days, unless, in the mean time, one or the
+other house should signify the opinion that it was not adviseable so
+to do. In this state, the business was arrested by receiving a letter
+from Mr. Morris, announcing, officially, the recall of this rash
+minister.
+
+[Sidenote: Is succeeded by Mr. Fauchet.]
+
+Mr. Fauchet, the successor of Mr. Genet, arrived in February, and
+brought with him strong assurances that his government totally
+disapproved the conduct of his predecessor. He avowed a determination
+to avoid whatever might be offensive to those to whom he was deputed,
+and a wish to carry into full effect the friendly dispositions of his
+nation towards the United States. For some time, his actions were in
+the spirit of these professions.
+
+[Sidenote: Gouverneur Morris is recalled and is succeed by Mr.
+Monroe.]
+
+Not long after the arrival of Mr. Fauchet, the executive government of
+France requested the recall of Mr. Morris. With this request the
+president immediately complied; and Mr. Monroe, a senator from
+Virginia, who had embraced with ardour the cause of the French
+republic, and was particularly acceptable to the party in opposition,
+was appointed to succeed him.
+
+The discontents which had been long fomented in the western country,
+had assumed a serious and alarming appearance.
+
+[Sidenote: Kentucky remonstrance.]
+
+A remonstrance to the President and congress of the United States from
+the inhabitants of Kentucky, respecting the navigation of the
+Mississippi, was laid before the executive, and each branch of the
+legislature. The style of this paper accorded well with the
+instructions under which it had been prepared.
+
+In the language of an offended sovereign people, injured by the
+maladministration of public servants, it demanded the use of the
+Mississippi as a natural right which had been unjustly withheld; and
+charged the government, openly, with being under the influence of a
+local policy, which had prevented its making one single real effort
+for the security of a good which was all essential to the prosperity
+of the western people. Several intemperate aspersions upon the
+legislative and executive departments, accompanied with complaints
+that the course of the negotiations had not been communicated to those
+who were interested in the event, and with threats obviously pointing
+to dismemberment, were concluded with a declaration that nothing would
+remunerate the western people for the suspension of this great
+territorial right; that they must possess it; that the god of nature
+had given them the means of acquiring and enjoying it; and that to
+permit a sacrifice of it to any other considerations, would be a crime
+against themselves and their posterity.
+
+In the senate, the subject was referred to a committee, who reported,
+"that in the negotiation now carrying on at Madrid between the United
+States and Spain, the right of the former to the free navigation of
+the Mississippi is well asserted and demonstrated, and their claim to
+its enjoyment is pursued with all the assiduity and firmness which the
+magnitude of the subject demands; and will doubtless continue to be so
+pursued until the object shall be obtained, or adverse circumstances
+shall render the further progress of the negotiation impracticable.
+That in the present state of the business, it would be improper for
+congress to interfere. But in order to satisfy the citizens of the
+United States more immediately interested in the event of this
+negotiation, that the United States have uniformly asserted their
+right to the free use of the navigation of the river Mississippi, and
+have employed and will continue to pursue such measures as are best
+adapted to obtain the enjoyment of this important territorial right,
+the committee recommend that it be resolved by the senate--
+
+"That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is
+requested to cause to be communicated to the executive of the state of
+Kentucky,[22] such part of the existing negotiation between the United
+States and Spain relative to this subject, as he may deem adviseable,
+and consistent with the course of the negotiation."
+
+     [Footnote 22: Two months previous to the passage of this
+     resolution, the secretary of state had, by direction of the
+     President, given the governor the most solemn assurances on
+     this point.]
+
+In the house of representatives also, a resolution was passed,
+expressing the conviction of the house, that the executive was urging
+the claim of the United States to the navigation of the Mississippi,
+in the manner most likely to prove successful.
+
+Had the measures pursued in the western country been dictated,
+exclusively, by a wish to obtain an important good, these resolutions
+would have allayed the ferment which had been excited. The effect
+which must be produced on Spain by the insinuation that the
+continuance of their connexion with the Atlantic states depended on
+obtaining the object they sought, was too apparent to escape the
+notice of men endowed with an ordinary share of intelligence. But when
+the real motives for human action are latent, it is vain to
+demonstrate the unreasonableness of those which are avowed.
+
+After the reception of these resolutions, a number of the principal
+citizens from various parts of Kentucky assembled at Lexington, and
+among many intemperate resolutions passed the following:
+
+[Sidenote: Intemperate resolutions of the people of that state.]
+
+"That the general government whose duty it was to put us in possession
+of this right (the navigation of the Mississippi) have, either through
+design or mistaken policy, adopted no effectual measures for its
+attainment.
+
+"That even the measures they have adopted, have been uniformly
+concealed from us, and veiled in mysterious secrecy.
+
+"That civil liberty is prostituted, when the servants of the people
+are suffered to tell their masters, that communications which they may
+judge important ought not to be intrusted to them."
+
+These resolutions concluded with a recommendation of county meetings,
+of county committees of correspondence, and of a convention when it
+might be judged expedient, to deliberate on the proper steps for the
+attainment and security of their just rights.
+
+To estimate these resolutions accurately, it will be necessary to view
+in connexion with them, the military preparations which were making in
+that country, under the authority of France.
+
+In October, 1793, it was alleged by the Spanish commissioners, that
+four Frenchmen had left Philadelphia, empowered by the minister of the
+French republic to prepare an expedition, in Kentucky, against New
+Orleans. This fact was immediately communicated by Mr. Jefferson to
+the governor of that state, with a request that he would use those
+means of prevention which the law enabled him to employ. Binding to
+good behaviour was particularly recommended. This letter was
+accompanied by one from the secretary of war, conveying the request of
+the President, that, if preventive means should fail, effectual
+military force should be employed to arrest the expedition; and
+General Wayne was ordered to hold a body of troops at the disposal of
+the governor, should he find the militia insufficient for his purpose.
+
+The governor had already received information, that a citizen of
+Kentucky was in possession of a commission appointing him
+Commander-in-chief of the proposed expedition; and that the Frenchmen
+alluded to in the letter of Mr. Jefferson, had arrived, and, far from
+affecting concealment declared, that they only waited for money which
+they expected soon to receive, in order to commence their operations.
+
+The following extract of a letter from the governor, on this subject,
+exhibits a curious specimen of the conclusions to which gentlemen were
+conducted by the course of political reasoning which prevailed at the
+day.
+
+After stating the facts above alluded to, he says, "I have great
+doubts, even if they do attempt to carry their plan into execution,
+(provided they manage their business with prudence,) whether there is
+any legal authority to restrain or punish them, at least before they
+have actually accomplished it. For if it is lawful for any one citizen
+of this state to leave it, it is equally so for any number of them to
+do it. It is also lawful to carry with them any quantity of
+provisions, arms, and ammunition; and if the act is lawful in itself,
+there is nothing but the particular intention with which it is done
+that can possibly make it unlawful. But I know of no law which
+inflicts a punishment on intention only; or any criterion by which to
+decide what would be sufficient evidence of that intention, if it was
+a proper subject for legal censure.
+
+"I shall, upon all occasions, be averse to the exercise of any power
+which I do not consider myself as clearly and explicitly invested
+with, much less would I assume power to exercise it against men whom I
+consider as friends and brethren, in favour of a man whom I view as an
+enemy and a tyrant. I shall also feel but little inclination to take
+an active part in punishing or restraining any of my fellow citizens
+for a supposed intrusion only, to gratify or remove the fears of the
+minister or a prince who openly withholds from us an invaluable right,
+and who secretly instigates against us a most savage and cruel enemy."
+
+Upon the receipt of this extraordinary letter, the President directed
+General Wayne to establish a military post at Fort Massac, on the
+Ohio, for the purpose of stopping by force, if peaceful means should
+fail, any body of armed men who should be proceeding down that river.
+
+This precaution appears to have been necessary. The preparations for
+the expedition were, for some time, carried on with considerable
+activity; and there is reason to believe that it was not absolutely
+relinquished, until Spain ceased to be the enemy of France.[23]
+
+     [Footnote 23: Intercepted letters were laid before the
+     President, showing that this expedition had been
+     communicated to some members of the national convention and
+     approved. It was stated that Mr. Genet, with the rank of
+     major general, was to be Commander-in-chief of all forces
+     raised on the American continent, and to direct their
+     movements.]
+
+The proceedings of the legislature of South Carolina embarrassed those
+who had planned the invasion of the Floridas, but did not entirely
+disconcert them. In April, a French sloop of war arrived on the
+confines of Georgia and East Florida, with a small body of troops, who
+were landed on one of the islands on the coast, south of the St. Mary,
+and who declared themselves to be part of a larger force, which might
+soon be expected. Upon their arrival, several small corps of Americans
+who had engaged to serve the republic of France, assembled in Georgia,
+for the purpose, as was universally understood, of co-operating with
+the French against the neighbouring dominions of Spain.
+
+The interposition of government, and the inadequacy of the force to
+the object, disconcerted this expedition. Its leader conducted his
+followers into the Indian country, and endeavoured to make a
+settlement on their hunting grounds.
+
+While these turbulent scenes were acting, the loud plaudits of France,
+which were dictated by a passionate devotion to that country, were
+reechoed from every part of the American continent. The friendship of
+that republic for the United States, her respect for their rights, the
+ingratitude with which her continuing benefits were repaid, the
+injustice done her by the executive, its tameness under British
+insults, were the inexhaustible themes of loud, angry, and unceasing
+declamation. It required a firmness of mind, and a weight of character
+possessed only by the chief magistrate, to maintain the ground he had
+taken, against such an assemblage of passions and of prejudices.
+
+It will be recollected that in the preceding year, the attempt to
+treat with the hostile Indians had suspended the operations of General
+Wayne until the season for action had nearly passed away. After the
+total failure of negotiation, the campaign was opened with as much
+vigour as a prudent attention to circumstances would permit.
+
+The Indians had expected an attempt upon their villages, and had
+collected in full force, with the apparent determination of risking a
+battle in their defence. A battle was desired by the American general;
+but the consequences of another defeat were too serious to warrant him
+in putting more to hazard by precipitate movements, than the
+circumstances of the war required. The negotiations with the Indians
+were not terminated till September, and it was then too late to
+complete the preparations which would enable General Wayne to enter
+their country and to hold it. He, therefore, contented himself with
+collecting his army and penetrating about six miles in advance of Fort
+Jefferson into the uninhabited country, where he established himself
+for the winter, in a camp called Greensville. After fortifying his
+camp, he took possession of the ground on which the Americans had been
+defeated in 1791, where he erected Fort Recovery. These positions
+afforded considerable protection to the frontiers, and facilitated the
+opening of the ensuing campaign.
+
+Seeing only the dark side of every measure adopted by the government,
+and not disinclined to militia expeditions made at the expense of the
+United States, the people of Kentucky loudly charged the President
+with a total disregard of their safety, pronounced the continental
+troops entirely useless, declared that the Indians were to be kept in
+awe alone by militia, and insisted that the power should be deposited
+with some person in their state, to call them out at his discretion,
+at the charge of the United States.
+
+Meanwhile, some steps were taken by the governor of Upper Canada which
+were well calculated to increase suspicions respecting the
+dispositions of Great Britain.
+
+It was believed by the President, not without cause,[24] that the
+cabinet of London was disposed to avail itself of the non-execution of
+that article of the treaty of peace, which stipulates for the payment
+of debts, to justify a permanent detention of the posts on the
+southern side of the great lakes, and to establish a new boundary
+line, whereby those lakes should be entirely comprehended in Upper
+Canada. Early in the spring, a detachment from the garrison of Detroit
+repossessed and fortified a position near fifty miles south of that
+station, on the Miamis of the lakes, a river which empties into Lake
+Erie at its westernmost point.
+
+     [Footnote 24: See note No. IX. at the end of the volume.]
+
+This movement, the speech of Lord Dorchester, and other facts which
+strengthened the belief that the hostile Indians were at least
+countenanced by the English, were the subjects of a correspondence
+between the secretary of state and Mr. Hammond, in which crimination
+was answered by recrimination, in which a considerable degree of
+mutual irritation was displayed, and in which each supported his
+charges against the nation of the other, much better than he defended
+his own. It did not, however, in any manner, affect the operations of
+the army.
+
+The delays inseparable from the transportation of necessary supplies
+through an uninhabited country, infested by an active enemy peculiarly
+skilled in partisan war, unavoidably protracted the opening of the
+campaign until near midsummer. Meanwhile, several sharp skirmishes
+took place, in one of which a few white men were stated to be mingled
+with the Indians.
+
+On the 8th of August, General Wayne reached the confluence of the Au
+Glaize and the Miamis of the lakes, where he threw up some works of
+defence, and protection for magazines. The richest and most extensive
+settlements of the western Indians lay about this place.
+
+The mouth of the Au Glaize is distant about thirty miles from the post
+occupied by the British on the Miamis of the lakes, in the vicinity of
+which the whole strength of the enemy, amounting, according to
+intelligence on which General Wayne relied, to rather less than two
+thousand men, was collected. The continental legion was not much
+inferior in number to the Indians: and a reinforcement of about eleven
+hundred mounted militia from Kentucky, commanded by General Scott,
+gave a decided superiority of strength to the army of Wayne. That the
+Indians had determined to give him battle was well understood; and the
+discipline of his legion, the ardour of all his troops, and the
+superiority of his numbers, authorized him confidently to expect a
+favourable issue. Yet, in pursuance of that policy by which the United
+States had been uniformly actuated, he determined to make one more
+effort for the attainment of peace without bloodshed. Messengers were
+despatched to the several hostile tribes who were assembled in his
+front, inviting them to appoint deputies to meet him on his march, in
+order to negotiate a lasting peace.
+
+On the 15th of August, the American army advanced down the Miamis,
+with its right covered by that river; and on the 18th, arrived at the
+rapids. Here they halted on the 19th, in order to erect a temporary
+work for the protection of the baggage, and to reconnoitre the
+situation of the enemy.
+
+The Indians were advantageously posted behind a thick wood, and behind
+the British fort.
+
+[Sidenote: General Wayne defeats the Indians at the Miamis.]
+
+At eight in the morning of the 20th, the American army advanced in
+columns: the legion with its right flank covered by the Miamis: One
+brigade of mounted volunteers commanded by General Todd was on the
+left; and the other under General Barbee was in the rear. A select
+battalion, commanded by Major Price, moved in front of the legion,
+sufficiently in advance to give timely notice for the troops to form
+in case of action.[25]
+
+     [Footnote 25: An evasive answer having been returned to the
+     pacific overture made from the Au Glaize, General Wayne was
+     uncertain whether the Indians had decided for peace or war.]
+
+After marching about five miles, Major Price received a heavy fire
+from a concealed enemy, and was compelled to retreat.
+
+The Indians had chosen their ground with judgment. They had advanced
+into the thick wood in front of the British works which extends
+several miles west from the Miamis, and had taken a position, rendered
+almost inaccessible to horse by a quantity of fallen timber which
+appeared to have been blown up in a tornado. They were formed in three
+lines, within supporting distance of each other; and, as is their
+custom, with a very extended front. Their line stretched to the west,
+at right angles with the river, about two miles; and their immediate
+effort was to turn the left flank of the American army.
+
+On the discharge of the first rifle, the legion was formed in two
+lines, and the front was ordered to advance with trailed arms, and
+rouse the enemy from his covert at the point of the bayonet; then, and
+not until then, to deliver a fire, and to press the fugitives too
+closely to allow them time to load after discharging their pieces.
+Soon perceiving the strength of the enemy in front, and that he was
+endeavouring to turn the American left, the general ordered the second
+line to support the first. The legion cavalry, led by Captain
+Campbell, was directed to penetrate between the Indians and the river,
+where the wood was less thick and entangled, in order to charge their
+left flank; and General Scott, at the head of the mounted volunteers,
+was directed to make a considerable circuit, and to turn their right
+flank.
+
+These orders were executed with spirit and promptitude; but such was
+the impetuosity of the charge made by the first line of infantry, so
+entirely was the enemy broken by it, and so rapid was the pursuit,
+that only a small part of the second line and of the mounted
+volunteers could get into the action. In the course of one hour, the
+Indians were driven more than two miles, through thick woods; when the
+pursuit terminated within gun shot of the British fort.
+
+General Wayne remained three days on the banks of the Miamis, in front
+of the field of battle, during which time the houses and cornfields
+above and below the fort, some of them within pistol shot of it, were
+reduced to ashes. During these operations, a correspondence took place
+between General Wayne and Major Campbell, the commandant of the fort,
+which is stated by the former in such a manner as to show, that
+hostilities between them were avoided only by the prudent acquiescence
+of the latter in this devastation of property within the range of his
+guns.
+
+On the 28th, the army returned to Au Glaize by easy marches,
+destroying on its route all the villages and corn within fifty miles
+of the river.
+
+In this decisive battle, the loss of the Americans, in killed and
+wounded, amounted to one hundred and seven, including officers. Among
+the dead was Captain Campbell, who commanded the cavalry, and
+Lieutenant Towles of the infantry, both of whom fell in the first
+charge. General Wayne bestowed great and well merited praise on the
+courage and alacrity displayed by every part of the army.
+
+The hostility of the Indians still continuing, their whole country was
+laid waste, and forts were erected in the heart of their settlements,
+to prevent their return.
+
+This seasonable victory rescued the United States from a general war
+with all the Indians north-west of the Ohio. The Six Nations had
+discovered a restless uneasy temper; and the interposition of the
+President, to prevent a settlement which Pennsylvania was about to
+make at Presqueisle, seemed rather to suspend the commencement of
+hostilities, than to establish permanent pacific dispositions among
+those tribes. The battle of the 20th of August, however, had an
+immediate effect; and the clouds which had been long gathering in that
+quarter, were instantly dissipated.
+
+In the south too, its influence was felt. In that quarter, the
+inhabitants of Georgia and the Indians seemed equally disposed to war.
+Scarcely was the feeble authority of the government competent to
+restrain the aggressions of the former, or the dread of its force
+sufficient to repress those of the latter. In this doubtful state of
+things, the effect of a victory could not be inconsiderable.
+
+About this time, the seditious and violent resistance to the execution
+of the law imposing duties on spirits distilled within the United
+States, had advanced to a point in the counties of Pennsylvania lying
+west of the Alleghany mountains, which required the decisive
+interposition of government.
+
+[Sidenote: Insurrection in the Western parts of Pennsylvania.]
+
+Notwithstanding the multiplied outrages committed on the persons and
+property of the revenue officers, and of those who seemed willing to
+submit to the law, yet, in consequence of a steady adherence to the
+system of counteraction adopted by the executive, it was visibly
+gaining ground, and several distillers in the disaffected country were
+induced to comply with its requisites. The opinion, that the
+persevering efforts of the administration would ultimately prevail,
+derived additional support from the passage of an act by the present
+congress, containing those provisions which had been suggested by the
+chief of the treasury department. The progress of this bill, which
+became a law on the fifth of June, could not have been unknown to the
+malcontents, nor could its probable operation have been misunderstood.
+They perceived that the certain loss of a market for the article,
+added to the penalties to which delinquents were liable, might
+gradually induce a compliance on the part of distillers, unless they
+could, by a systematic and organized opposition, deprive the
+government of the means it employed for carrying the law into
+execution.
+
+On the part of the executive, this open defiance of the laws, and of
+the authority of the government, was believed imperiously to require,
+that the strength and efficacy of those laws should be tried. Against
+the perpetrators of some of the outrages which had been committed,
+bills of indictment had been found in a court of the United States,
+upon which process was directed to issue; and at the same time,
+process was also issued against a great number of non-complying
+distillers.
+
+The marshal repaired in person to the country which was the scene of
+these disorders, for the purpose of serving the processes. On the 15th
+of July, while in the execution of his duty, he was beset on the road
+by a body of armed men, who fired on him, but fortunately did him no
+personal injury. At daybreak, the ensuing morning, a party attacked
+the house of General Nevil, the inspector; but he defended himself
+resolutely, and obliged the assailants to retreat.
+
+Knowing well that this attack had been preconcerted, and apprehending
+that it would be repeated, he applied to the militia officers and
+magistrates of the county for protection. The answer was, that "owing
+to the too general combination of the people to oppose the revenue
+system, the laws could not be executed so as to afford him protection:
+that should the _posse comitatus_ be ordered out to support the civil
+authority, they would favour the party of the rioters."
+
+On the succeeding day, the insurgents re-assembled to the number of
+about five hundred, to renew their attack on the house of the
+inspector. That officer, finding that no protection could be afforded
+by the civil authority, had applied to the commanding officer at Fort
+Pitt, and had obtained a detachment of eleven men from that garrison,
+who were joined by Major Kirkpatrick. Successful resistance to so
+great a force being obviously impracticable, a parley took place, at
+which the assailants, after requiring that the inspector[26] and all
+his papers should be delivered up, demanded that the party in the
+house should march out and ground their arms. This being refused, the
+parley terminated, and the assault commenced. The action lasted until
+the assailants set fire to several adjacent buildings, the heat from
+which was so intense that the house could no longer be occupied. From
+this cause, and from the apprehension that the fire would soon be
+communicated to the main building, Major Kirkpatrick and his party
+surrendered themselves.
+
+     [Footnote 26: The inspector had left the house and secreted
+     himself. The demand of the papers was acceded to.]
+
+The marshal and Colonel Pressly Nevil were seized on their way to
+General Nevil's house, and detained until two the next morning. The
+marshal, especially, was treated with extreme rudeness. His life was
+frequently threatened, and was probably saved by the interposition of
+some leading individuals who possessed more humanity, or more
+prudence, than those with whom they were associated. He could obtain
+his liberty only by entering into a solemn engagement, which was
+guaranteed by Colonel Nevil, to serve no more process on the western
+side of the Alleghany mountains.
+
+The marshal and inspector having both retired to Pittsburg, the
+insurgents deputed two of their body, one of whom was a justice of the
+peace, to demand that the former should surrender all his process, and
+that the latter should resign his office; threatening, in case of
+refusal, to attack the place, and seize their persons. These demands
+were not acceded to; but Pittsburg affording no security, these
+officers escaped from the danger which threatened them, by descending
+the Ohio; after which, they found their way by a circuitous route to
+the seat of government.
+
+The perpetrators of these treasonable practices, being desirous to
+ascertain their strength, and to discover any latent enemies who might
+remain unsuspected in the bosom of the disaffected country, despatched
+a party which stopped the mail from Pittsburg to Philadelphia, cut it
+open, and took out the letters which it contained. In some of these
+letters, a direct disapprobation of the violent measures which had
+been adopted was avowed; and in others, expressions were used which
+indicated unfriendly dispositions towards them. Upon acquiring this
+intelligence, delegates were deputed from the town of Washington to
+Pittsburg, where the writers of the offensive letters resided, to
+demand the banishment of the offenders. A prompt obedience to this
+demand was unavoidable; and the inhabitants of Pittsburg, who were
+convened on the occasion, engaged to attend a general meeting of the
+people, who were to assemble the next day in Braddock's field, in
+order to carry into effect such further measures as might be deemed
+adviseable with respect to the excise and its friends. They also
+determined to elect delegates to a convention which was to meet, on
+the 14th of August, at Parkinson's ferry. The avowed motives to these
+outrages were to compel the resignation of all officers engaged in the
+collection of the duties on distilled spirits; to withstand by force
+of arms the authority of the United States; and thereby to extort a
+repeal of the law imposing those duties, and an alteration in the
+conduct of government.
+
+Affidavits attesting this serious state of things were laid before the
+President.
+
+The opposition had now reached to a point which seemed to forbid the
+continuance of a temporizing system. The efforts at conciliation,
+which, for more than three years, the government had persisted to
+make, and the alterations repeatedly introduced into the act for the
+purpose of rendering it less exceptionable, instead of diminishing the
+arrogance of those who opposed their will to the sense of the nation,
+had drawn forth sentiments indicative of designs much deeper than the
+evasion of a single act. The execution of the laws had at length been
+resisted by open force, and a determination to persevere in these
+measures was unequivocally avowed. The alternative of subduing this
+resistance, or of submitting to it was presented to the government.
+
+The act of congress which provided for calling forth the militia "to
+execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections, and repel
+invasions," required as a pre-requisite to the exercise of this power,
+"that an associate justice, or the judge of the district, should
+certify that the laws of the United States were opposed, or their
+execution obstructed, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by
+the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested
+in the marshals." In the same act it was provided, "that if the
+militia of the state, where such combinations may happen, shall
+refuse, or be insufficient, to suppress the same, the President may
+employ the militia of other states."
+
+The evidence which had been transmitted to the President was laid
+before one of the associate justices, who gave the certificate, which
+enabled the chief magistrate to employ the militia in aid of the civil
+power.
+
+The executive being now authorized to adopt such measures as the
+crisis might require, the subject was again seriously considered in
+the cabinet; and the governor of Pennsylvania was also consulted
+respecting it. To avoid military coercion, if obedience to the laws
+could be produced by other means, was the universal wish; and
+therefore, all concurred in advising the appointment of commissioners
+from the governments of both the union, and the state, who should warn
+the deluded insurgents of the impending danger, and should convey a
+full pardon for past offences, upon the condition of future
+submission. But, respecting ulterior and eventual measures, a
+difference of opinion prevailed. The act already mentioned, made it
+the duty of the President, previous to the employment of military
+force, to issue his proclamation, commanding the insurgents to
+disperse within a limited time. The secretary of state (and the
+governor of Pennsylvania is understood to have concurred with him) was
+of opinion, that this conciliatory mission should be unaccompanied by
+any measure which might wear the appearance of coercion. He was
+alarmed at the strength of the insurgents, at their connexion with
+other parts of the country, at the extensive-ness of the prevailing
+discontents with the administration, and at the difficulty and expense
+of bringing the militia into the field. The governor of Pennsylvania
+having declared his opinion, that the militia of that state, who could
+be drawn forth, would be incompetent to enforce obedience, the aid of
+the neighbouring states would consequently be necessary. The secretary
+of state feared that the militia of the neighbouring states would
+refuse to march; and that, should he be mistaken in this, their
+compliance with the orders of the executive might be not less fatal
+than their disobedience. The introduction of a foreign militia into
+Pennsylvania might greatly increase the discontents prevailing in that
+state. His apprehensions of a failure, in the attempt to restore
+tranquillity by coercive means, were extreme; and the tremendous
+consequences of a failure were strongly depicted. From the highly
+inflamed state of parties, he anticipated a civil war, which would
+pervade the whole union, and drench every part of it with the blood of
+American citizens.
+
+The secretary of the treasury, the secretary of war, and the attorney
+general, were of opinion that the President was bound by the most high
+and solemn obligations to employ the force which the legislature had
+placed at his disposal, for the suppression of a criminal and
+unprovoked insurrection. The case contemplated by congress had clearly
+occurred; and the President was urged by considerations the most
+awful, to perform the duty imposed on him by the constitution, of
+providing "that the laws be faithfully executed." The long forbearance
+of government, and its patient endeavours to recall the deluded people
+to a sense of their duty and interest by appeals to their reason, had
+produced only increase of violence, and a more determined opposition.
+Perseverance in that system could only give a more extensive range to
+disaffection, and multiply the dangers resulting from it.
+
+Those who were of opinion that the occasion demanded a full trial of
+the ability of the government to enforce obedience to the laws, were
+also of opinion, that policy and humanity equally dictated the
+employment of a force which would render resistance desperate. The
+insurgent country contained sixteen thousand men able to bear arms;
+and the computation was, that they could bring seven thousand into the
+field. If the army of the government should amount to twelve thousand
+men, it would present an imposing force which the insurgents would not
+venture to meet.
+
+It was impossible that the President could hesitate to embrace the
+latter of these opinions. That a government entrusted to him should be
+trampled under foot by a lawless section of the union, which set at
+defiance the will of the nation, as expressed by its representatives,
+was an abasement to which neither his judgment nor his feelings could
+submit. He resolved, therefore, to issue the proclamation, which, by
+law, was to precede the employment of force.
+
+On the same day, a requisition was made on the governors of New
+Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, for their several quotas
+of militia to compose an army of twelve thousand[27] men; who were to
+be immediately organized, and prepared to march at a minute's warning.
+
+     [Footnote 27: This requisition was afterwards augmented to
+     fifteen thousand.]
+
+While steps were taking to bring this force into the field, a last
+essay was made to render its employment unnecessary. Three
+distinguished and popular citizens of Pennsylvania were deputed by the
+government to be the bearers of a general amnesty for past offences,
+on the sole condition of future obedience to the laws.
+
+It having been deemed adviseable that the executive of the state
+should act in concert with that of the United States, Governor Mifflin
+also issued a proclamation, and appointed commissioners to act with
+those of the general government.
+
+Meanwhile, the insurgents omitted nothing which might enlarge the
+circle of disaffection. Attempts were made to embark the adjacent
+counties of Virginia in their cause, and their violence was extended
+to Morgantown, at which place an inspector resided, who saved himself
+by flight, and protected his property by advertising on his own door
+that he had resigned his office. They also made similar excursions
+into the contiguous counties of Pennsylvania, lying east of the
+Alleghany mountains, where numbers were ready to join them. These
+deluded men, giving too much faith to the publications of democratic
+societies, and to the furious sentiments of general hostility to the
+administration, and particularly to the internal taxes, with which the
+papers in the opposition abounded, seem to have entertained the
+opinion, that the great body of the people were ready to take up arms
+against their government, and that the resistance commenced by them
+would spread throughout the union, and terminate in a revolution.
+
+The convention at Parkinson's ferry had appointed a committee of
+safety consisting of sixty members, who chose fifteen of their body to
+confer with the commissioners of the United States, and of the state
+of Pennsylvania. This committee of conference was not empowered to
+conclude on any thing. They could only receive and report the
+propositions which might be made to them.
+
+Men of property and intelligence, who had contributed to kindle the
+flame under the common error of being able to regulate its heat, now
+trembled at the extent of the conflagration. It had passed the limits
+they had assigned to it, and was no longer subject to their control.
+
+The committee of conference expressed themselves unanimously in favour
+of accepting the terms offered by the government, and exerted
+themselves in the committee of safety to obtain a decision to the same
+effect. In that committee, the question whether they would submit
+peaceably to the execution of the law, retaining expressly the
+privilege of using all constitutional means to effect its repeal, was
+debated with great zeal. The less violent party carried it by a small
+majority; but, not thinking themselves authorized to decide for their
+constituents on so momentous a question, they afterwards resolved that
+it should be referred to the people.
+
+This reference resulted in demonstrating that, though many were
+disposed to demean themselves peaceably, yet a vast mass of opposition
+remained, determined to obstruct the re-establishment of civil
+authority.
+
+From some causes, among which was disaffection to the particular
+service, the prospect of bringing the quota of troops required from
+Pennsylvania into the field, was at first unpromising. But the
+assembly, which had been summoned by the governor to meet on the first
+of September, expressed in strong terms its abhorrence of this daring
+attempt to resist the laws, and to subvert the government of the
+country; and a degree of ardour and unanimity was displayed by the
+people of other states, which exceeded the hopes of the most sanguine
+friends of the administration. Some feeble attempts were indeed made
+to produce a disobedience to the requisition of the President, by
+declaring that the people would never be made the instruments of the
+secretary of the treasury to shed the blood of their fellow citizens;
+that the representatives of the people ought to be assembled before a
+civil war was commenced; and by avowing the extravagant opinion that
+the President could not lawfully call forth the militia of any other
+state, until actual experiment had ascertained the insufficiency of
+that of Pennsylvania. But these insidious suggestions were silenced by
+the general sense of the nation, which loudly and strongly proclaimed
+that the government and laws must be supported. The officers displayed
+an unexampled activity; and intelligence from every quarter gave full
+assurance that, with respect to both numbers and time, the
+requisitions of the President would be punctually observed.
+
+The governor of Pennsylvania compensated for the defects in the
+militia law of that state by his personal exertions. From some
+inadvertence, as was said, on the part of the brigade inspectors, the
+militia could not be drafted, and consequently the quota of
+Pennsylvania could be completed only by volunteers. The governor, who
+was endowed with a high degree of popular elocution, made a circuit
+through the lower counties of the state, and publicly addressed the
+militia, at different places where he had caused them to be assembled,
+on the crisis in the affairs of their country. So successful were
+these animating exhortations, that Pennsylvania was not behind her
+sister states in furnishing the quota required from her.
+
+On the 25th of September, the President issued a second proclamation,
+describing in terms of great energy the obstinate and perverse spirit
+with which the lenient propositions of the government had been
+received; and declaring his fixed determination, in obedience to the
+high and irresistible duty consigned to him by the constitution, "to
+take care that the laws be faithfully executed," to reduce the
+refractory to obedience.
+
+The troops of New Jersey and Pennsylvania were directed to rendezvous
+at Bedford, and those of Maryland and Virginia at Cumberland, on the
+Potomac.[28] The command of the expedition had been conferred on
+Governor Lee of Virginia; and the governors of New Jersey and
+Pennsylvania commanded the militia of their respective states under
+him.
+
+     [Footnote 28: The spirit of disaffection was rapidly
+     spreading, and had it not been checked by this vigorous
+     exertion of the powers of the government, it would be
+     difficult to say what might have been its extent. Even while
+     the militia were assembling, it broke out in more than one
+     county in Pennsylvania, and showed itself in a part of
+     Maryland.]
+
+The President, in person, visited each division of the army; but,
+being confident that the force employed must look down all resistance,
+he left the secretary of the treasury to accompany it, and returned
+himself to Philadelphia, where the approaching session of congress
+required his presence.
+
+[Sidenote: Quelled by the prompt and vigorous measures of the
+government.]
+
+From Cumberland and Bedford, the army marched in two divisions into
+the country of the insurgents. The greatness of the force prevented
+the effusion of blood. The disaffected did not venture to assemble in
+arms. Several of the leaders who had refused to give assurances of
+future submission to the laws were seized, and some of them detained
+for legal prosecution.
+
+But although no direct and open opposition was made, the spirit of
+insurrection was not subdued. A sour and malignant temper displayed
+itself, which indicated, but too plainly, that the disposition to
+resist had only sunk under the pressure of the great military force
+brought into the country, but would rise again should that force be
+withdrawn. It was, therefore, thought adviseable to station for the
+winter, a detachment to be commanded by Major General Morgan, in the
+centre of the disaffected country.
+
+Thus, without shedding a drop of blood, did the prudent vigour of the
+executive terminate an insurrection, which, at one time, threatened to
+shake the government of the United States to its foundation. That so
+perverse a spirit should have been excited in the bosom of prosperity,
+without the pressure of a single grievance, is among those political
+phenomena which occur not unfrequently in the course of human affairs,
+and which the statesman can never safely disregard. When real ills are
+felt, there is something positive and perceptible to which the
+judgment may be directed, the actual extent of which may be
+ascertained, and the cause of which may be discerned. But when the
+mind, inflamed by supposititious dangers, gives a full loose to the
+imagination, and fastens upon some object with which to disturb
+itself, the belief that the danger exists seems to become a matter of
+faith, with which reason combats in vain. Under a government emanating
+entirely from the people, and with an administration whose sole object
+was their happiness, the public mind was violently agitated with
+apprehensions of a powerful and secret combination against liberty,
+which was to discover itself by the total overthrow of the republican
+system. That those who were charged with these designs were as
+destitute of the means, as of the will to effect them, did not shake
+the firm belief of their existence. Disregarding the apparent
+partiality of the administration for France, so far as that partiality
+was compatible with an honest neutrality, the zealots of the day
+ascribed its incessant labours for the preservation of peace, to a
+temper hostile to the French republic; and, while themselves loudly
+imprecating the vengeance of heaven and earth on one of the
+belligerents, and openly rejoicing in the victories of the other;
+while impetuously rushing into a war with Britain, and pressing
+measures which would render accommodation impracticable; they
+attributed a system calculated to check them in this furious career,
+not to that genuine American spirit which produced it, but to an
+influence which, so far as opinions are to depend on facts, has at no
+time insinuated itself into the councils of the United States.
+
+In popular governments, the resentments, the suspicions, and the
+disgusts, produced in the legislature by warm debate, and the chagrin
+of defeat; by the desire of gaining, or the fear of losing power; and
+which are created by personal views among the leaders of parties, will
+infallibly extend to the body of the nation. Not only will those
+causes of dissatisfaction be urged which really operate on the minds
+of intelligent men, but every instrument will be seized which can
+effect the purpose, and the passions will be inflamed by whatever may
+serve to irritate them. Among the multiplied evils generated by
+faction, it is perhaps not the least, that it has a tendency to
+abolish all distinction between virtue and vice; and to prostrate
+those barriers which the wise and good have erected for the protection
+of morals, and which are defended solely by opinion. The victory of
+the party becomes the great object; and, too often, all measures are
+deemed right or wrong, as they tend to promote or impede it. The
+attainment of the end is considered as the supreme good, and the
+detestable doctrine is adopted that the end will justify the means.
+The mind, habituated to the extenuation of acts of moral turpitude,
+becomes gradually contaminated, and loses that delicate sensibility
+which instinctively inspires horror for vice, and respect for virtue.
+
+In the intemperate abuse which was cast on the principal measures of
+the government, and on those who supported them; in the violence with
+which the discontents of the opponents to those measures were
+expressed; and especially in the denunciations which were uttered
+against them by the democratic societies; the friends of the
+administration searched for the causes of that criminal attempt which
+had been made in the western parts of Pennsylvania, to oppose the will
+of the nation by force of arms. Had those misguided men believed that
+this opposition was to be confined within their own narrow limits,
+they could not have been so mad, or so weak as to have engaged in it.
+
+The ideas of the President on this subject were freely given to
+several of his confidential friends. "The _real people_" he said,
+"occasionally assembled in order to express their sentiments on
+political subjects, ought never to be confounded with permanent
+self-appointed societies, usurping the right to control the
+constituted authorities, and to dictate to public opinion. While the
+former was entitled to respect, the latter was incompatible with all
+government, and must either sink into general disesteem, or finally
+overturn the established order of things."
+
+[Sidenote: Meeting of congress.]
+
+In his speech, at the opening of congress, the President detailed at
+considerable length the progress of opposition to the laws, the means
+employed both by the legislature and executive to appease the
+discontents which had been fomented,[29] and the measures which he had
+finally taken to reduce the refractory to submission.
+
+     [Footnote 29: The impression, he said, made by this
+     moderation on the discontented, did not correspond with what
+     it deserved. The acts of delusion were no longer confined to
+     the efforts of designing individuals. The very forbearance
+     to press prosecutions was misinterpreted into a fear of
+     urging the execution of the laws, and associations of men
+     began to denounce threats against the officers employed.
+     From a belief that by a more formal concert their operations
+     might be defeated, certain self-created societies assumed
+     the tone of condemnation.]
+
+As Commander-in-chief of the militia when called into actual service,
+he had, he said, visited the places of general rendezvous, to obtain
+more correct information, and to direct a plan for ulterior movements.
+Had there been room for a persuasion that the laws were secure from
+obstruction, he should have caught with avidity at the opportunity of
+restoring the militia to their families and homes. But succeeding
+intelligence had tended to manifest the necessity of what had been
+done, it being now confessed by those who were not inclined to
+exaggerate the ill conduct of the insurgents, that their malevolence
+was not pointed merely to a particular law; but that a spirit inimical
+to all order had actuated many of the offenders.
+
+After bestowing a high encomium on the alacrity and promptitude with
+which persons in every station had come forward to assert the dignity
+of the laws, thereby furnishing an additional proof that they
+understood the true principles of government and liberty, and felt
+their inseparable union; he added--
+
+[Sidenote: Democratic societies.]
+
+"To every description indeed of citizens, let praise be given. But let
+them persevere in their affectionate vigilance over that precious
+depository of American happiness,--the constitution of the United
+States. And when in the calm moments of reflection, they shall have
+retraced the origin and progress of the insurrection, let them
+determine whether it has not been fomented by combinations of men,
+who, careless of consequences, and disregarding the unerring truth
+that those who rouse can not always appease a civil convulsion, have
+disseminated, from an ignorance or perversion of facts, suspicions,
+jealousies, and accusations of the whole government."
+
+The President could not omit this fair occasion, once more to press on
+congress a subject which had always been near his heart. After
+mentioning the defectiveness of the existing system, he said--
+
+"The devising and establishing of a well regulated militia, would be a
+genuine source of legislative honour, and a perfect title to public
+gratitude. I therefore entertain a hope that the present session will
+not pass without carrying to its full energy the power of organizing,
+arming, and disciplining the militia; and thus providing, in the
+language of the constitution, for calling them forth to execute the
+laws of the union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions."
+
+After mentioning the intelligence from the army under the command of
+General Wayne, and the state of Indian affairs, he again called the
+attention of the house of representatives to a subject scarcely less
+interesting than a system of defence against external and internal
+violence.
+
+"The time," he said, "which has elapsed since the commencement of our
+fiscal measures, has developed our pecuniary resources, so as to open
+the way for a definitive plan for the redemption of the public debt.
+It is believed that the result is such as to encourage congress to
+consummate this work without delay. Nothing can more promote the
+permanent welfare of the union, and nothing would be more grateful to
+our constituents. Indeed, whatever is unfinished of our system of
+public credit, can not be benefited by procrastination; and, as far as
+may be practicable, we ought to place that credit on grounds which can
+not be disturbed, and to prevent that progressive accumulation of debt
+which must ultimately endanger all governments."
+
+He referred to subsequent communications for certain circumstances
+attending the intercourse of the United States with foreign nations.
+"However," he added, "it may not be unseasonable to announce that my
+policy in our foreign transactions has been, to cultivate peace with
+all the world; to observe treaties with pure and inviolate faith; to
+check every deviation from the line of impartiality; to explain what
+may have been misapprehended; and correct what may have been injurious
+to any nation; and having thus acquired the right, to lose no time in
+acquiring the ability, to insist upon justice being done to
+ourselves."
+
+In the senate, an answer was reported which contained the following
+clause:
+
+"Our anxiety, arising from the licentious and open resistance to the
+laws in the western counties of Pennsylvania, has been increased by
+the proceedings of certain self-created societies relative to the laws
+and administration of the government; proceedings, in our
+apprehension, founded in political error, calculated, if not intended,
+to disorganize our government, and which, by inspiring delusive hopes
+of support, have been instrumental in misleading our fellow citizens
+in the scene of insurrection."
+
+The address proceeded to express the most decided approbation of the
+conduct of the President in relation to the insurgents; and, after
+noticing the different parts of the speech, concluded with saying--
+
+"At a period so momentous in the affairs of nations, the temperate,
+just, and firm policy that you have pursued in respect to foreign
+powers, has been eminently calculated to promote the great and
+essential interest of our country, and has created the fairest title
+to the public gratitude and thanks."
+
+To this unequivocal approbation of the policy adopted by the executive
+with regard to foreign nations, no objections were made. The clause
+respecting democratic societies was seriously opposed; but the party
+in favour of the administration had been strengthened in the senate by
+recent events, and the address reported by the committee was agreed to
+without alteration.
+
+The same spirit did not prevail in the house of representatives. In
+that branch of the legislature, the opposition party continued to be
+the most powerful, and the respect of their leaders for the person and
+character of the chief magistrate was visibly diminishing. His
+interference with a favourite system was not forgotten, and the
+mission of Mr. Jay still rankled in their bosoms.
+
+The address prepared by the committee, to whom the speech was
+referred, omitted to notice those parts which respected self created
+societies, the victory of General Wayne, and the policy observed by
+the executive in its intercourse with foreign nations. On a motion
+being made by Mr. Dayton to amend it, by inserting a clause which
+should express the satisfaction of the house at the success of the
+army under General Wayne, Mr. Madison said, that it had been the wish
+of the committee who framed the address, to avoid the minutia of the
+speech: but as a desire was manifested to amplify particular parts, it
+might not be amiss to glance at the policy observed towards foreign
+nations. He therefore moved to amend the amendment by adding the
+words, "solicitous also as we are for the preservation of peace with
+all nations, we can not otherwise than warmly approve of _a_ policy in
+our foreign transactions, which keeps in view as well the maintenance
+of our national rights, as the continuance of that blessing." Mr.
+Hillhouse wished the word _your_ to be substituted for the article
+_a_, that the answer might point, not to an abstract policy, but to
+that of the executive, and thus have a direct application to the
+speech. This motion produced a warm discussion, which terminated in a
+request that Mr. Madison would withdraw his amendment; the friends of
+the administration being of opinion, that it was more eligible to pass
+over that part of the speech in silence, than to answer it in terms so
+equivocal as those to which alone the house seemed willing to assent.
+
+A proposition was then made by Mr. Fitzsimmons to introduce into the
+address, a clause declaring, that "in tracing the origin and progress
+of the insurrection, they (the house of representatives) entertain no
+doubt that certain self created societies and combinations of men,
+careless of consequences, and disregarding truth, by disseminating
+suspicions, jealousies, and accusations of the government, have had an
+influence in fomenting this daring outrage against the principles of
+social order, and the authority of the laws."
+
+This attempt to censure certain organized assemblages of factious
+individuals, who, under the imposing garb of watchfulness over
+liberty, concealed designs subversive of all those principles which
+preserve the order, the peace, and the happiness of society, was
+resisted by the whole force of the opposition. A very eloquent and
+animated debate ensued, which terminated in the committee, by striking
+out the words "self created societies;" forty-seven voting for, and
+forty-five against expunging them. The question was resumed in the
+house; and, the chairman of the committee being opposed in sentiment
+to the speaker, who was now placed in the chair, the majority was
+precisely changed, and the words were reinstated. This victory,
+however, if it may be termed one, was soon lost. A motion for
+confining the censure to societies and combinations within the four
+western counties of Pennsylvania and the adjacent country, succeeded
+by the casting vote of the speaker, upon which, the friends of the
+amendment gave it up, and the address was voted without expressing any
+sentiment on the subject.
+
+This triumph over the administration revived, for a moment, the
+drooping energies of these pernicious societies. But it was only for a
+moment. The agency ascribed to them by the opinion of the public, as
+well as of the President, in producing an insurrection which was
+generally execrated, had essentially affected them; and while
+languishing under this wound, they received a deadly blow from a
+quarter whence hostility was least expected.
+
+The remnant of the French convention, rendered desperate by the
+ferocious despotism of the Jacobins, and of the sanguinary tyrant who
+had made himself their chief; perceiving that the number of victims
+who were immolated as his caprice might suggest, instead of satiating,
+could only stimulate his appetite for blood, had, at length, sought
+for safety by boldly confronting danger; and, succeeding in a
+desperate attempt to bring Robespierre to the guillotine, had
+terminated his reign of terror. The colossean power of the clubs,
+which had been abused to an excess that gives to faithful history the
+appearance of fiction, fell with that of their favourite member, and
+they sunk into long merited disgrace. The means by which their
+political influence had been maintained were wrested from them; and,
+in a short time, their meetings were prohibited. Not more certain is
+it that the boldest streams must disappear, if the fountains which fed
+them be emptied, than was the dissolution of the democratic societies
+of America, when the Jacobin clubs were denounced by France. As if
+their destinies depended on the same thread, the political death of
+the former was the unerring signal for that of the latter; and their
+expiring struggles, incapable of deferring their fate, only attested
+the reluctance with which they surrendered their much abused power.
+
+Notwithstanding the disagreement between the executive and one branch
+of the legislature concerning self created societies, and the policy
+observed towards foreign nations, the speech of the President was
+treated with marked respect; and the several subjects which it
+recommended, engaged the immediate attention of congress. A bill was
+passed authorizing the President to station a detachment of militia in
+the four western counties of Pennsylvania; provision was made to
+compensate those whose property had been destroyed by the insurgents,
+should those who had committed the injury be unable to repair it: and
+an appropriation exceeding one million one hundred thousand dollars
+was made to defray the expenses occasioned by the insurrection.
+
+Many of the difficulties which had occurred in drawing out the militia
+were removed, and a bill was introduced to give greater energy to the
+militia system generally; but this subject possessed so many intrinsic
+difficulties, that the session passed away without effecting any thing
+respecting it.
+
+A bill for the gradual redemption of the national debt was more
+successful. The President had repeatedly and earnestly recommended to
+the legislature the adoption of measures which might effect this
+favourite object; but, although that party which had been reproached
+with a desire to accumulate debt as a means of subverting the
+republican system had uniformly manifested a disposition to carry this
+recommendation into effect, their desire had hitherto been opposed by
+obstacles they were unable to surmount. Professions of an anxious
+solicitude to discharge the national engagements, without providing
+the means of actual payment, might gratify those who consider words as
+things, but would be justly estimated by men, who, neither condemning
+indiscriminately, nor approving blindly, all the measures of
+government, expect that, in point of fact, it shall be rightly and
+honestly administered. On the friends of the administration,
+therefore, it was incumbent to provide real, substantial funds, which
+should attest the sincerity of their professions. This provision could
+not be made without difficulty. The duty on imported articles, and on
+tonnage, though rapidly augmenting, could not, immediately, be
+rendered sufficiently productive to meet, alone, the various
+exigencies of the treasury, and yield a surplus for the secure
+establishment of a permanent fund to redeem the principal of the debt.
+Additional sources of revenue must therefore be explored, or the idea
+of reducing the debt be abandoned. New taxes are the never failing
+sources of discontent to those who pay them, and will ever furnish
+weapons against those who impose them, too operative not to be seized
+by their antagonists. In a government where popularity is power, it
+requires no small degree of patriotism to encounter the odium which,
+however urgently required, they seldom fail to excite. Ready faith is
+given to the declaration that they are unjust, tyrannical, and
+unnecessary; and no inconsiderable degree of firmness is requisite to
+persevere in a course attended with so much political hazard. The
+opposition made to the internal taxes, which commenced in congress,
+had extended itself through the community. Although only the act
+imposing duties on spirits distilled within the United States had been
+resisted by force, yet such a degree of irritation was manifested
+against the whole system, as to evince the repugnance with which a
+large portion of the people saw it go into operation. The duties on
+refined sugars, and manufactured tobacco, especially, were censured in
+terms which would authorize an opinion that a defect of power, rather
+than of will, to resist the execution of the law, confined some of its
+opponents to remonstrances. Nothing could be more unfriendly than this
+spirit, to the reduction of the debt.
+
+The reports of the secretary of the treasury having suggested the
+several steps which had been taken by congress in the system of
+internal taxation, he was justly considered as its author. The
+perseverance which marked the character of this officer, gave full
+assurance that no clamour would deter him from continuing to recommend
+measures which he believed to be essential to the due administration
+of the finances. That the establishment of public credit on a sound
+basis was all important to the character and prosperity of the United
+States, constituted one of those political maxims to which he
+invariably adhered; and to effect it completely, seems to have been
+among the first objects of his ambition. He had bestowed upon this
+favourite subject the most attentive consideration; and while the
+legislature was engaged in the discussions of a report made by a
+select committee on a resolution moved by Mr. Smith, of South
+Carolina, purporting that further provision ought to be made for the
+reduction of the debt, addressed a letter to the house of
+representatives, through their speaker, informing them that he had
+digested and prepared a plan on the basis of the actual revenues, for
+the further support of public credit, which he was ready to
+communicate.
+
+This comprehensive and valuable report presented the result of his
+laborious and useful investigations, on a subject equally intricate
+and interesting.
+
+This was the last official act of Colonel Hamilton. The penurious
+provision made for those who filled the high executive departments in
+the American government, excluded from a long continuance in office
+all those whose fortunes were moderate, and whose professional talents
+placed a decent independence within their reach. While slandered as
+the accumulator of thousands by illicit means, Colonel Hamilton had
+wasted in the public service great part of the property acquired by
+his previous labours, and had found himself compelled to decide on
+retiring from his political station. The accusations brought against
+him in the last session of the second congress had postponed the
+execution of this design, until opportunity should be afforded for a
+more full investigation of his official conduct; but he informed the
+President that, on the close of the session, to meet in December,
+1793, he should resign his situation in the administration. The events
+which accumulated about that time, and which were, he said in a letter
+to the President, of a nature to render the continuance of peace in a
+considerable degree precarious, deferred his meditated retreat. "I do
+not perceive," he added, "that I could voluntarily quit my post at
+such a juncture, consistently with considerations either of duty or
+character; and therefore, I find myself reluctantly obliged to defer
+the offer of my resignation.
+
+"But if any circumstances should have taken place in consequence of
+the intimation of an intention to resign, or should otherwise exist,
+which serve to render my continuance in office in any degree
+inconvenient or ineligible, I beg leave to assure you, sir, that I
+should yield to them with all the readiness naturally inspired by an
+impatient desire to relinquish a situation, in which, even a momentary
+stay is opposed by the strongest personal and family reasons, and
+could only be produced by a sense of duty or reputation."
+
+[Sidenote: Resignation of Colonel Hamilton.]
+
+{1795}
+
+Assurances being given by the President, of the pleasure with which
+the intelligence, that he would continue at his post through the
+crisis, was received, he remained in office until the commencement of
+the ensuing year. On the 1st of December, immediately on his return
+from the western country, the dangers of domestic insurrection or
+foreign war having subsided, he gave notice that he should on the last
+day of January give in his resignation.
+
+Seldom has any minister excited the opposite passions of love and hate
+in a higher degree than Colonel Hamilton. His talents were too
+pre-eminent not to receive from all the tribute of profound respect;
+and his integrity and honour as a man, not less than his official
+rectitude, though slandered at a distance, were admitted to be
+superior to reproach, by those enemies who knew him.
+
+But with respect to his political principles and designs, the most
+contradictory opinions were entertained. While one party sincerely
+believed his object to be the preservation of the constitution of the
+United States in its original purity; the other, with perhaps equal
+sincerity, imputed to him the insidious intention of subverting it.
+While his friends were persuaded, that as a statesman, he viewed all
+foreign nations with an equal eye; his enemies could perceive in his
+conduct, only hostility to France and attachment to her rival.
+
+It was his fortune to hold a conspicuous station in times which were
+peculiarly tempestuous, and under circumstances peculiarly
+unfavourable to the fair action of the judgment. In the midst of
+prejudices against the national debt, which had taken deep root, and
+had long been nourished, he was called to the head of a department,
+whose duty it was to contend with those prejudices, and to offer a
+system which, in doing justice to the creditor of the public, might
+retrieve the reputation of his country. While the passions were
+inflamed by a stern contest between the advocates of a national, and
+of state governments, duties were assigned to him, in the execution of
+which there were frequent occasions to manifest his devotion to the
+former. When a raging fever, caught from that which was desolating
+France, and exhibiting some of its symptoms, had seized the public
+mind, and reached its understanding, it was unfavourable to his quiet,
+and perhaps to his fame, that he remain uninfected by the disease. He
+judged the French revolution without prejudice; and had the courage to
+predict that it could not terminate in a free and popular government.
+
+Such opinions, at such a time, could not fail to draw a load of
+obloquy upon a man whose frankness gave them publicity, and whose
+boldness and decision of character insured them an able and steady
+support. The suspicions they were calculated to generate, derived
+great additional force from the political theories he was understood
+to hold. It was known that, in his judgment, the constitution of the
+United States was rather chargeable with imbecility, than censurable
+for its too great strength; and that the real sources of danger to
+American happiness and liberty, were to be found in its want of the
+means to effect the objects of its institution;--in its being exposed
+to the encroachments of the states,--not in the magnitude of its
+powers. Without attempting to conceal these opinions, he declared his
+perfect acquiescence in the decision of his country; his hope that the
+issue would be fortunate; and his firm determination, in whatever
+might depend upon his exertions, to give the experiment the fairest
+chance for success. No part of his political conduct has been
+perceived, which would inspire doubts of the sincerity of these
+declarations. His friends may appeal with confidence to his official
+acts, to all his public conduct, for the refutation of those charges
+which were made against him while at the head of the treasury
+department, and were continued, without interruption, till he ceased
+to be the object of jealousy.
+
+In the esteem and good opinion of the President, to whom he was best
+known, Colonel Hamilton at all times maintained a high place. While
+balancing on the mission to England, and searching for a person to
+whom the interesting negotiation with that government should be
+confided, the mind of the chief magistrate was directed, among others,
+to this gentleman.[30] He carried with him out of office,[31] the same
+cordial esteem for his character, and respect for his talents, which
+had induced his appointment.
+
+     [Footnote 30: The apprehensions entertained by the
+     opposition that Colonel Hamilton would be appointed on the
+     embassy to England were extreme. Among the letters to
+     General Washington, are some from members of each branch of
+     the legislature, advising against the mission generally, and
+     dissuading him from the appointment of Colonel Hamilton
+     particularly, in terms which manifest a real opinion that
+     the best interests of the nation would be sacrificed by such
+     an appointment. Colonel Hamilton himself recommended Mr.
+     Jay.]
+
+     [Footnote 31: See note No. X. at the end of the volume.]
+
+[Sidenote: Is succeeded by Mr. Wolcott.]
+
+The vacant office of secretary of the treasury was filled by Mr.
+Wolcott, of Connecticut, a gentleman of sound judgment, who was well
+versed in its duties. He had served as comptroller for a considerable
+time, and in that situation, had been eminently useful to the head of
+the department.
+
+The report of the select committee recommended additional objects for
+internal taxation, and that the temporary duties already imposed
+should be rendered permanent. The opposition made to this important
+part of the system was so ardent, and so persevering, that, though the
+measure was taken up early in the session, the bill did not pass the
+house of representatives until late in February. Not only were the
+taxes proposed by the friends of the administration encountered
+successively by popular objections, urged with all the vehemence of
+passion, and zeal of conviction, but it was with extreme difficulty
+that the duties on sugar refined, and tobacco manufactured, within the
+United States, could be rendered permanent. When gentlemen were urged
+to produce a substitute for the system they opposed, a direct tax was
+mentioned with approbation; but no disposition was shown to incur the
+responsibility of becoming the patrons of such a measure. At length,
+by the most persevering exertions of the federal party, the bill was
+carried through the house; and thus was that system adopted, which, if
+its operations shall not be disturbed, and if no great accumulations
+of debt be made, will, in a few years, discharge all the engagements
+of the United States.
+
+On the third of March, this important session was ended. Although the
+party hostile to the administration had obtained a small majority in
+one branch of the legislature, several circumstances had occurred to
+give great weight to the recommendations of the President. Among these
+may be reckoned the victory obtained by General Wayne, and the
+suppression of the western insurrection. In some points, however,
+which he had pressed with earnestness, his sentiments did not prevail.
+One of these was a bill introduced into the senate for preserving
+peace with the Indians, by protecting them from the intrusions and
+incursions of the whites.
+
+From the commencement of his administration, the President had
+reviewed this subject with great interest, and had permitted scarcely
+a session of congress to pass away, without pressing it on the
+attention of the legislature. It had been mentioned in his speech at
+the commencement of the present session, and had been further enforced
+by a message accompanying a report made upon it by the secretary of
+war. The following humane sentiments, extracted from that report, are
+characteristic of the general views of the administration.
+
+"It seems that our own experience would demonstrate the propriety of
+endeavouring to preserve a pacific conduct in preference to a hostile
+one with the Indian tribes. The United States can get nothing by an
+Indian war; but they risk men, money, and reputation. As we are more
+powerful and more enlightened than they are, there is a responsibility
+of national character that we should treat them with kindness, and
+even with liberality."
+
+The plan suggested in this report was, to add to those arrangements
+respecting trade, which were indispensable to the preservation of
+peace, a chain of garrisoned posts within the territory of the
+Indians, provided their assent to the measure should be obtained; and
+to subject all those who should trespass on their lands to martial
+law. A bill founded on this report passed the senate, but was lost, in
+the house of representatives, by a small majority.
+
+[Sidenote: Resignation of General Knox.]
+
+This report preceded the resignation of the secretary of war but a few
+days. This valuable officer, too, was driven from the service of the
+public, by the scantiness of the compensation allowed him.
+
+On the 28th of December, 1794, he addressed a letter to the President
+giving him official notice that, with the year, his services as
+secretary for the department of war would cease. This resolution had
+long before been verbally communicated.
+
+"After having served my country," concluded the letter, "near twenty
+years, the greater portion of the time under your immediate auspices,
+it is with extreme reluctance I find myself constrained to withdraw
+from so honourable a situation. But the natural and powerful claims of
+a numerous family will no longer permit me to neglect their essential
+interests.
+
+"In whatever situation I shall be, I shall recollect your confidence
+and kindness with all the fervour and purity of affection, of which a
+grateful heart is susceptible."
+
+In the letter accepting his resignation, the President expressed the
+regret it occasioned, and added:
+
+"I can not suffer you, however, to close your public service, without
+uniting to the satisfaction which must arise in your own mind from
+conscious rectitude, assurances of my most perfect persuasion that you
+have deserved well of your country.
+
+"My personal knowledge of your exertions, while it authorizes me to
+hold this language, justifies the sincere friendship which I have
+borne you, and which will accompany you in every situation of life."
+
+[Sidenote: Is succeeded by Colonel Pickering.]
+
+Colonel Pickering, a gentleman who had filled many important offices
+through the war of the revolution; who had discharged several trusts
+of considerable confidence under the present government; and who at
+the time was postmaster general, was appointed to succeed him.
+
+On the seventh of March, the treaty of amity, commerce, and
+navigation, between the United States and Great Britain, which had
+been signed by the ministers of the two nations, on the 19th of the
+preceding November, was received at the office of state.
+
+[Sidenote: Treaty between the United States and Great Britain.]
+
+From his arrival in London on the 15th of June, Mr. Jay had been
+assiduously and unremittingly employed on the arduous duties of his
+mission. By a deportment respectful, yet firm, mingling a decent
+deference for the government to which he was deputed, with a proper
+regard for the dignity of his own, this minister avoided those little
+asperities which frequently embarrass measures of great concern, and
+smoothed the way to the adoption of those which were suggested by the
+real interests of both nations. Many and intricate were the points to
+be discussed. On some of them an agreement was found to be
+impracticable; but, at length, a treaty was concluded, which Mr. Jay
+declared to be the best that was attainable, and which he believed it
+for the interests of the United States to accept.[32] Indeed it was
+scarcely possible to contemplate the evidences of extreme exasperation
+which were given in America, and the nature of the differences which
+subsisted between the two countries, without feeling a conviction that
+war was inevitable, should this attempt to adjust those differences
+prove unsuccessful.
+
+     [Footnote 32: In a private letter to the President, of the
+     same date with the signature of the treaty, Mr. Jay said "to
+     do more was impossible. I ought not to conceal from you,
+     that the confidence reposed in your personal character was
+     visible and useful throughout the negotiation.
+
+     "If there is not a good disposition in the far greater part
+     of the cabinet and nation towards us, I am exceedingly
+     mistaken. I do not mean an ostensible and temporizing, but a
+     real good disposition.--I wish it may have a fair trial."]
+
+On Monday, the 8th of June, the senate, in conformity with the summons
+of the President, convened in the senate chamber, and the treaty, with
+the documents connected with it, were submitted to their
+consideration.
+
+On the 24th of June, after a minute and laborious investigation, the
+senate, by precisely a constitutional majority, advised and consented
+to its conditional ratification.
+
+An insuperable objection existed to an article regulating the
+intercourse with the British West Indies, founded on a fact which is
+understood to have been unknown to Mr. Jay. The intention of the
+contracting parties was to admit the direct intercourse between the
+United States and those islands, but not to permit the productions of
+the latter to be carried to Europe in the vessels of the former. To
+give effect to this intention, the exportation from the United States
+of those articles which were the principal productions of the islands
+was to be relinquished. Among these was cotton. This article, which a
+few years before was scarcely raised in sufficient quantity for
+domestic consumption, was becoming one of the richest staples of the
+southern states. The senate being informed of this fact, advised and
+consented that the treaty should be ratified on condition that an
+article be added thereto, suspending that part of the twelfth article
+which related to the intercourse with the West Indies.
+
+Although, in the mind of the President, several objections to the
+treaty had occurred, they were overbalanced by its advantages; and
+before transmitting it to the senate, he had resolved to ratify it, if
+approved by that body. The resolution of the senate presented
+difficulties which required consideration. Whether they could advise
+and consent to an article which had not been laid before them; and
+whether their resolution was to be considered as the final exercise of
+their power, were questions not entirely free from difficulty. Nor was
+it absolutely clear that the executive could ratify the treaty, under
+the advice of the senate, until the suspending article should be
+introduced into it. A few days were employed in the removal of these
+doubts, at the expiration of which, intelligence was received from
+Europe which suspended the resolution which the President had formed.
+
+The English papers contained an account, which, though not official,
+was deemed worthy of credit, that the order of the 8th of June, 1793,
+for the seizure of provisions going to French ports, was renewed. In
+the apprehension that this order might be construed and intended as a
+practical construction of that article in the treaty which seemed to
+favour the idea that provisions, though not generally contraband,
+might occasionally become so, a construction in which he had
+determined not to acquiesce, the President thought it wise to
+reconsider his decision. Of the result of this reconsideration, there
+is no conclusive testimony. A strong memorial against this
+objectionable order was directed; and the propositions to withhold the
+ratifications of the treaty until the order should be repealed; to
+make the exchange of ratifications dependent upon that event; and to
+adhere to his original purpose of pursuing the advice of the senate,
+connecting with that measure the memorial which had been mentioned, as
+an act explanatory of the sense in which his ratification was made,
+were severally reviewed by him. In conformity with his practice of
+withholding his opinion on controverted points until it should become
+necessary to decide them, he suspended his determination on these
+propositions until the memorial should be prepared and laid before
+him. In the meantime, his private affairs required that he should
+visit Mount Vernon.
+
+So restless and uneasy was the temper respecting foreign nations, that
+no surprise ought to be excited at the anxiety which was felt on the
+negotiation of a treaty with Great Britain, nor at the means which
+were used, before its contents were known, to extend the prejudices
+against it.
+
+Great umbrage was taken at the mysterious secrecy in which the
+negotiation had been involved. That the instrument itself was not
+immediately communicated to the public, and that the senate
+deliberated upon it with closed doors, were considered as additional
+evidences of the contempt in which their rulers held the feelings and
+understandings of the people, and of the monarchical tendencies of the
+government. Crowned heads, it was loudly repeated, who were
+machinating designs subversive of the rights of man, and the happiness
+of nations, might well cover with an impenetrable veil, their dark
+transactions; but republics ought to have no secrets. In republics,
+those to whom power was delegated, being the servants of the people,
+acting solely for their benefit, ought to transact all national
+affairs in open day. This doctrine was not too absurd for the
+extravagance of the moment.
+
+The predetermined hostility to the treaty increased in activity, as
+the period for deciding its fate approached. On its particular merits,
+no opinion could be formed, because they were unknown; but on the
+general question of reconciliation between the two countries, a
+decisive judgment was extensively made up. The sentiments called forth
+by the occasion demonstrated, that no possible adjustment of
+differences with Great Britain, no possible arrangement which might
+promise a future friendly intercourse with that nation, could be
+satisfactory. The President was openly attacked; his whole system
+strongly condemned; and the mission of Mr. Jay, particularly, was
+reprobated in terms of peculiar harshness. That a treaty of amity and
+commerce should have been formed, whatever might be its principles,
+was a degrading insult to the American people; a pusillanimous
+surrender of their honour; and an insidious injury to France. Between
+such a compact, and an alliance, no distinction was taken. It was an
+abandonment of the ancient ally of the United States, whose friendship
+had given them independence, and whose splendid victories still
+protected them, for a close connexion with her natural enemy, and with
+the enemy of human liberty.
+
+The pretended object of the mission, it was said, was a reparation for
+wrongs, not a contaminating connexion with the most faithless and
+corrupt court in the world. The return of the envoy without that
+reparation, was a virtual surrender of the claim. The honour of the
+United States required a peremptory demand of the immediate surrender
+of the western posts, and of compensation for the piratical
+depredations committed on their commerce; not a disgraceful and
+humiliating negotiation. The surrender, and the compensation, ought to
+have been made instantly; for no reliance could be placed in promises
+to be performed in future.
+
+That the disinclination formerly manifested by Great Britain, to give
+the stability and certainty of compact to the principles regulating
+the commercial intercourse between the two countries, had constituted
+an important item in the catalogue of complaints against that power:
+that the existence, or non-existence of commercial treaties had been
+selected as the criterion by which to regulate the discriminations
+proposed to be made in the trade of foreign nations; that, in the
+discussion on this subject, the favourers of commercial hostility had
+uniformly supported the policy of giving value to treaties with the
+United States; these opinions were instantly relinquished by the party
+which had strenuously asserted them while urged by their leaders in
+congress; and it was imputed as a crime to the government, and to its
+negotiator, that he had proceeded further than to demand immediate and
+unconditional reparation of the wrongs sustained by the United States.
+
+The most strenuous and unremitting exertions to give increased energy
+to the love which was openly avowed for France, and to the detestation
+which was not less openly avowed for England,[33] were connected with
+this course of passionate declamation.
+
+     [Footnote 33: See note No. XI. at the end of the volume.]
+
+Such was the state of parties when the senate advised the ratification
+of the treaty. Although common usage, and a decent respect for the
+executive, and for a foreign nation, not less than a positive
+resolution, required that the seal of secrecy should not be broken by
+the senate, an abstract of this instrument, not very faithfully taken,
+was given to the public; and on the 29th of June, a senator of the
+United States transmitted a copy of it to the most distinguished
+editor of the opposition party in Philadelphia, to be communicated to
+the public through the medium of the press.
+
+If the negotiation itself had been acrimoniously censured; if amicable
+arrangements, whatever might be their character, had been passionately
+condemned; it was not to be expected that the treaty would assuage
+these pre-existing irritations.
+
+In fact, public opinion did receive a considerable shock, and men
+uninfested by the spirit of faction felt some disappointment on its
+first appearance. In national contests, unless there be an undue
+attachment to the adversary country, few men, even among the
+intelligent, are sensible of the weakness which may exist in their own
+pretensions, or can allow their full force to the claims of the other
+party. If the people at large enter keenly into the points of
+controversy with a foreign power, they can never be satisfied with any
+equal adjustment of those points, unless other considerations,
+stronger than abstract reason, afford that satisfaction; nor will it
+ever be difficult to prove to them, in a case unassisted by the
+passions, that in any practicable commercial contract, they give too
+much, and receive too little.
+
+On no subject whatever have considerations, such as these, possessed
+more influence than in that which was now brought before the American
+people. Their operation was not confined to those whose passions urged
+them to take part in the war, nor to the open enemies of the
+executive. The friends of peace, and of the administration, had
+generally received impressions unfavourable to the fair exercise of
+judgment in the case, which it required time and reflection to efface.
+Even among them, strong prejudices had been imbibed in favour of
+France, which the open attempts on the sovereignty of the United
+States had only weakened; and the matters of controversy with Great
+Britain had been contemplated with all that partiality which men
+generally feel for their own interests. With respect to commerce also,
+strong opinions had been preconceived. The desire to gain admission
+into the British West India islands, especially, had excited great
+hostility to that colonial system which had been adopted by every
+country in Europe; and sufficient allowances were not made for the
+prejudices by which that system was supported.
+
+The treaty, therefore, when exposed to the public view, found one
+party prepared for a bold and intrepid attack, but the other, not
+ready in its defence. An appeal to the passions, the prejudices, and
+the feelings of the nation, might confidently be made by those whose
+only object was its condemnation; which reflection, information, and
+consequently time, were required by men whose first impressions were
+not in its favour, but who were not inclined to yield absolutely to
+those impressions.
+
+That a treaty involving a great variety of complicated national
+interests, and adjusting differences of long standing, which had
+excited strong reciprocal prejudices, would require a patient and
+laborious investigation, both of the instrument itself, and of the
+circumstances under which it was negotiated, before even those who are
+most conversant in diplomatic transactions could form a just estimate
+of its merits, would be conceded by all reflecting men. But an immense
+party in America, not in the habit of considering national compacts,
+without examining the circumstances under which that with Great
+Britain had been formed, or weighing the reasons which induced it;
+without understanding the instrument, and in many instances without
+reading it, rushed impetuously to its condemnation; and, confident
+that public opinion would be surprised by the suddenness, or stormed
+by the fury of the assault, expected that the President would be
+compelled to yield to its violence.
+
+In the populous cities, meetings of the people were immediately
+summoned, in order to take into their consideration, and to express
+their opinions respecting an instrument, to comprehend the full extent
+of which, a statesman would need deep reflection in the quiet of his
+closet, aided by considerable inquiry. It may well be supposed that
+persons feeling some distrust of their capacity to form, intuitively,
+a correct judgment on a subject so complex, and disposed only to act
+knowingly, would be unwilling to make so hasty a decision, and
+consequently be disinclined to attend such meetings. Many intelligent
+men, therefore, stood aloof, while the most intemperate assumed, as
+usual, the name of the people; pronounced a definitive and unqualified
+condemnation of every article in the treaty; and, with the utmost
+confidence, assigned reasons for their opinions, which, in many
+instances, had only an imaginary existence; and in some, were
+obviously founded on the strong prejudices which were entertained with
+respect to foreign powers. It is difficult to review the various
+resolutions and addresses to which the occasion gave birth, without
+feeling some degree of astonishment, mingled with humiliation, at
+perceiving such proofs of the deplorable fallibility of human reason.
+
+The first meeting was held in Boston. The example of that city was
+soon followed by New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Charleston;
+and, as if their addresses were designed at least as much for their
+fellow citizens as for their President, while one copy was transmitted
+to him, another was committed to the press. The precedent set by these
+large cities was followed, with wonderful rapidity, throughout the
+union; and the spirit in which this system of opposition originated
+sustained no diminution of violence in its progress.
+
+On the 18th of July, at Baltimore, on his way to Mount Vernon, the
+President received the resolutions passed by the meeting at Boston,
+which were enclosed to him in a letter from the select men of that
+town. The answer to this letter and to these resolutions evinced the
+firmness with which he had resolved to meet the effort that was
+obviously making, to control the exercise of his constitutional
+functions, by giving a promptness and vigour to the expression of the
+sentiments of a party, which might impose it upon the world as the
+deliberate judgment of the public.
+
+Addresses to the chief magistrate, and resolutions of town and country
+meetings, were not the only means which were employed to enlist the
+American people against the measure which had been advised by the
+senate. In an immense number of essays, the treaty was critically
+examined, and every argument which might operate on the judgment or
+prejudice of the public, was urged in the warm and glowing language of
+passion. To meet these efforts by counter efforts, was deemed
+indispensably necessary by the friends of that instrument; and the
+gazettes of the day are replete with appeals to the passions, and to
+the reason, of those who are the ultimate arbiters of every political
+question. That the treaty affected the interests of France not less
+than those of the United States, was, in this memorable controversy,
+asserted by the one party, with as much zeal as it was denied by the
+other. These agitations furnished matter to the President for deep
+reflection, and for serious regret; but they appear not to have shaken
+the decision he had formed, or to have affected his conduct otherwise
+than to induce a still greater degree of circumspection in the mode of
+transacting the delicate business before him. On their first
+appearance, therefore, he resolved to hasten his return to
+Philadelphia, for the purpose of considering, at that place rather
+than at Mount Vernon, the memorial against the provision order, and
+the conditional ratification of the treaty. In a private letter to the
+secretary of state, of the 29th of July, accompanying the official
+communication of this determination, he stated more at large the
+motives which induced it. These were, the violent and extraordinary
+proceedings which were taking place, and might be expected, throughout
+the union; and his opinion that the memorial, the ratification, and
+the instructions which were framing, were of such vast magnitude as
+not only to require great individual consideration, but a solemn
+conjunct revision.
+
+He viewed the opposition which the treaty was receiving from the
+meetings in different parts of the union, in a very serious
+light;--not because there was more weight in any of the objections
+than was foreseen at first,--for in some of them there was none, and
+in others, there were gross misrepresentations; nor as it respected
+himself personally, for that he declared should have no influence on
+his conduct. He plainly perceived, and was accordingly preparing his
+mind for, the obloquy which disappointment and malice were collecting
+to heap upon him. But he was alarmed on account of the effect it might
+have on France, and the advantage which the government of that country
+might be disposed to make of the spirit which was at work, to cherish
+a belief, that the treaty was calculated to favour Great Britain at
+her expense. Whether she believed or disbelieved these tales, their
+effect, he said, would be nearly the same.
+
+"To sum up the whole," he added, "in a few words, I have never, since
+I have been in the administration of the government, seen a crisis
+which, in my opinion, has been so pregnant with interesting events,
+nor one from which more is to be apprehended, whether viewed on one
+side or the other. From New York there is, and I am told will further
+be, a counter current;[34] but how formidable it may appear I know
+not. If the same does not take place at Boston and other towns, it
+will afford but too strong evidence that the opposition is in a manner
+universal, and would make the ratification a very serious business
+indeed. But as it respects the French, even counter resolutions would,
+for the reasons I have already mentioned, do little more than weaken,
+in a small degree, the effect the other side would have."
+
+     [Footnote 34: The chamber of commerce in New York had voted
+     resolutions expressing their approbation of the treaty.]
+
+In a private letter of the 31st of July to the same gentleman, after
+repeating his determination to return to Philadelphia, and his
+impression of the wisdom, the temperateness, and the firmness for
+which the crisis most eminently called; he added, "for there is too
+much reason to believe, from the pains that have been taken before,
+at, and since the advice of the senate respecting the treaty, that the
+prejudices against it are more extensive than is generally imagined.
+How should it be otherwise? When no stone has been left unturned that
+could impress on the minds of the people the most arrant
+misrepresentation of facts: that their rights have not only been
+neglected, but absolutely sold; that there are no reciprocal
+advantages in the treaty: that the benefits are all on the side of
+Great Britain: and, what seems to have had more weight with them than
+all the rest, and has been most pressed, that the treaty is made with
+the design to oppress the French republic, in open violation of our
+treaty with that nation, and contrary too to every principal of
+gratitude and sound policy. In time, when passion shall have yielded
+to sober reason, the current may possibly turn; but, in the mean
+while, this government, in relation to France and England, may be
+compared to a ship between Scylla and Charybdis. If the treaty is
+ratified, the partisans of the French (or rather of war and confusion)
+will excite them to hostile measures, or at least to unfriendly
+sentiments;--if it is not, there is no foreseeing all the consequences
+that may follow as it respects Great Britain.
+
+"It is not to be inferred from hence that I am or shall be disposed to
+quit the ground I have taken, unless circumstances more imperious than
+have yet come to my knowledge, should compel it; for there is but one
+straight course, and that is to seek truth, and to pursue it steadily.
+But these things are mentioned to show that a close investigation of
+the subject is more than ever necessary; and that there are strong
+evidences of the necessity of the most circumspect conduct in carrying
+the determination of government into effect, with prudence as it
+respects our own people, and with every exertion to produce a change
+for the better with Great Britain."
+
+In a letter of the third of August, written to the same gentleman, in
+which he stated the increasing extent of hostility to the treaty, the
+President added:
+
+"All these things do not shake my determination with respect to the
+proposed ratification, nor will they, unless something more imperious
+and unknown to me, should, in the opinion of yourself and the
+gentlemen with you, make it adviseable for me to pause."
+
+[Sidenote: Conditionally ratified by the president.]
+
+In the afternoon of the 11th of August the President arrived in
+Philadelphia; and on the next day, the question respecting the
+immediate ratification of the treaty was brought before the cabinet.
+The secretary of state maintained, singly, the opinion, that, during
+the existence of the provision order,[35] and during the war between
+Britain and France, this step ought not to be taken. This opinion did
+not prevail. The resolution was adopted to ratify the treaty
+immediately, and to accompany the ratification with a strong memorial
+against the provision order, which should convey, in explicit terms,
+the sense of the American government on that subject. By this course,
+the views of the executive were happily accomplished. The order was
+revoked, and the ratifications of the treaty were exchanged.
+
+     [Footnote 35: Previous to the reception of the account of
+     this order, the opinion of the secretary had been in favour
+     of ratifying the treaty.]
+
+[Sidenote: The treaty unpopular in the United States.]
+
+The President was most probably determined to adopt this course by the
+extreme intemperance with which the treaty was opposed, and the rapid
+progress which this violence was apparently making. It was obvious
+that, unless this temper could be checked, it would soon become so
+extensive, and would arrive at such a point of fury, as to threaten
+dangerous consequences. It was obviously necessary either to attempt a
+diminution of its action by rendering its exertions hopeless, and by
+giving to the treaty the weight of his character and influence, or to
+determine ultimately to yield to it. A species of necessity therefore
+seems to have been created for abandoning the idea, if it was ever
+taken up, of making the ratification of the treaty dependent on the
+revocation of the provision order.
+
+The soundness of the policy which urged this decisive measure was
+proved by the event. The confidence which was felt in the judgment and
+virtue of the chief magistrate, induced many, who, swept away by the
+popular current, had yielded to the common prejudices, to re-examine,
+and discard opinions which had been too hastily embraced; and many
+were called forth by a desire to support the administration in
+measures actually adopted, to take a more active part in the general
+contest than they would otherwise have pursued. The consequence was,
+that more moderate opinions respecting the treaty began to prevail.
+
+In a letter from Mount Vernon of the 20th of September, addressed to
+General Knox, who had communicated to him the change of opinion which
+was appearing in the eastern states, the President expressed in warm
+terms the pleasure derived from that circumstance, and added: "Next to
+a conscientious discharge of my public duties, to carry along with me
+the approbation of my constituents, would be the highest gratification
+of which my mind is susceptible. But the latter being secondary, I can
+not make the former yield to it, unless some criterion more infallible
+than partial (if they are not party) meetings can be discovered as the
+touchstone of public sentiment. If any person on earth could, or the
+great power above would, erect the standard of infallibility in
+political opinions, no being that inhabits this terrestrial globe
+would resort to it with more eagerness than myself, so long as I
+remain a servant of the public. But as I have hitherto found no better
+guide than upright intentions, and close investigation, I shall adhere
+to them while I keep the watch, leaving it to those who will come
+after me, to explore new ways, if they like, or think them better."
+
+[Sidenote: Charge against the president rejected.]
+
+If the ratification of the treaty increased the number of its open
+advocates, it seemed also to give increased acrimony to the
+opposition. Such hold had the President taken of the affections of the
+people, that even his enemies had deemed it generally necessary to
+preserve, with regard to him, external marks of decency and respect.
+Previous to the mission of Mr. Jay, charges against the chief
+magistrate, though frequently insinuated, had seldom been directly
+made; and the cover under which the attacks upon his character were
+conducted, evidenced the caution with which it was deemed necessary to
+proceed. That mission visibly affected the decorum which had been
+usually observed towards him; and the ratification of the treaty
+brought sensations into open view, which had long been ill concealed.
+His military and political character was attacked with equal violence,
+and it was averred that he was totally destitute of merit, either as a
+soldier, or a statesman. The calumnies with which he was assailed were
+not confined to his public conduct; even his qualities as a man were
+the subjects of detraction. That he had violated the constitution in
+negotiating a treaty without the previous advice of the senate, and in
+embracing within that treaty subjects belonging exclusively to the
+legislature, was openly maintained, for which an impeachment was
+publicly suggested; and that he had drawn from the treasury for his
+private use, more than the salary annexed to his office, was asserted
+without a blush.[36] This last allegation was said to be supported by
+extracts from the treasury accounts which had been laid before the
+legislature, and was maintained with the most persevering effrontery.
+
+     [Footnote 36: See the Aurora from August to December, 1795.
+     See, in particular, a series of essays, signed "A Calm
+     Observer," published from the 23d of October to the 5th of
+     November, 1795.]
+
+Though the secretary of the treasury denied that the appropriations
+made by the legislature had ever been exceeded, the atrocious charge
+was still confidently repeated; and the few who could triumph in any
+spot which might tarnish the lustre of Washington's fame, felicitated
+themselves on the prospect of obtaining a victory over the reputation
+of a patriot, to whose single influence, they ascribed the failure of
+their political plans. With the real public, the confidence felt in
+the integrity of the chief magistrate remained unshaken; but so
+imposing was the appearance of the documents adduced, as to excite an
+apprehension that the transaction might be placed in a light to show
+that some indiscretion, in which he had not participated, had been
+inadvertently committed.
+
+This state of anxious suspense was of short duration. The late
+secretary of the treasury, during whose administration of the finances
+this peculation was said to have taken place, came forward with a full
+explanation of the fact. It appeared that the President himself had
+never touched any part of the compensation annexed to his office, but
+that the whole was received, and disbursed, by the gentleman who
+superintended the expenses of his household. That it was the practice
+of the treasury, when a sum had been appropriated for the current
+year, to pay it to that gentleman occasionally, as the situation of
+the family might require. The expenses at some periods of the year
+exceeded, and at others fell short of the allowance for the quarter;
+so that at some times money was paid in advance on account of the
+ensuing quarter, and at others, that which was due at the end of the
+quarter was not completely drawn out. The secretary entered into an
+examination of the constitution and laws to show that this practice
+was justifiable, and illustrated his arguments by many examples in
+which an advance on account of money appropriated to a particular
+object, before the service was completed, would be absolutely
+necessary. However this might be, it was a transaction in which the
+President personally was unconcerned.[37]
+
+     [Footnote 37: Gazette of the United States, 16th November,
+     1795.]
+
+When possessed of the entire fact, the public viewed, with just
+indignation, this attempt to defame a character which was the nation's
+pride. Americans felt themselves involved in this atrocious calumny on
+their most illustrious citizen; and its propagators were frowned into
+silence.
+
+[Sidenote: Mr. Randolph resigns. Is succeeded by Colonel Pickering.]
+
+[Sidenote: Colonel McHenry appointed secretary of war.]
+
+On the 19th of August, the secretary of state had resigned[38] his
+place in the administration, and some time elapsed before a successor
+was appointed.[39] At length, Colonel Pickering was removed to the
+department of state, and Mr. M'Henry, a gentleman who had served in
+the family of General Washington, and in the congress prior to the
+establishment of the existing constitution, was appointed to the
+department of war. By the death of Mr. Bradford, a vacancy was also
+produced in the office of attorney general, which was filled by Mr.
+Lee, a gentleman of considerable eminence at the bar, and in the
+legislature of Virginia.
+
+     [Footnote 38: See note No. XII. at the end of the volume.]
+
+     [Footnote 39: See note No. XIII. at the end of the volume.]
+
+Many of those embarrassments in which the government, from its
+institution, had been involved, were now ended, or approaching their
+termination.
+
+The opposition to the laws, which had so long been made in the western
+counties of Pennsylvania, existed no longer.
+
+[Sidenote: Treaty with the Indians north-west of the Ohio.]
+
+On the third of August, a definitive treaty was concluded by General
+Wayne with the hostile Indians north-west of the Ohio, by which the
+destructive and expensive war which had long desolated that frontier,
+was ended in a manner perfectly agreeable to the United States. An
+accommodation had taken place with the powerful tribes of the south
+also; and to preserve peace in that quarter, it was only necessary to
+invest the executive with the means of restraining the incursions
+which the disorderly inhabitants of the southern frontier frequently
+made into the Indian territory; incursions, of which murder was often
+the consequence.
+
+Few subjects had excited more feeling among the people, or in the
+government of the United States, than the captivity of their fellow
+citizens in Algiers. Even this calamity had been seized as a weapon
+which might be wielded with some effect against the President.
+Overlooking the exertions he had made for the attainment of peace, and
+the liberation of the American captives; and regardless of his
+inability to aid negotiation by the exhibition of force, the
+discontented ascribed the long and painful imprisonment of their
+unfortunate brethren to a carelessness in the administration
+respecting their sufferings, and to that inexhaustible source of
+accusation,--its policy with regard to France and Britain.
+
+[Sidenote: Treaty with Algiers.]
+
+After the failure of several attempts to obtain a peace with the
+regency of Algiers, a treaty was, at length, negotiated on terms
+which, though disadvantageous, were the best that could be obtained.
+
+The exertions of the executive to settle the controversy with Spain
+respecting boundary, and to obtain the free use of the Mississippi,
+had been unavailing. A negotiation in which Mr. Short and Mr.
+Carmichael were employed at Madrid, had been protracted by artificial
+delays on the part of the Spanish cabinet, until those ministers had
+themselves requested that the commission should be terminated.
+
+[Sidenote: Treaty with Spain.]
+
+At length, Spain, embarrassed by the war in which she was engaged,
+discovered symptoms of a temper more inclined to conciliation, and
+intimated to the secretary of state, through her commissioners at
+Philadelphia, that a minister, deputed on the special occasion, of
+higher rank than Mr. Short, who was a resident, would be able to
+expedite the negotiation. On receiving this intimation, the President,
+though retaining a high and just confidence in Mr. Short, nominated
+Mr. Pinckney, in November, 1794, as envoy extraordinary to his
+Catholic Majesty. Mr. Pinckney repaired in the following summer to
+Madrid, and a treaty was concluded on the 20th of October, in which
+the claims of the United States, on the important points of boundary,
+and the Mississippi, were fully conceded.
+
+Thus were adjusted, so far as depended on the executive, all those
+external difficulties with which the United States had long struggled;
+most of which had originated before the establishment of the existing
+government, and some of which portended calamities that no common
+share of prudence could have averted.
+
+[Sidenote: Meeting of Congress.]
+
+Although the signature of the treaties with Spain and Algiers had not
+been officially announced at the meeting of congress, the state of the
+negotiations with both powers was sufficiently well understood to
+enable the President with confidence to assure the legislature, in his
+speech at the opening of the session, that those negotiations were in
+a train which promised a happy issue.
+
+[Sidenote: President's speech.]
+
+After expressing his gratification at the prosperous state of American
+affairs, the various favourable events which have been already
+enumerated were detailed in a succinct statement, at the close of
+which he mentioned the British treaty, which, though publicly known,
+had not before been communicated officially to the house of
+representatives.
+
+"This interesting summary of our affairs," continued the speech, "with
+regard to the powers between whom and the United States controversies
+have subsisted; and with regard also to our Indian neighbours with
+whom we have been in a state of enmity or misunderstanding, opens a
+wide field for consoling and gratifying reflections. If by prudence
+and moderation on every side, the extinguishment of all the causes of
+external discord which have heretofore menaced our tranquillity, on
+terms compatible with our national faith and honour, shall be the
+happy results,--how firm and how precious a foundation will have been
+laid for accelerating, maturing, and establishing the prosperity of
+our country."
+
+After presenting an animated picture of the situation of the United
+States, and recommending several objects to the attention of the
+legislature, the President concluded with observing: "Temperate
+discussion of the important subjects that may arise in the course of
+the session, and mutual forbearance where there is a difference in
+opinion, are too obvious and necessary for the peace, happiness, and
+welfare of our country, to need any recommendation of mine."
+
+In the senate, an address was reported which echoed back the
+sentiments of the speech.
+
+In this house of representatives, as in the last, the party in
+opposition to the administration had obtained a majority. This party
+was unanimously hostile to the treaty with Great Britain; and it was
+expected that their answer to the speech of the President would
+indicate their sentiments on a subject which continued to agitate the
+whole American people. The answer reported by the committee contained
+a declaration, that the confidence of his fellow citizens in the chief
+magistrate remained undiminished.
+
+On a motion, to strike out the words importing this sentiment, it was
+averred, that the clause asserted an untruth. It was not true that the
+confidence of the people in the President was undiminished. By a
+recent transaction it had been considerably impaired; and some
+gentlemen declared that their own confidence in him was lessened.
+
+By the friends of the administration, the motion was opposed with
+great zeal, and the opinion that the confidence of the people in their
+chief magistrate remained unshaken, was maintained with ardour. But
+they were outnumbered.
+
+To avoid a direct vote on the proposition, it was moved, that the
+address should be recommitted. This motion succeeded, and, two members
+being added to the committee, an answer was reported in which the
+clause objected to was so modified as to be free from exception.
+
+That part of the speech which mentioned the treaty with Great Britain
+was alluded to in terms which, though not directly expressive of
+disapprobation, were sufficiently indicative of the prevailing
+sentiment.
+
+Early in the month of January the President transmitted to both houses
+of congress a message, accompanying certain communications from the
+French government which were well calculated to cherish those ardent
+feelings that prevailed in the legislature.
+
+It was the fortune of Mr. Monroe to reach Paris, soon after the death
+of Robespierre, and the fall of the Jacobins. On his reception as the
+minister of the United States, which was public, and in the
+convention, he gave free scope to the genuine feelings of his heart;
+and, at the same time, delivered to the President of that body, with
+his credentials, two letters addressed by the secretary of state to
+the committee of public safety. These letters were answers to one
+written by the committee of safety to the congress of the United
+States. The executive department being the organ through which all
+foreign intercourse was to be conducted, each branch of the
+legislature had passed a resolution directing this letter to be
+transmitted to the President, with a request, that he would cause it
+to be answered in terms expressive of their friendly dispositions
+towards the French republic.
+
+So fervent were the sentiments expressed on this occasion, that the
+convention decreed that the flag of the American and French republics
+should be united together, and suspended in its own hall, in testimony
+of eternal union and friendship between the two people. To evince the
+impression made on his mind by this act, and the grateful sense of his
+constituents, Mr. Monroe presented to the convention the flag of the
+United States, which he prayed them to accept as a proof of the
+sensibility with which his country received every act of friendship
+from its ally, and of the pleasure with which it cherished every
+incident which tended to cement and consolidate the union between the
+two nations.
+
+[Sidenote: Mr. Adet succeeds Mr. Fauchet.]
+
+The committee of safety, disregarding the provisions of the American
+constitution, although their attention must have been particularly
+directed to them by the circumstance that the letter to congress was
+referred by that body to the executive, again addressed the
+legislature in terms adapted to that department of government which
+superintends its foreign intercourse, and expressive, among other
+sentiments, of the sensibility with which the French nation had
+perceived those sympathetic emotions with which the American people
+had viewed the vicissitudes of her fortune. Mr. Adet, who was to
+succeed Mr. Fauchet at Philadelphia, and who was the bearer of this
+letter, also brought with him the colours of France, which he was
+directed to present to the United States. He arrived in the summer;
+but probably in the idea that these communications were to be made by
+him directly to congress, did not announce them to the executive until
+late in December.
+
+{1796}
+
+The first day of the new year was named for their reception; when the
+colours were delivered to the President, and the letter to congress
+also was placed in his hands.
+
+In executing this duty, Mr. Adet addressed a speech to the President,
+which, in the glowing language of his country, represented France as
+struggling, not only for her own liberty, but for that of the human
+race. "Assimilated to, or rather identified with free people by the
+form of her government, she saw in them," he said, "only friends and
+brothers. Long accustomed to regard the American people as her most
+faithful allies, she sought to draw closer the ties already formed in
+the fields of America, under the auspices of victory, over the ruins
+of tyranny."
+
+To answer this speech was a task of some delicacy. It was necessary to
+express feelings adapted to the occasion, without implying sentiments
+with respect to the belligerent powers, which might be improper to be
+used by the chief magistrate of a neutral country. With a view to both
+these objects, the President made the following reply:
+
+"Born, sir, in a land of liberty; having early learned its value;
+having engaged in a perilous conflict to defend it; having, in a word,
+devoted the best years of my life to secure its permanent
+establishment in my own country; my anxious recollections, my
+sympathetic feelings, and my best wishes, are irresistibly attracted,
+whensoever, in any country, I see an oppressed nation unfurl the
+banners of freedom. But above all, the events of the French revolution
+have produced the deepest solicitude, as well as the highest
+admiration. To call your nation brave, were to pronounce but common
+praise. Wonderful people! Ages to come will read with astonishment the
+history of your brilliant exploits. I rejoice that the period of your
+toils, and of your immense sacrifices is approaching. I rejoice that
+the interesting revolutionary movements of so many years have issued
+in the formation of a constitution,[40] designed to give permanency to
+the great object for which you have contended. I rejoice that liberty,
+which you have so long embraced with enthusiasm,--liberty, of which
+you have been the invincible defenders, now finds an asylum in the
+bosom of a regularly organized government;--a government which, being
+formed to secure the happiness of the French people, corresponds with
+the ardent wishes of my heart, while it gratifies the pride of every
+citizen of the United States by its resemblance to their own. On these
+glorious events, accept, sir, my sincere congratulations.
+
+     [Footnote 40: Subsequent to the mission of Mr. Adet, but
+     previous to this time, the revolutionary government which
+     succeeded the abolition of monarchy had yielded to the
+     constitution of the republican form.]
+
+"In delivering to you these sentiments, I express not my own feelings
+only, but those of my fellow citizens in relation to the commencement,
+the progress, and the issue of the French revolution: and they will
+certainly join with me in purest wishes to the Supreme Being, that the
+citizens of our sister republic, our magnanimous allies, may soon
+enjoy in peace, that liberty which they have purchased at so great a
+price, and all the happiness that liberty can bestow.
+
+"I receive, sir, with lively sensibility, the symbol of the triumphs,
+and of the infranchisements of your nation, the colours of France,
+which you have now presented to the United States. The transaction
+will be announced to congress, and the colours will be deposited with
+the archives of the United States, which are at once the evidence and
+the memorials of their freedom and independence; may these be
+perpetual! and may the friendship of the two republics be commensurate
+with their existence."
+
+The address of Mr. Adet, the answer of the President, and the colours
+of France, were transmitted to congress with the letter from the
+committee of safety.
+
+In the house of representatives a resolution was moved, requesting the
+President to make known to the representatives of the French republic,
+the sincere and lively sensations which were excited by this
+honourable testimony of the existing sympathy and affections of the
+two republics; that the house rejoiced in an opportunity of
+congratulating the French republic on the brilliant and glorious
+achievements accomplished during the present afflictive war; and hoped
+that those achievements would be attended with a perfect attainment of
+their object, the permanent establishment of the liberty and happiness
+of that great and magnanimous people.
+
+The letter to congress having come from the committee of safety,
+which, under the revolutionary system, was the department that was
+charged with foreign intercourse; and a constitution having been
+afterwards adopted in France, by which an executive directory was
+established, to which all the foreign relations of the government were
+confided, an attempt was made to amend this resolution, by
+substituting the directory for the representatives of the people. But
+this attempt failed; after which the resolution passed unanimously.
+
+In the senate also a resolution was offered, expressive of the
+sensations of that house, and requesting the President to communicate
+them to the proper organ of the French republic. An amendment was
+moved to vary this resolution so as to express the sentiment to the
+President, and omit the request that it should be communicated to the
+French republic. The complimentary correspondence between the two
+nations, had, it was said, reached a point, when, if ever, it ought to
+close. This amendment, though strenuously combated by the opposition,
+was adopted.
+
+In February, the treaty with Great Britain was returned, in the form
+advised by the senate, ratified by his Britannic Majesty. The
+constitution declaring a treaty, when made, the supreme law of the
+land, the President announced it officially to the people in a
+proclamation, requiring from all persons its observance and execution;
+a copy of which was transmitted to each house on the 1st of March.
+
+The party which had obtained the majority in one branch of the
+legislature, having openly denied the right of the President to
+negotiate a treaty of commerce, was not a little dissatisfied at his
+venturing to issue this proclamation before the sense of the house of
+representatives had been declared on the obligation of the instrument.
+
+[Sidenote: The house of representatives call upon the president for
+papers relating to the treaty with Great Britain.]
+
+This dissatisfaction was not concealed. On the 2d of March, Mr.
+Livingston laid upon the table a resolution, requesting the President
+"to lay before the house a copy of the instructions to the minister of
+the United States, who negotiated the treaty with the king of Great
+Britain, communicated by his message of the 1st of March, together
+with the correspondence and other documents relative to the said
+treaty."
+
+On the 7th of March, he amended this resolution by adding the words,
+"excepting such of the said papers as any existing negotiation may
+render improper to be disclosed."
+
+After some debate, Mr. Madison proposed to modify the amendment of Mr.
+Livingston, so as to except such papers, as in the judgment of the
+President, it might be inconsistent with the interest of the United
+States at this time to disclose. This proposition was rejected by a
+majority of ten voices, and the discussion of the original resolution
+was resumed. The debate soon glided into an argument on the nature and
+extent of the treaty making power.
+
+The friends of the administration maintained, that a treaty was a
+contract between two nations, which, under the constitution, the
+President, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, had a
+right to make; and that it was made when, by and with such advice and
+consent, it had received his final act. Its obligations then became
+complete on the United States; and to refuse to comply with its
+stipulations, was to break the treaty, and to violate the faith of the
+nation.
+
+The opposition contended, that the power to make treaties, if
+applicable to every object, conflicted with powers which were vested
+exclusively in congress. That either the treaty making power must be
+limited in its operation, so as not to touch objects committed by the
+constitution to congress, or the assent and co-operation of the house
+of representatives must be required to give validity to any compact,
+so far as it might comprehend those objects. A treaty, therefore,
+which required an appropriation of money, or any act of congress to
+carry it into effect, had not acquired its obligatory force until the
+house of representatives had exercised its powers in the case. They
+were at full liberty to make, or to withhold, such appropriation, or
+other law, without incurring the imputation of violating any existing
+obligation, or of breaking the faith of the nation.
+
+The debate on this question was animated, vehement, and argumentative;
+all the party passions were enlisted in it; and it was protracted
+until the 24th of March, when the resolution was carried in the
+affirmative by sixty-two to thirty-seven voices. The next day, the
+committee appointed to present it to the chief magistrate reported his
+answer, which was, "that he would take the resolution into
+consideration."
+
+The situation in which this vote placed the President was peculiarly
+delicate. In an elective government, the difficulty of resisting the
+popular branch of the legislature is at all times great, but is
+particularly so when the passions of the public have been strongly and
+generally excited. The popularity of a demand for information, the
+large majority by which that demand was supported, the additional
+force which a refusal to comply with it would give to suspicions
+already insinuated, that circumstances had occurred in the negotiation
+which the administration dared not expose, and that the President was
+separating himself from the representatives of the people, furnished
+motives, not lightly to be over-ruled, for yielding to the request
+which had been made.
+
+[Illustration: George Washington
+
+_From the profile portrait by James Sharples_
+
+_Sharples painted two pictures of Washington--this portrait showing
+him in the costume of a country gentleman, distinguished as being the
+only profile of the First President ever painted, and a full face
+presentation of him in military dress, reproduced in Volume IV of this
+work._
+
+_Sharples, an English painter by birth, was recommended by the great
+George Romney as being equipped to produce a work "worthy of the
+greatest of Americans." His success is attested by the praise of
+Washington's adopted son, who declared the Sharples portraits to be
+"the truest likenesses ever made," and by Ralph Waldo Emerson, who saw
+the pictures later in England and wrote: "I would willingly have
+crossed the Atlantic, if only to look on these portraits."_
+
+Courtesy Herbert L. Pratt]
+
+But these considerations were opposed by others which, though less
+operative with men who fear to deserve the public favour by hazarding
+its loss, possess an irresistible influence over a mind resolved to
+pursue steadily the path of duty, however it may abound with thorns.
+
+That the future diplomatic transactions of the government might be
+seriously and permanently affected by establishing the principle that
+the house of representatives could demand as a right, the instructions
+given to a foreign minister, and all the papers connected with a
+negotiation, was too apparent to be unobserved. Nor was it less
+obvious that a compliance with the request now made, would go far in
+establishing this principle. The form of the request, and the motives
+which induced it, equally led to this conclusion. It left nothing to
+the discretion of the President with regard to the public interests;
+and the information was asked for the avowed purpose of determining
+whether the house of representatives would give effect to a public
+treaty.
+
+It was also a subject for serious reflection, that in a debate
+unusually elaborate, the house of representatives had claimed a right
+of interference in the formation of treaties, which, in the judgment
+of the President, the constitution had denied them. Duties the most
+sacred requiring that he should resist this encroachment on the
+department which was particularly confided to him, he could not
+hesitate respecting the course it became him to take; and on the 30th
+of March he returned the following answer to the resolution which had
+been presented to him.
+
+"Gentlemen of the house of representatives,
+
+"With the utmost attention I have considered your resolution of the
+24th instant, requesting me to lay before your house, a copy of the
+instructions to the minister of the United States, who negotiated the
+treaty with the king of Great Britain, together with the
+correspondence and other documents relative to that treaty, excepting
+such of the said papers, as any existing negotiation may render
+improper to be disclosed.
+
+"In deliberating upon this subject, it was impossible for me to lose
+sight of the principle which some have avowed in its discussion, or to
+avoid extending my views to the consequences which must flow from the
+admission of that principle.
+
+"I trust that no part of my conduct has ever indicated a disposition
+to withhold any information which the constitution has enjoined it
+upon the President as a duty to give, or which could be required of
+him by either house of congress as a right; and with truth I affirm,
+that it has been, as it will continue to be, while I have the honour
+to preside in the government, my constant endeavour to harmonize with
+the other branches thereof, so far as the trust delegated to me by the
+people of the United States, and my sense of the obligation it
+imposes, to preserve, protect and defend the constitution[41] will
+permit.
+
+     [Footnote 41: The words of the oath of office prescribed for
+     the chief magistrate.]
+
+"The nature of foreign negotiations require caution, and their success
+must often depend on secrecy: and even when brought to a conclusion, a
+full disclosure of all the measures, demands, or eventual concessions
+which may have been proposed or contemplated would be extremely
+impolitic; for this might have a pernicious influence on future
+negotiations, or produce immediate inconveniences, perhaps danger and
+mischief to other persons. The necessity of such caution and secrecy
+was one cogent reason for vesting the power of making treaties in the
+President, with the advice and consent of the senate, the principle on
+which that body was formed confining it to a small number of members.
+
+"To admit then a right in the house of representatives to demand, and
+to have as a matter of course, all the papers respecting a negotiation
+with a foreign power, would be to establish a dangerous precedent.
+
+"It does not occur that the inspection of the papers asked for, can be
+relative to any purpose under the cognizance of the house of
+representatives, except that of an impeachment, which the resolution
+has not expressed. I repeat that I have no disposition to withhold any
+information which the duty of my station will permit, or the public
+good shall require to be disclosed; and in fact, all the papers
+affecting the negotiation with Great Britain were laid before the
+senate, when the treaty itself was communicated for their
+consideration and advice.
+
+"The course which the debate has taken on the resolution of the house,
+leads to some observations on the mode of making treaties under the
+constitution of the United States.
+
+"Having been a member of the general convention, and knowing the
+principles on which the constitution was formed, I have ever
+entertained but one opinion upon this subject; and from the first
+establishment of the government to this moment, my conduct has
+exemplified that opinion. That the power of making treaties is
+exclusively vested in the President, by and with the advice and
+consent of the senate, provided two-thirds of the senators present
+concur; and that every treaty so made and promulgated, thenceforward
+becomes the law of the land. It is thus that the treaty making power
+has been understood by foreign nations: and in all the treaties made
+with them, _we_ have declared, and _they_ have believed, that when
+ratified by the President with the advice and consent of the senate,
+they became obligatory. In this construction of the constitution,
+every house of representatives has heretofore acquiesced; and until
+the present time, not a doubt or suspicion has appeared to my
+knowledge, that this construction was not a true one. Nay, they have
+more than acquiesced; for until now, without controverting the
+obligation of such treaties, they have made all the requisite
+provisions for carrying them into effect.
+
+"There is also reason to believe that this construction agrees with
+the opinions entertained by the state conventions when they were
+deliberating on the constitution; especially by those who objected to
+it, because there was not required in commercial treaties, the consent
+of two-thirds of the whole number of the members of the senate,
+instead of two-thirds of the senators present; and because in treaties
+respecting territorial and certain other rights and claims, the
+concurrence of three-fourths of the whole number of the members of
+both houses respectively was not made necessary.
+
+"It is a fact declared by the general convention and universally
+understood, that the constitution of the United States was the result
+of a spirit of amity and mutual concession. And it is well known, that
+under this influence, the smaller states were admitted to an equal
+representation in the senate with the larger states; and that this
+branch of the government was invested with great powers; for on the
+equal participation of those powers, the sovereignty and political
+safety of the smaller states were deemed essentially to depend.
+
+"If other proofs than these and the plain letter of the constitution
+itself be necessary to ascertain the point under consideration, they
+may be found in the journals of the general convention which I have
+deposited in the office of the department of state. In these journals
+it will appear, that a proposition was made 'that no treaty should be
+binding on the United States which was not ratified by a law,' and
+that the proposition was explicitly rejected.
+
+[Sidenote: He declines sending them.]
+
+"As therefore it is perfectly clear to my understanding that the
+assent of the house of representatives is not necessary to the
+validity of a treaty; as the treaty with Great Britain exhibits in
+itself all the objects requiring legislative provision; and on these
+the papers called for can throw no light; and as it is essential to
+the due administration of the government that the boundaries fixed by
+the constitution between the different departments should be
+preserved; a just regard to the constitution, and to the duty of my
+office, under all the circumstances of this case, forbid a compliance
+with your request."
+
+The terms in which this decided, and, it would seem, unexpected
+negative to the call for papers was conveyed, appeared to break the
+last cord of that attachment which had theretofore bound some of the
+active leaders of the opposition to the person of the President.
+Amidst all the agitations and irritations of party, a sincere respect,
+and real affection for the chief magistrate, the remnant of former
+friendship, had still lingered in the bosoms of some who had engaged
+with ardour in the political contests of the day. But, if the last
+spark of this affection was not now extinguished, it was at least
+concealed under the more active passions of the moment.
+
+[Sidenote: Debates upon the treaty making power.]
+
+A motion to refer the message of the President to a committee of the
+whole house, was carried by a large majority. In committee,
+resolutions were moved by Mr. Blount of North Carolina, declaratory of
+the sense of the house respecting its own power on the subject of
+treaties. These resolutions take a position less untenable than had
+been maintained in argument, and rather inexplicit on an essential
+part of the question. Disclaiming a power to interfere in making
+treaties, they assert the right of the house of representatives,
+whenever stipulations are made on subjects committed by the
+constitution to congress, to deliberate on the expediency of carrying
+them into effect, without deciding what degree of obligation the
+treaty possesses on the nation, so far as respects those points,
+previous to such deliberation. After a debate in which the message was
+freely criticised, the resolutions were carried, fifty-seven voting in
+the affirmative, and thirty-five in the negative.
+
+In the course of the month of March, the treaties with his Catholic
+majesty, and with the Dey of Algiers, had been ratified by the
+President, and were laid before congress. On the 13th of April, in a
+committee of the whole house on the state of the union, the instant
+the chairman was seated, Mr. Sedgewick moved "that provision ought to
+be made by law for carrying into effect with good faith the treaties
+lately concluded with the Dey and Regency of Algiers, the King of
+Great Britain, the King of Spain, and certain Indian tribes north-west
+of the Ohio."
+
+This motion produced a warm altercation. The members of the majority
+complained loudly of the celerity with which it had been made, and
+resented the attempt to blend together four treaties in the same
+resolution, after the solemn vote entered upon their journals,
+declaratory of their right to exercise a free discretion over the
+subject, as an indignity to the opinions and feelings of the house.
+
+After a discussion manifesting the irritation which existed, the
+resolution was amended, by changing the word "treaties" from the
+plural to the singular number, and by striking out the words "Dey and
+Regency of Algiers, the King of Great Britain, and certain Indian
+tribes north-west of the river Ohio," so that only the treaty with the
+King of Spain remained to be considered.
+
+Mr. Gallatin then objected to the words "provision ought to be made by
+law," as the expression seemed to imply a negative of the principle
+laid down in their resolution, that the house was at perfect liberty
+to pass, or not to pass, any law for giving effect to a treaty. In
+lieu of them, he wished to introduce words declaring the expediency of
+passing the necessary laws. This amendment was objected to as an
+innovation on the forms which had been invariably observed; but it was
+carried; after which, the words "with good faith," were also
+discarded.
+
+The resolution thus amended was agreed to without a dissenting voice;
+and then, similar resolutions were passed respecting the treaties with
+Algiers, and with the Indians north-west of the Ohio.
+
+[Sidenote: Upon the bill for making appropriations to carry into
+execution the treaty with Great Britain.]
+
+This business being despatched, the treaty with Great Britain was
+brought before the house. The friends of that instrument urged an
+immediate decision of the question. On a subject which had so long
+agitated the whole community, the judgment of every member, they
+believed, was completely formed; and the hope to make converts by
+argument was desperate. In fact, they appeared to have entertained the
+opinion that the majority would not dare to encounter the immense
+responsibility of breaking that treaty, without previously
+ascertaining that the great body of the people were willing to meet
+the consequences of the measure. But the members of the opposition,
+though confident of their power to reject the resolution, called for
+its discussion. The expectation might not unreasonably have been
+entertained, that the passions belonging to the subject would be so
+inflamed by debate, as to produce the expression of a public sentiment
+favourable to their wishes; and, if in this they should be
+disappointed, it would be certainly unwise, either as a party, or as a
+branch of the legislature, to plunge the nation into embarrassments in
+which it was not disposed to entangle itself, and from which the means
+of extricating it could not be distinctly perceived.
+
+The minority soon desisted from urging an immediate decision of the
+question; and the spacious field which was opened by the propositions
+before the house, seemed to be entered with equal avidity and
+confidence by both parties.
+
+At no time perhaps have the members of the national legislature been
+stimulated to great exertions by stronger feelings than impelled them
+on this occasion. Never has a greater display been made of argument,
+of eloquence, and of passion; and never has a subject been discussed
+in which all classes of their fellow citizens took a deeper interest.
+
+To those motives which a doubtful contest for power, and for victory,
+can not fail to furnish, were added others of vast influence on the
+human mind. Those who supported the resolution, declaring the
+expediency of carrying the treaty into effect, firmly believed that
+the faith of the nation was pledged, and that its honour, its
+character, and its constitution, depended on the vote about to be
+given. They also believed that the best interests of the United States
+required an observance of the compact as formed. In itself, it was
+thought as favourable as the situation of the contracting parties, and
+of the world, entitled them to expect; but its chief merit consisted
+in the adjustment of ancient differences, and in its tendency to
+produce future amicable dispositions, and friendly intercourse. If
+congress should refuse to perform this treaty on the part of the
+United States, a compliance on the part of Great Britain could not be
+expected. The posts on the great lakes would still be occupied by
+their garrisons; no compensation would be made for American vessels
+illegally captured; the hostile dispositions which had been excited
+would be restored with increased aggravation; and that these
+dispositions must lead infallibly to war, was implicitly believed.
+They also believed that the political subjugation of their country
+would be the inevitable consequence of a war with Britain, during the
+existing impassioned devotion of the United States to France.
+
+The opposite party was undoubtedly of opinion that the treaty
+contained stipulations really injurious to the United States. Several
+favourite principles to which they attached much importance, were
+relinquished by it; and some of the articles relative to commerce,
+were believed to be unequal in their operation. Nor ought the
+sincerity with which their opinion on the constitutional powers of the
+house had been advanced, to be questioned. In the fervour of political
+discussion, that construction which, without incurring the imputation
+of violating the national faith, would enable the popular branch of
+the legislature to control the President and senate in making
+treaties, may have been thought the safe and the correct construction.
+But no consideration appears to have had more influence than the
+apprehension that the amicable arrangements made with Great Britain,
+would seriously affect the future relations of the United States with
+France.
+
+Might a conjecture on this subject be hazarded, it would be that, in
+the opinion of many intelligent men, the preservation of that honest
+and real neutrality between the belligerent powers, at which the
+executive had aimed, was impracticable; that America would probably be
+forced into the war; and that the possibility of a rupture with France
+was a calamity too tremendous not to be avoided at every hazard.
+
+As had been foreseen, this animated debate was on a subject too deeply
+and immediately interesting to the people, not to draw forth their
+real sentiments. The whole country was agitated; meetings were again
+held throughout the United States; and the strength of parties was
+once more tried.
+
+The fallacy of many of the objections to the treaty had been exposed,
+the odium originally excited against it had been diminished, the
+belief that its violation would infallibly precipitate the nation into
+a war, if not universal, was extensive. These considerations brought
+reflecting men into action; and the voice of the nation was pronounced
+unequivocally with the minority in the house of representatives.
+
+This manifestation of the public sentiment was decisive with congress.
+On the 29th of April the question was taken in the committee of the
+whole, and was determined, by the casting vote of the chairman, in
+favour of the expediency of making the necessary laws. The resolution
+was finally carried, fifty-one voting in the affirmative, and
+forty-eight in the negative.
+
+That necessity to which a part of the majority in the house of
+representatives had reluctantly yielded, operated on no other subject;
+nor did it affect the strength of parties. Their opinion respecting
+that system of policy which ought to be observed in their external
+relations, remained the same; and their partialities and prejudices
+for and against foreign nations, sustained no diminution.
+
+With regard to internal affairs also, the same spirit was retained.
+
+So excessive had been the jealousy entertained by the opposition
+against a military force of any kind, that, even under the pressure of
+the Algerine war, the bill providing a naval armament could not be
+carried through the house without the insertion of a section
+suspending all proceedings under the act, should that war be
+terminated. The event which was to arrest the executive in the
+prosecution of this work having occurred, not a single frigate could
+be completed, without further authority from the legislature. This
+circumstance was the more important, as a peace had not been concluded
+with Tunis, or Tripoli; and, of consequence, the Mediterranean could
+not yet be safely navigated by the vessels of the United States. The
+President called the attention of congress to this subject; and stated
+the loss which would accrue from the sudden interruption of the work,
+and dispersion of the workmen. A bill to enable him to complete three,
+instead of six frigates, was with difficulty carried through the
+house.
+
+But, except the treaty with Great Britain, no subject was brought
+forward in which parties felt a deeper interest, than on those
+questions which related to the revenue.
+
+Notwithstanding the increasing productiveness of the duties on
+external commerce, this resource had not yet become entirely adequate
+to the exigencies of the nation. To secure the complete execution of
+the system for gradually redeeming the public debt, without
+disregarding those casualties to which all nations are exposed, it was
+believed that some additional aids to the treasury would be required.
+Upon the nature of these aids, much contrariety of opinion prevailed.
+The friends of the administration were in favour of extending the
+system of indirect internal taxation: but, constituting the minority
+in one branch of the legislature, they could carry no proposition on
+which the opposition was united; and the party which had become the
+majority in the house of representatives, had been generally hostile
+to that mode of obtaining revenue. From an opinion that direct taxes
+were recommended by intrinsic advantages, or that the people would
+become more attentive to the charges against the administration,
+should their money be drawn from them by visible means, those who
+wished power to change hands, had generally manifested a disposition
+to oblige those who exercised it, to resort to a system of revenue, by
+which a great degree of sensibility will always be excited. The
+indirect taxes proposed in the committee of ways and means were
+strongly resisted; and only that which proposed an augmentation of the
+duty on carriages for pleasure was passed into a law.
+
+[Sidenote: Congress adjourns.]
+
+On the first day of June, this long and interesting session was
+terminated. No preceding legislature had been engaged in discussions
+by which their own passions, or those of their constituents were more
+strongly excited; nor on subjects more vitally important to the United
+States.
+
+From this view of the angry contests of party, it may not be
+unacceptable to turn aside for a moment, and to look back to a
+transaction in which the movements of a feeling heart discover
+themselves, not the less visibly, for being engaged in a struggle with
+the stern duties of a public station.
+
+[Sidenote: The president endeavors to procure the liberation of
+Lafayette.]
+
+No one of those foreigners who, during the war of the revolution, had
+engaged in the service of the United States, had embraced their cause
+with so much enthusiasm, or had held so distinguished a place in the
+affections of General Washington, as the Marquis de Lafayette. The
+attachment of these illustrious personages to each other had been
+openly expressed, and had yielded neither to time, nor to the
+remarkable vicissitude of fortune with which the destinies of one of
+them had been chequered. For his friend, while guiding the course of a
+revolution which fixed the anxious attention of the world, or while a
+prisoner in Prussia, or in the dungeon of Olmutz, the President
+manifested the same esteem, and felt the same solicitude. The extreme
+jealousy, however, with which the persons who administered the
+government of France, as well as a large party in America, watched his
+deportment towards all those whom the ferocious despotism of the
+Jacobins had exiled from their country, imposed upon him the painful
+necessity of observing great circumspection in his official conduct,
+on this delicate subject. A formal interposition in favour of the
+virtuous and unfortunate victim of their furious passions, would have
+been unavailing. Without benefiting the person whom it would be
+designed to aid, it might produce serious political mischief. But the
+American ministers employed at foreign courts were instructed to seize
+every fair occasion to express, unofficially, the interest taken by
+the President in the fate of Lafayette; and to employ the most
+eligible means in their power to obtain his liberty, or to meliorate
+his situation. A confidential person[42] had been sent to Berlin to
+solicit his discharge: but before this messenger had reached his
+destination, the King of Prussia had delivered over his illustrious
+prisoner to the Emperor of Germany. Mr. Pinckney had been instructed
+not only to indicate the wishes of the President to the Austrian
+minister at London, but to endeavour, unofficially, to obtain the
+powerful mediation of Britain; and had at one time flattered himself
+that the cabinet of St. James would take an interest in the case; but
+this hope was soon dissipated.
+
+     [Footnote 42: Mr. James Marshall.]
+
+After being disappointed in obtaining the mediation of the British
+cabinet, the President addressed the following letter to the Emperor
+of Germany.
+
+"It will readily occur to your majesty that occasions may sometimes
+exist, on which official considerations would constrain the chief of a
+nation to be silent and passive in relation even to objects which
+affect his sensibility and claim his interposition as a man. Finding
+myself precisely in this situation at present, I take the liberty of
+writing this private letter to your majesty, being persuaded that my
+motives will also be my apology for it.
+
+"In common with the people of this country, I retain a strong and
+cordial sense of the services rendered to them by the Marquis de
+Lafayette; and my friendship for him has been constant and sincere. It
+is natural, therefore, that I should sympathize with him and his
+family in their misfortunes, and endeavour to mitigate the calamities
+they experience, among which his present confinement is not the least
+distressing.
+
+"I forbear to enlarge on this delicate subject. Permit me only to
+submit to your majesty's consideration, whether his long imprisonment,
+and the confiscation of his estate, and the indigence and dispersion
+of his family, and the painful anxieties incident to all these
+circumstances, do not form an assemblage of sufferings which recommend
+him to the mediation of humanity? allow me, sir, on this occasion, to
+be its organ; and to entreat that he may be permitted to come to this
+country, on such conditions, and under such restrictions, as your
+majesty may think it expedient to prescribe.
+
+"As it is a maxim with me not to ask what, under similar
+circumstances, I would not grant, your majesty will do me the justice
+to believe that this request appears to me to correspond with those
+great principles of magnanimity and wisdom, which form the basis of
+sound policy, and durable glory."
+
+This letter was transmitted to Mr. Pinckney to be conveyed to the
+Emperor through his minister at London. How far it operated in
+mitigating immediately the rigour of Lafayette's confinement, or in
+obtaining his liberation, remains unascertained.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+     Letter from General Washington to Mr. Jefferson.... Hostile
+     measures of France against the United States.... Mr. Monroe
+     recalled and General Pinckney appointed to succeed him....
+     General Washington's valedictory address to the people of
+     the United States.... The Minister of France endeavours to
+     influence the approaching election.... The President's
+     speech to Congress.... He denies the authenticity of certain
+     spurious letters published in 1776.... John Adams elected
+     President, and Thomas Jefferson Vice President.... General
+     Washington retires to Mount Vernon.... Political situation
+     of the United States at this period.... The French
+     government refuses to receive General Pinckney as
+     Minister.... Congress is convened.... President's speech....
+     Three envoys extraordinary deputed to France.... Their
+     treatment.... Measures of hostility adopted by the American
+     government against France.... General Washington appointed
+     Commander-in-chief of the American army.... His death....
+     And character.
+
+
+{1796}
+
+The confidential friends of the President had long known his fixed
+purpose to retire from office at the end of his second term, and the
+people generally suspected it. Those who dreaded a change of system,
+in changing the person, of the chief magistrate, manifested an earnest
+desire to avoid this hazard, by being permitted once more to offer to
+the public choice a person who, amidst all the fierce conflicts of
+party, still remained the object of public veneration. But his
+resolution was to be shaken only by the obvious approach of a perilous
+crisis, which, endangering the safety of the nation, would make it
+unworthy of his character, and incompatible with his principles, to
+retreat from its service. In the apprehension that the co-operation of
+external with internal causes might bring about such a crisis, he had
+yielded to the representations of those who urged him to leave himself
+master of his conduct, by withholding a public declaration of his
+intention, until the propriety of affording a reasonable time to fix
+on a successor should require its disclosure. "If," said Colonel
+Hamilton in a letter on this subject of the fifth of July, "a storm
+gathers, how can you retreat? this is a most serious question."
+
+The suspense produced in the public opinion by this silence on the
+part of the chief magistrate, seemed to redouble the efforts of those
+who laboured to rob him of the affection of the people, and to attach
+odium to the political system which he had pursued. As passion alone
+is able successfully to contend with passion, they still sought, in
+the hate which America bore to Britain, and in her love to France, for
+the most powerful means with which to eradicate her love to
+Washington. Amongst the various artifices employed to effect this
+object, was the publication of those queries which had been propounded
+by the President to his cabinet council, previous to the arrival of
+Mr. Genet. This publication was intended to demonstrate the existence
+of a disposition in the chief magistrate unfriendly to the French
+republic, of "a Machiavellian policy, which nothing but the universal
+sentiment of enthusiastic affection displayed by the _people_ of the
+United States, on the arrival of Mr. Genet, could have subdued." Some
+idea of the intemperance of the day may be formed from the conclusion
+of that number of a series of virulent essays, in which these queries
+were inserted, and from recollecting that it was addressed to a man
+who, more than any other, had given character as well as independence
+to his country; and whose life, devoted to her service, had exhibited
+one pure undeviating course of virtuous exertion to promote her
+interests.
+
+It is in these words: "The foregoing queries were transmitted for
+consideration to the heads of departments, previously to a meeting to
+be held at the President's house. The text needs no commentary. It has
+stamped upon its front in characters brazen enough for idolatry to
+comprehend, perfidy and ingratitude. To doubt in such a case was
+dishonourable, to proclaim those doubts treachery. For the honour of
+the American character and of human nature, it is to be lamented that
+the records of the United States exhibit such a stupendous monument of
+degeneracy. It will almost require the authenticity of holy writ to
+persuade posterity that it is not a libel ingeniously contrived to
+injure the reputation of the saviour of his country."
+
+As this state paper was perfectly confidential, and had been
+communicated only to the cabinet ministers, Mr. Jefferson thought
+proper to free himself from any possible suspicion of having given it
+publicity, by assuring the President that this breach of confidence
+must be ascribed to some other person.
+
+[Sidenote: Letter from General Washington to Mr. Jefferson.]
+
+In answer to this letter the President said--
+
+"If I had entertained any suspicion before, that the queries which
+have been published in Bache's paper proceeded from you, the
+assurances you have given of the contrary would have removed
+them:--but the truth is, I harboured none. I am at no loss to
+conjecture from what source they flowed, through what channel they
+were conveyed, nor for what purpose they and similar publications
+appear.
+
+"As you have mentioned[43] the subject yourself, it would not be
+frank, candid, or friendly to conceal, that your conduct has been
+represented as derogating from that opinion I conceived you
+entertained of me; that to your particular friends and connexions you
+have described, and they have denounced me, as a person under a
+dangerous influence, and that, if I would listen _more_ to some
+_other_ opinions, all would be well. My answer invariably has been,
+that I had never discovered any thing in the conduct of Mr. Jefferson
+to raise suspicions in my mind of his sincerity; that if he would
+retrace my public conduct while he was in the administration, abundant
+proofs would occur to him, that truth and right decisions were the
+_sole_ objects of my pursuit; that there were as many instances within
+his _own_ knowledge of my having decided _against_ as in _favour_ of
+the person evidently alluded to; and moreover, that I was no believer
+in the infallibility of the politics or measures of any man living. In
+short, that I was no party man myself, and that the first wish of my
+heart was, if parties did exist, to reconcile them.
+
+     [Footnote 43: In the same letter Mr. Jefferson had stated
+     his total abstraction from party questions.]
+
+"To this I may add, and very truly, that until the last year or two, I
+had no conception that parties would, or even could go the lengths I
+have been witness to; nor did I believe, until lately, that it was
+within the bounds of probability--hardly within those of
+possibility--that while I was using my utmost exertions to establish a
+national character of our own, independent as far as our obligations
+and justice would permit, of every nation of the earth; and wished by
+steering a steady course to preserve this country from the horrors of
+a desolating war, I should be accused of being the enemy of one nation
+and subject to the influence of another; and to prove it, that every
+act of my administration would be tortured, and the grossest and most
+insidious misrepresentations of them be made, by giving one side only
+of a subject, and that too in such exaggerated and indecent terms as
+could scarcely be applied to a Nero--to a notorious defaulter--or even
+to a common pick-pocket.
+
+"But enough of this--I have already gone further in the expression of
+my feelings than I intended."
+
+Of the numerous misrepresentations and fabrications which, with
+unwearied industry, were pressed upon the public in order to withdraw
+the confidence of the nation from its chief, no one marked more
+strongly the depravity of that principle which justifies the means by
+the end, than the republication of certain forged letters, purporting
+to have been written by General Washington in the year 1776.
+
+These letters had been originally published in the year 1777, and in
+them were interspersed, with domestic occurrences which might give
+them the semblance of verity, certain political sentiments favourable
+to Britain in the then existing contest.
+
+But the original fabricator of these papers missed his aim. It was
+necessary to assign the manner in which the possession of them was
+acquired; and in executing this part of his task, circumstances were
+stated so notoriously untrue, that, at the time, the meditated
+imposition deceived no person.
+
+In the indefatigable research for testimony which might countenance
+the charge that the executive was unfriendly to France, and under the
+influence of Britain, these letters were drawn from the oblivion into
+which they had sunk, it had been supposed forever, and were
+republished as genuine. The silence with which the President treated
+this as well as every other calumny, was construed into an
+acknowledgment of its truth; and the malignant commentators on this
+spurious text, would not admit the possibility of its being
+apocryphal.
+
+Those who laboured incessantly to establish the favourite position
+that the executive was under other than French influence, reviewed
+every act of the administration connected with its foreign relations,
+and continued to censure every part of the system with extreme
+bitterness. Not only the treaty with Great Britain, but all those
+measures which had been enjoined by the duties of neutrality, were
+reprobated as justly offensive to France; and no opinion which had
+been advanced by Mr. Genet, in his construction of the treaties
+between the two nations, was too extravagant to be approved. The
+ardent patriot can not maintain the choicest rights of his country
+with more zeal than was manifested in supporting all the claims of the
+French republic upon the United States. These discussions were not
+confined to the public prints. In almost every assemblage of
+individuals, whether for social or other purposes, this favourite
+theme excluded all others; and the pretensions of France were
+supported and controverted with equal earnestness. The opposing
+parties, mutually exasperated by unceasing altercations, cherished
+reciprocal suspicions of each other, and each charged its adversary
+with being under a foreign influence.[44] Those who favoured the
+measures adopted by America were accused as the enemies of liberty,
+the enemies of France, and the tools of Britain. In turn, they charged
+their opponents with disseminating principles subversive of all order
+in society; and with supporting a foreign government against their
+own.
+
+     [Footnote 44: See note No. XIV. at the end of the volume.]
+
+Whatever might be the real opinion of the French government on the
+validity of its charges against the United States, those charges were
+too vehemently urged, and too powerfully espoused in America, to be
+abandoned at Paris. If at any time they were in part relinquished,
+they were soon resumed.
+
+For a time, Mr. Fauchet forbore to press the points on which his
+predecessor had insisted; but his complaints of particular cases which
+grew out of the war, and out of the rules which had been established
+by the executive were unremitting. The respectful language in which
+these complaints were at first urged, soon yielded to the style of
+reproach; and in his correspondence with the secretary of state,
+towards its close, he adopted the sentiments, without absolutely
+discarding the manner of Mr. Genet.
+
+Mr. Adet, the successor of Mr. Fauchet, arrived at Philadelphia, while
+the senate was deliberating on the treaty of amity with Great Britain.
+
+In the observations he made on that instrument, when submitted to his
+consideration by order of the President, he complained particularly of
+the abandonment of the principle that free ships should make free
+goods; and urged the injustice, while French cruisers were restrained
+by treaty from taking English goods out of American bottoms, that
+English cruisers should be liberated from the same restraint. No
+demonstration could be more complete than was the fallacy of this
+complaint. But the American government discovered a willingness
+voluntarily to release France from the pressure of a situation in
+which she had elected to place herself.
+
+[Sidenote: Hostile measures of France against the United States.]
+
+In the anxiety which was felt by the President to come to full and
+immediate explanations on this treaty, the American minister at Paris
+had been furnished, even before its ratification, and still more fully
+afterwards, with ample materials for the justification of his
+government. But, misconceiving[45] the views of the administration, he
+reserved these representations to answer complaints which were
+expected, and omitted to make them in the first instance, while the
+course to be pursued by the Directory was under deliberation.
+Meanwhile, his letters kept up the alarm which had been excited with
+regard to the dispositions of France; and intelligence from the West
+Indies served to confirm it. Through a private channel, the President
+received information that the special agents of the Directory in the
+islands were about to issue orders for the capture of all American
+vessels, laden in the whole or in part with provisions, and bound for
+any port within the dominions of the British crown.
+
+     [Footnote 45: See Monroe's View.]
+
+[Sidenote: Mr. Monroe recalled and General Pinckney appointed to
+succeed him.]
+
+Knowing well that the intentions of the executive towards the French
+republic had been at all times friendly, and entertaining a strong
+conviction that its conduct was liable to no just objection, the
+President had relied with confidence on early and candid
+communications, for the removal of any prejudices or misconceptions,
+which the passions of the moment might have occasioned. That the
+French government would be disappointed at the adjustment of those
+differences which had threatened to embroil the United States with
+Great Britain, could not be doubted; but as neither this adjustment,
+nor the arrangements connected with it, had furnished any real cause
+of complaint, he cherished the hope that it would produce no serious
+consequences, if the proper means of prevention should be applied in
+time. He was therefore dissatisfied with delays which he had not
+expected; and seems to have believed that they originated in a want of
+zeal to justify a measure, which neither the minister himself nor his
+political friends had ever approved. To insure an earnest and active
+representation of the true sentiments and views of the administration,
+the President was inclined to depute an envoy extraordinary for the
+particular purpose, who should be united with the actual minister; but
+an objection drawn from the constitution was suggested to this
+measure. During the recess of the senate, the President can only fill
+up vacancies; and the appointment of a minister when no vacancy
+existed, might be supposed to transcend his powers. From respect to
+this construction of the constitution, the resolution was taken to
+appoint a successor to Colonel Monroe. The choice of a person in all
+respects qualified for this mission was not without its difficulty.
+While a disposition friendly to the administration was a requisite not
+to be dispensed with, it was also desirable that the person employed
+should have given no umbrage to the French government. No individual
+who had performed a conspicuous part on the political theatre of
+America, fitted both branches of this description. All who had openly
+sustained with zeal and with talents, the measures of the American
+government, had been marked as the enemies of France, and were on this
+account to be avoided.
+
+For this critical and important service, the President, after some
+deliberation, selected General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, of South
+Carolina, an elder brother of Mr. Thomas Pinckney, the late[46]
+minister of the United States at London. No man in America was more
+perfectly free from exception than this gentleman. Having engaged with
+ardour in that war which gave independence to his country, he had, in
+its progress, sustained from the British army indignities to his
+person, and injuries to his fortune, which are not easily forgotten.
+In the early part of the French revolution, he had felt and expressed
+all the enthusiasm of his countrymen for the establishment of the
+republic; but, after the commencement of its contests with the United
+States, he stood aloof from both those political parties which had
+divided America. Restrained by the official situation of his brother
+during the negotiations which had been carried on with England, he had
+forborne to express any opinion respecting the treaty in which those
+negotiations terminated, and had consequently taken no part with those
+who approved, or with those who condemned that instrument. No man,
+therefore, who had not declared himself unfriendly to the principles
+he would be deputed to support, could be less objectionable to France.
+
+     [Footnote 46: At his own request, Mr. Pinckney had been
+     recalled; and Mr. King, a gentleman whose talents have been
+     universally acknowledged, and whose services will be long
+     recollected with approbation, had succeeded him.]
+
+To the President he was recommended by an intimate knowledge of his
+worth; by a confidence in the sincerity of his personal attachment to
+the chief magistrate; by a conviction that his exertions to effect the
+objects of his mission would be ardent and sincere; and that, whatever
+might be his partialities for France, he possessed a high and delicate
+sense of national as well as individual honour, was jealous for the
+reputation of his country, and tenacious of its rights.
+
+In July, immediately after the appointment of General Pinckney,
+letters were received from Colonel Monroe communicating the official
+complaints against the American government which had been made to him
+in March by Mr. de La Croix, the minister of exterior relations,
+together with his answer to those complaints.
+
+In this answer the American minister had effectually refuted the
+criminations of Mr. de La Croix; and the executive was satisfied with
+it. But the Directory had decided on their system, and it was not by
+reasoning, however conclusive, that this decision was to be changed.
+
+As the time for electing the chief magistrate approached, the anxiety
+of the public respecting the person in office, seemed to increase. In
+states where the electors are chosen by the people, names of great
+political influence were offered for their approbation. The strong
+hold which Washington had taken of the affections of his countrymen
+was, on this occasion, fully evinced. In districts where the
+opposition to his administration was most powerful, where all his
+measures were most loudly condemned, where those who approved his
+system possessed least influence, the men who appeared to control
+public opinion on every other subject, found themselves unable to move
+it on this. Even the most popular among the leaders of the opposition
+were reduced to the necessity of surrendering their pretensions to a
+place in the electoral body, or of pledging themselves to bestow their
+suffrage on the actual President. The determination of his fellow
+citizens had been unequivocally manifested, and it was believed to be
+apparent that the election would again be unanimous, when he announced
+his resolution to withdraw from the honours and the toils of office.
+
+Having long contemplated this event, and having wished to terminate
+his political course with an act which might be at the same time
+suitable to his own character, and permanently useful to his country,
+he had prepared for the occasion a valedictory address, in which, with
+the solicitude of a person, who, in bidding a final adieu to his
+friends, leaves his affections and his anxieties for their welfare
+behind him, he made a last effort to impress upon his countrymen those
+great political truths which had been the guides of his own
+administration, and could alone, in his opinion, form a sure and solid
+basis for the happiness, the independence, and the liberty of the
+United States.
+
+This interesting paper was published in September, at a time when
+hopes were entertained that the discontents of France might be
+appeased by proper representations. It contains precepts to which the
+American statesman can not too frequently recur, and though long, is
+thought too valuable to be omitted or abridged.
+
+[Sidenote: General Washington's valedictory address to the people of
+the United States in which he declines being considered as a candidate
+for the presidency.]
+
+TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES.
+
+"Friends and fellow citizens,
+
+"The period for a new election of a citizen to administer the
+executive government of the United States being not far distant, and
+the time actually arrived when your thoughts must be employed in
+designating the person who is to be clothed with that important trust,
+it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more
+distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprize you
+of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among the
+number of those, out of whom a choice is to be made.
+
+"I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be assured, that
+this resolution has not been taken, without a strict regard to all the
+considerations appertaining to the relation which binds a dutiful
+citizen to his country; and that, in withdrawing the tender of service
+which silence in my situation might imply, I am influenced by no
+diminution of zeal for your future interest; no deficiency of grateful
+respect for your past kindness; but am supported by a full conviction
+that the step is compatible with both.
+
+"The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in the office to which
+your suffrages have twice called me, have been a uniform sacrifice of
+inclination to the opinion of duty and to a deference for what
+appeared to be your desire. I constantly hoped that it would have been
+much earlier in my power, consistently with motives which I was not at
+liberty to disregard, to return to that retirement from which I had
+been reluctantly drawn. The strength of my inclination to do this,
+previous to the last election, had even led to the preparation of an
+address to declare it to you; but mature reflection on the then
+perplexed and critical posture of our affairs with foreign nations,
+and the unanimous advice of persons entitled to my confidence,
+impelled me to abandon the idea.
+
+"I rejoice that the state of your concerns, external as well as
+internal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination incompatible
+with the sentiment of duty or propriety; and am persuaded, whatever
+partiality may be retained for my services, that in the present
+circumstances of our country, you will not disapprove my determination
+to retire.
+
+"The impressions with which I first undertook the arduous trust, were
+explained on the proper occasion. In the discharge of this trust, I
+will only say that I have, with good intentions, contributed towards
+the organization and administration of the government, the best
+exertions of which a very fallible judgment was capable. Not
+unconscious in the outset, of the inferiority of my qualifications,
+experience, in my own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes of others,
+has strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself; and, every day,
+the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and more, that the
+shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome.
+Satisfied that if any circumstances have given peculiar value to my
+services, they were temporary, I have the consolation to believe that,
+while choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene,
+patriotism does not forbid it.
+
+"In looking forward to the moment which is to terminate the career of
+my political life, my feelings do not permit me to suspend the deep
+acknowledgment of that debt of gratitude which I owe to my beloved
+country, for the many honours it has conferred upon me; still more for
+the steadfast confidence with which it has supported me; and for the
+opportunities I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable
+attachment, by services faithful and persevering, though in usefulness
+unequal to my zeal. If benefits have resulted to our country from
+these services, let it always be remembered to your praise, and as an
+instructive example in our annals, that under circumstances in which
+the passions, agitated in every direction, were liable to mislead
+amidst appearances sometimes dubious, vicissitudes of fortune often
+discouraging--in situations in which not unfrequently, want of success
+has countenanced the spirit of criticism--the constancy of your
+support was the essential prop of the efforts, and a guarantee of the
+plans by which they were effected. Profoundly penetrated with this
+idea, I shall carry it with me to my grave, as a strong incitement to
+unceasing vows, that heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of
+its beneficence--that your union and brotherly affection may be
+perpetual--that the free constitution, which is the work of your
+hands, may be sacredly maintained--that its administration in every
+department may be stamped with wisdom and virtue--that, in fine, the
+happiness of the people of these states, under the auspices of
+liberty, may be made complete by so careful a preservation, and so
+prudent a use of this blessing, as will acquire to them the glory of
+recommending it to the applause, the affection, and adoption of every
+nation which is yet a stranger to it.
+
+"Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your welfare,
+which can not end but with my life, and the apprehension of danger,
+natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an occasion like the present,
+to offer to your solemn contemplation, and to recommend to your
+frequent review, some sentiments which are the result of much
+reflection, of no inconsiderable observation, and which appear to me
+all important to the permanency of your felicity as a people. These
+will be offered to you with the more freedom, as you can only see in
+them the disinterested warnings of a parting friend, who can possibly
+have no personal motive to bias his counsel. Nor can I forget, as an
+encouragement to it, your indulgent reception of my sentiments on a
+former and not dissimilar occasion.
+
+"Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your
+hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm
+the attachment.
+
+"The unity of government which constitutes you one people, is also now
+dear to you. It is justly so; for it is a main pillar in the edifice
+of your real independence; the support of your tranquillity at home;
+your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very
+liberty which you so highly prize. But, as it is easy to foresee, that
+from different causes, and from different quarters, much pains will be
+taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the conviction
+of this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against
+which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most
+constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously)
+directed; it is of infinite moment, that you should properly estimate
+the immense value of your national union to your collective and
+individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and
+immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak
+of it as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity;
+watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing
+whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can, in any event, be
+abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every
+attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to
+enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts.
+
+"For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens
+by birth, or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to
+concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to
+you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of
+patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local
+discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same
+religion, manners, habits, and political principles.--You have, in a
+common cause, fought and triumphed together; the independence and
+liberty you possess, are the work of joint counsels, and joint
+efforts, of common dangers, sufferings, and successes.
+
+"But these considerations, however powerfully they address themselves
+to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those which apply more
+immediately to your interest.--Here, every portion of our country
+finds the most commanding motives for carefully guarding and
+preserving the union of the whole.
+
+"The _north_ in an unrestrained intercourse with the _south_,
+protected by the equal laws of a common government, finds in the
+productions of the latter, great additional resources of maritime and
+commercial enterprise, and precious materials of manufacturing
+industry.--The _south_, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the
+same agency of the _north_, sees its agriculture grow, and its
+commerce expand. Turning partly into its own channels the seamen of
+the _north_, it finds its particular navigation invigorated; and while
+it contributes, in different ways, to nourish and increase the general
+mass of the national navigation, it looks forward to the protection of
+a maritime strength, to which itself is unequally adapted. The _east_,
+in a like intercourse with the _west_, already finds, and in the
+progressive improvement of interior communications by land and water,
+will more and more find a valuable vent for the commodities which it
+brings from abroad, or manufactures at home. The _west_ derives from
+the _east_ supplies requisite to its growth and comfort--and what is
+perhaps of still greater consequence, it must of necessity owe the
+_secure_ enjoyment of indispensable _outlets_ for its own productions,
+to the weight, influence, and the future maritime strength of the
+Atlantic side of the union, directed by an indissoluble community of
+interest as _one nation_. Any other tenure by which the _west_ can
+hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its own separate
+strength, or from an apostate and unnatural connexion with any foreign
+power, must be intrinsically precarious.
+
+"While then every part of our country thus feels an immediate and
+particular interest in union, all the parts combined can not fail to
+find in the united mass of means and efforts, greater strength,
+greater resource, proportionably greater security from external
+danger, a less frequent interruption of their peace by foreign
+nations; and, what is of inestimable value, they must derive from
+union an exemption from those broils and wars between themselves,
+which so frequently afflict neighbouring countries not tied together
+by the same government; which their own rivalships alone would be
+sufficient to produce, but which, opposite foreign alliances,
+attachments, and intrigues, would stimulate and embitter.--Hence
+likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown military
+establishments, which under any form of government are inauspicious to
+liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to
+republican liberty. In this sense it is, that your union ought to be
+considered as a main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the
+one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other.
+
+"These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting
+and virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of the union as a
+primary object of patriotic desire. Is there a doubt whether a common
+government can embrace so large a sphere? Let experience solve it. To
+listen to mere speculation in such a case were criminal. We are
+authorized to hope that a proper organization of the whole, with the
+auxiliary agency of governments for the respective subdivisions, will
+afford a happy issue to the experiment. It is well worth a fair and
+full experiment. With such powerful and obvious motives to union,
+affecting all parts of our country, while experience shall not have
+demonstrated its impracticability, there will always be reason to
+distrust the patriotism of those, who, in any quarter, may endeavour
+to weaken its bands.
+
+"In contemplating the causes which may disturb our union, it occurs
+as matter of serious concern, that any ground should have been furnished
+for characterizing parties by _geographical_ discriminations,--_northern_
+and _southern_--_Atlantic_ and _western_; whence designing men may
+endeavour to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local
+interests and views. One of the expedients of party to acquire influence
+within particular districts, is to misrepresent the opinions and aims
+of other districts. You can not shield yourselves too much against the
+jealousies and heart burnings which spring from these misrepresentations:
+they tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound
+together by fraternal affection. The inhabitants of our western country
+have lately had a useful lesson on this head: they have seen, in the
+negotiation by the executive, and in the unanimous ratification by the
+senate of the treaty with Spain, and in the universal satisfaction at
+the event throughout the United States, a decisive proof how unfounded
+were the suspicions propagated among them of a policy in the general
+government and in the Atlantic states, unfriendly to their interests
+in regard to the Mississippi. They have been witnesses to the formation
+of two treaties, that with Great Britain and that with Spain, which
+secure to them every thing they could desire, in respect to our foreign
+relations, towards confirming their prosperity. Will it not be their
+wisdom to rely for the preservation of these advantages on the union
+by which they were procured? will they not henceforth be deaf to those
+advisers, if such there are, who would sever them from their brethren,
+and connect them with aliens?
+
+"To the efficacy and permanency of your union, a government for the
+whole is indispensable. No alliances, however strict, between the
+parts can be an adequate substitute; they must inevitably experience
+the infractions and interruptions which all alliances, in all times,
+have experienced. Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved
+upon your first essay, by the adoption of a constitution of government
+better calculated than your former for an intimate union, and for the
+efficacious management of your common concerns. This government, the
+offspring of our own choice uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full
+investigation and mature deliberation, completely free in its
+principles, in the distribution of its powers uniting security with
+energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own
+amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and your support.
+Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in
+its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true
+liberty. The basis of our political systems is the right of the people
+to make and to alter their constitutions of government.--But the
+constitution which at any time exists, until changed by an explicit
+and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon
+all. The very idea of the power and the right of the people to
+establish government, presupposes the duty of every individual to obey
+the established government.
+
+"All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and
+associations under whatever plausible character, with the real design
+to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberations and
+action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this
+fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency.--They serve to organize
+faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force, to put in
+the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of party, often
+a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and,
+according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the
+public administration the mirror of the ill concerted and incongruous
+projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome
+plans digested by common councils, and modified by mutual interests.
+
+"However combinations or associations of the above description may now
+and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time
+and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and
+unprincipled men, will be enabled to subvert the power of the people,
+and to usurp for themselves the reins of government; destroying
+afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.
+
+"Towards the preservation of your government and the permanency of
+your present happy state, it is requisite, not only that you steadily
+discountenance irregular oppositions to its acknowledged authority,
+but also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its
+principles, however specious the pretext. One method of assault may be
+to effect, in the forms of the constitution, alterations which will
+impair the energy of the system; and thus to undermine what can not be
+directly overthrown. In all the changes to which you may be invited,
+remember that time and habit are at least as necessary to fix the true
+character of governments, as of other human institutions:--that
+experience is the surest standard by which to test the real tendency
+of the existing constitution of a country:--that facility in changes,
+upon the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion, exposes to perpetual
+change from the endless variety of hypothesis and opinion: and
+remember, especially, that for the efficient management of your common
+interests, in a country so extensive as ours, a government of as much
+vigour as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty is
+indispensable. Liberty itself will find in such a government, with
+powers properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. It is,
+indeed, little else than a name, where the government is too feeble to
+withstand the enterprises of faction, to confine each member of the
+society within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all
+in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and
+property.
+
+"I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the state,
+with particular references to the founding them on geographical
+discriminations. Let us now take a more comprehensive view, and warn
+you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the
+spirit of party generally.
+
+"This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having
+its root in the strongest passions of the human mind.--It exists under
+different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled,
+or repressed; but in those of the popular form, it is seen in its
+greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy.
+
+"The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by
+the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, which, in different
+ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is
+itself a frightful despotism.--But this leads at length to a more
+formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which
+result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose
+in the absolute power of an individual; and, sooner or later, the
+chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his
+competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own
+elevation on the ruins of public liberty.
+
+"Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind, (which
+nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight,) the common and
+continual mischiefs of the spirit of party, are sufficient to make it
+the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.
+
+"It serves always to distract the public councils, and enfeeble the
+public administration. It agitates the community with ill founded
+jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against
+another; foments occasional riot and insurrection. It opens the door
+to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access
+to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus
+the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and
+will of another.
+
+"There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks
+upon the administration of the government, and serve to keep alive the
+spirit of liberty. This, within certain limits, is probably true; and,
+in governments of a monarchical cast, patriotism may look with
+indulgence, if not with favour, upon the spirit of party. But in those
+of the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a
+spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is
+certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary
+purpose. And there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought
+to be, by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire
+not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent it
+bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.
+
+"It is important likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free
+country should inspire caution in those intrusted with its
+administration, to confine themselves within their respective
+constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one
+department, to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends
+to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to
+create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just
+estimate of that love of power and proneness to abuse it which
+predominate in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the
+truth of this position. The necessity of reciprocal checks in the
+exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into
+different depositories, and constituting each the guardian of the
+public weal against invasions of the others, has been evinced by
+experiments ancient and modern: some of them in our country, and under
+our own eyes.--To preserve them must be as necessary as to institute
+them. If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or
+modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong,
+let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the constitution
+designates.--But let there be no change by usurpation; for though
+this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the
+customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed. The
+precedent must always greatly overbalance in permanent evil, any
+partial or transient benefit which the use can at any time yield.
+
+"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political
+prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain
+would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labour to
+subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of
+the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the
+pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them.--A volume could not
+trace all their connexions with private and public felicity. Let it
+simply be asked, where is the security for property, for reputation,
+for life, if the sense of religious obligation _desert_ the oaths
+which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And
+let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be
+maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence
+of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and
+experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can
+prevail in exclusion of religious principle.
+
+"It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary
+spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, extends with more or
+less force to every species of free government. Who that is a sincere
+friend to it can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the
+foundation of the fabric?
+
+"Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for
+the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of
+a government gives force to public opinion, it should be enlightened.
+
+"As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public
+credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as
+possible, avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but
+remembering also, that timely disbursements, to prepare for danger,
+frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it; avoiding
+likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of
+expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of peace, to discharge the
+debts which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously
+throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear.
+The execution of these maxims belongs to your representatives, but it
+is necessary that public opinion should co-operate. To facilitate to
+them the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should
+practically bear in mind, that towards the payment of debts there must
+be revenue; that to have revenue, there must be taxes; that no taxes
+can be devised which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant;
+that the intrinsic embarrassment inseparable from the selection of the
+proper objects, (which is always a choice of difficulties,) ought to
+be a decisive motive for a candid construction of the conduct of the
+government in making it, and for a spirit of acquiescence in the
+measures for obtaining revenue, which the public exigencies may at any
+time dictate.
+
+"Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace
+and harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct; and
+can it be that good policy does not equally enjoin it? it will be
+worthy of a free, enlightened, and, at no distant period, a great
+nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a
+people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can
+doubt but, in the course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan
+would richly repay any temporary advantages which might be lost by a
+steady adherence to it; can it be that Providence has not connected
+the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue? the experiment, at
+least, is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles human nature.
+Alas! is it rendered impossible by its vices?
+
+"In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that
+permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and
+passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in
+place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be
+cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another an habitual
+hatred, or an habitual fondness, is in some degree a slave. It is a
+slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is
+sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy
+in one nation against another, disposes each more readily to offer
+insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be
+haughty and intractable when accidental or trifling occasions of
+dispute occur. Hence, frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and
+bloody contests. The nation, prompted by ill will and resentment,
+sometimes impels to war the government, contrary to the best
+calculations of policy. The government sometimes participates in the
+national propensity, and adopts through passion what reason would
+reject; at other times, it makes the animosity of the nation
+subservient to projects of hostility, instigated by pride, ambition,
+and other sinister and pernicious motives.--The peace often, sometimes
+perhaps the liberty of nations has been the victim.
+
+"So likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another
+produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favourite nation,
+facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases
+where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the
+enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the
+quarrels and wars of the latter, without adequate inducements or
+justification. It leads also to concessions to the favourite nation,
+of privileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure the
+nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what
+ought to have been retained; and by exciting jealousy, ill will, and a
+disposition to retaliate in the parties from whom equal privileges are
+withheld: and it gives to ambitious, corrupted or deluded citizens who
+devote themselves to the favourite nation, facility to betray or
+sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium, sometimes
+even with popularity; gilding with the appearances of a virtuous sense
+of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a
+laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish compliances of
+ambition, corruption, or infatuation.
+
+"As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments
+are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent
+patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic
+factions, to practise the arts of seduction, to mislead public
+opinion, to influence or awe the public councils!--such an attachment
+of a small or weak, towards a great and powerful nation dooms the
+former to be the satellite of the latter.
+
+"Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence, (I conjure you to
+believe me, fellow citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be
+_constantly_ awake; since history and experience prove, that foreign
+influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government.
+But that jealousy, to be useful must be impartial; else it becomes the
+instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defence
+against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation, and excessive
+dislike for another, cause those whom they actuate to see danger only
+on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence
+on the other. Real patriots, who may resist the intrigues of the
+favourite, are liable to become suspected and odious; while its tools
+and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to
+surrender their interests.
+
+"The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is,
+in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little
+_political_ connexion as possible. So far as we have already formed
+engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith.--Here, let
+us stop.
+
+"Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a
+very remote relation. Hence, she must be engaged in frequent
+controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our
+concerns.--Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate
+ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her
+politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her
+friendships or enmities.
+
+"Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a
+different course. If we remain one people, under an efficient
+government, the period is not far off when we may defy material injury
+from external annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will
+cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon, to be
+scrupulously respected; when belligerent nations under the
+impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard
+the giving us provocation; when we may choose peace or war, as our
+interest, guided by justice, shall counsel.
+
+"Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? why quit our
+own to stand upon foreign ground? why, by interweaving our destiny
+with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in
+the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humour, or
+caprice?
+
+"It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any
+portion of the foreign world; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty
+to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing
+infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less
+applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always
+the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be
+observed in their genuine sense. But in my opinion, it is unnecessary,
+and would be unwise to extend them.
+
+"Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable establishments, on
+a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary
+alliances for extraordinary emergencies.
+
+"Harmony, and a liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended
+by policy, humanity, and interest. But even our commercial policy
+should hold an equal and impartial hand; neither seeking nor granting
+exclusive favours or preferences; consulting the natural course of
+things; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams of
+commerce, but forcing nothing; establishing with powers so disposed,
+in order to give trade a stable course, to define the rights of our
+merchants, and to enable the government to support them, conventional
+rules of intercourse, the best that present circumstances and mutual
+opinion will permit, but temporary, and liable to be from time to time
+abandoned or varied as experience and circumstances shall dictate;
+constantly keeping in view, that it is folly in one nation to look for
+disinterested favours from another; that it must pay with a portion of
+its independence for whatever it may accept under that character; that
+by such acceptance, it may place itself in the condition of having
+given equivalents for nominal favours, and yet of being reproached
+with ingratitude for not giving more. There can be no greater error
+than to expect, or calculate upon real favours from nation to nation.
+It is an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought
+to discard.
+
+"In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and
+affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the strong and
+lasting impression I could wish; that they will control the usual
+current of the passions; or prevent our nation from running the course
+which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations; but if I may even
+flatter myself, that they may be productive of some partial benefit,
+some occasional good; that they may now and then recur to moderate the
+fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign
+intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism;
+this hope will be a full recompense for the solicitude for your
+welfare by which they have been dictated.
+
+"How far, in the discharge of my official duties, I have been guided
+by the principles which have been delineated, the public records and
+other evidences of my conduct must witness to you and to the world. To
+myself, the assurance of my own conscience is, that I have, at least,
+believed myself to be guided by them.
+
+"In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my proclamation of
+the 22d of April, 1793, is the index to my plan. Sanctioned by your
+approving voice, and by that of your representatives in both houses of
+congress; the spirit of that measure has continually governed me;
+uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it.
+
+"After deliberate examination, with the aid of the best lights I could
+obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, under all the
+circumstances of the case, had a right to take, and was bound, in duty
+and interest, to take a neutral position.--Having taken it, I
+determined, as far as should depend upon me, to maintain it with
+moderation, perseverance, and firmness.
+
+"The considerations which respect the right to hold this conduct, it
+is not necessary on this occasion to detail.--I will only observe
+that, according to my understanding of the matter, that right, so far
+from being denied by any of the belligerent powers, has been virtually
+admitted by all.
+
+"The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without
+anything more, from the obligation which justice and humanity impose
+on every nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain
+inviolate the relations of peace and amity towards other nations.
+
+"The inducements of interest for observing that conduct will best be
+referred to your own reflections and experience. With me, a
+predominant motive has been to endeavour to gain time to our country
+to settle and mature its yet recent institutions, and to progress,
+without interruption, to that degree of strength and consistency which
+is necessary to give it, humanly speaking, the command of its own
+fortunes.
+
+"Though in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am
+unconscious of intentional error; I am nevertheless too sensible of my
+defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many
+errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to
+avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry
+with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with
+indulgence; and that, after forty-five years of my life dedicated to
+its service, with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities
+will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions
+of rest.
+
+"Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and actuated by
+that fervent love towards it, which is so natural to a man who views
+in it the native soil of himself and his progenitors for several
+generations; I anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat in
+which I promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment
+of partaking, in the midst of my fellow citizens, the benign influence
+of good laws under a free government--the ever favourite object of my
+heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labours,
+and dangers."
+
+The sentiments of veneration with which this address was generally
+received, were manifested in almost every part of the union. Some of
+the state legislatures directed it to be inserted at large in their
+journals; and nearly all of them passed resolutions expressing their
+respect for the person of the President, their high sense of his
+exalted services, and the emotions with which they contemplated his
+retirement from office. Although the leaders of party might rejoice at
+this event it produced solemn and anxious reflections in the great
+body even of those who belonged to the opposition.
+
+The person in whom alone the voice of the people could be united
+having declined a re-election, the two great parties in America
+brought forward their respective chiefs; and every possible effort was
+made by each, to obtain the victory. Mr. John Adams and Mr. Thomas
+Pinckney, the late minister at London, were supported as President and
+Vice President by the federalists: the whole force of the opposite
+party was exerted in favour of Mr. Jefferson.
+
+Motives of vast influence were added, on this occasion, to those which
+usually impel men in a struggle to retain or acquire power. The
+continuance or the change not only of those principles on which the
+internal affairs of the United States had been administered, but of
+the conduct which had been observed towards foreign nations, was
+believed to depend on the choice of a chief magistrate. By one party,
+the system pursued by the existing administration with regard to the
+belligerent powers, had been uniformly approved; by the other, it had
+been as uniformly condemned. In the contests therefore which preceded
+the choice of electors, the justice of the complaints which were made
+on the part of the French republic were minutely discussed, and the
+consequences which were to be apprehended from her resentment, or from
+yielding to her pretensions, were reciprocally urged as considerations
+entitled to great weight in the ensuing election.
+
+[Sidenote: The minister of France endeavors to influence the
+approaching election.]
+
+In such a struggle, it was not to be expected that foreign powers
+could feel absolutely unconcerned. In November, while the parties were
+so balanced that neither scale could be perceived to preponderate, Mr.
+Adet addressed a letter to the secretary of state, in which he
+recapitulated the numerous complaints which had been urged by himself
+and his predecessors, against the government of the United States; and
+reproached that government, in terms of great asperity, with violating
+those treaties which had secured its independence, with ingratitude to
+France, and with partiality to England. These wrongs, which commenced
+with the "_insidious_" proclamation of neutrality, were said to be so
+aggravated by the treaty concluded with Great Britain, that Mr. Adet
+announced the orders of the Directory to suspend his ministerial
+functions with the federal government. "But the cause," he added,
+"which had so long restrained the just resentment of the executive
+Directory from bursting forth, now tempered its effects. The name of
+America, notwithstanding the wrongs of its government, still excited
+sweet emotions in the hearts of Frenchmen; and the executive Directory
+wished not to break with a people whom they loved to salute with the
+appellation of a friend." This suspension of his functions therefore
+was not to be regarded "as a rupture between France and the United
+States, but as a mark of just discontent which was to last until the
+government of the United States returned to sentiments and to measure
+more conformable to the interests of the alliance, and to the sworn
+friendship between the two nations."
+
+This letter was concluded in the following terms:
+
+"Alas! Time has not yet demolished the fortifications with which the
+English roughened this country--nor those the Americans raised for
+their defence; their half rounded summits still appear in every
+quarter, amidst plains, on the tops of mountains. The traveller need
+not search for the ditch which served to encompass them; it is still
+open under his feet. Scattered ruins of houses laid waste, which the
+fire had partly respected, in order to leave monuments of British
+fury, are still to be found.--Men still exist, who can say, here a
+ferocious Englishman slaughtered my father; there my wife tore her
+bleeding daughter from the hands of an unbridled Englishman.--Alas!
+the soldiers who fell under the sword of the Britons are not yet
+reduced to dust: the labourer in turning up his field, still draws
+from the bosom of the earth their whitened bones; while the ploughman,
+with tears of tenderness and gratitude, still recollects that his
+fields, now covered with rich harvests, have been moistened with
+French blood. While every thing around the inhabitants of this country
+animates them to speak of the tyranny of Great Britain, and of the
+generosity of Frenchmen; when England has declared a war of death to
+that nation, to avenge herself for its having cemented with its blood
+the independence of the United States:--It was at this moment their
+government made a treaty of amity with their ancient tyrant, the
+implacable enemy of their ancient ally. Oh Americans covered with
+noble scars! Oh you who have so often flown to death and to victory
+with French soldiers! You who know those generous sentiments which
+distinguish the true warrior! whose hearts have always vibrated with
+those of your companions in arms! consult them to-day to know what
+they experience; recollect at the same time, that if magnanimous souls
+with liveliness resent an affront, they also know how to forget one.
+Let your government return to itself, and you will still find in
+Frenchmen faithful friends and generous allies."
+
+[Illustration: Martha Washington's Bedroom at Mount Vernon
+
+_Returning to their beloved Mount Vernon with General Washington after
+his retirement, in 1796, as First President of the United States,
+Martha Washington seldom spent a night away from the historic mansion
+overlooking the Potomac. There she continued to offer a gracious
+hospitality to the many visitors attracted by her distinguished
+husband. She never recovered from his death in 1799, and dwelt in deep
+mourning until she followed him, May 22, 1802. Her remains rest with
+those of Washington in the vault at Mount Vernon._]
+
+As if to remove all doubts respecting the purpose for which this
+extraordinary letter was written, a copy was, on the day of its date,
+transmitted to a printer for publication.
+
+Whatever motives might have impelled Mr. Adet to make this open and
+direct appeal to the American people, in the critical moment of their
+election of a chief magistrate, it does not appear, in any material
+degree, to have influenced that election. Many reflecting men, who had
+condemned the course of the administration, could not approve this
+interference in the internal affairs of the United States; and the
+opposite party, generally, resented it as an attempt to control the
+operations of the American people in the exercise of one of the
+highest acts of sovereignty, and to poison the fountain of their
+liberty and independence, by mingling foreign intrigue with their
+elections. Viewing it as a fulfilment of their most gloomy prognostics
+respecting the designs of France to establish an influence in the
+councils of America, they believed the best interests of their country
+to require that it should be defeated; and their exertions against the
+candidate Mr. Adet was understood to favour, were the more determined
+and the more vigorous.
+
+[Sidenote: The president's speech to congress.]
+
+On the 7th of December, while this dubious and ardently contested
+election was depending, the President, for the last time, met the
+national legislature in the senate chamber. His address on the
+occasion was comprehensive, temperate, and dignified. In presenting a
+full and clear view of the situation of the United States, and in
+recommending those great national measures, in the utility of which he
+felt a confidence, no personal considerations could induce the
+omission of those, to which open and extensive hostility had been
+avowed.
+
+After congratulating congress on the internal situation of the United
+States, and on the progress of that humane system which had been
+adopted for the preservation of peace with their Indian neighbours;
+after stating the measures which had been taken in execution of the
+treaties with Great Britain, Spain, and Algiers, and the negotiations
+which were pending with Tunis and Tripoli; he proceeded to say:
+
+"To an active external commerce, the protection of a naval force is
+indispensable--this is manifest with regard to wars in which a state
+is itself a party--but besides this, it is in our own experience, that
+the most sincere neutrality is not a sufficient guard against the
+depredations of nations at war. To secure respect to a neutral flag,
+requires a naval force, organized and ready to vindicate it from
+insult or aggression--this may even prevent the necessity of going to
+war, by discouraging belligerent powers from committing such
+violations of the rights of the neutral party, as may first or last,
+leave no other option. From the best information I have been able to
+obtain, it would seem as if our trade to the Mediterranean, without a
+protecting force, will always be insecure; and our citizens exposed to
+the calamities from which numbers of them have but just been relieved.
+
+"These considerations invite the United States to look to the means,
+and to set about the gradual creation of a navy. The increasing
+progress of their navigation promises them, at no distant period, the
+requisite supply of seamen; and their means, in other respects, favour
+the undertaking. It is an encouragement likewise, that their
+particular situation will give weight, and influence, to a moderate
+naval force in their hands. Will it not then be adviseable, to begin
+without delay, to provide and lay up the materials for the building
+and equipping of ships of war; and to proceed in the work by degrees,
+in proportion as our resources shall render it practicable, without
+inconvenience; so that a future war of Europe may not find our
+commerce in the same unprotected state, in which it was found by the
+present?"
+
+The speech next proceeded earnestly to recommend the establishment of
+national works for manufacturing such articles as were necessary for
+the defence of the country; and also of an institution which should
+grow up under the patronage of the public, and be devoted to the
+improvement of agriculture. The advantages of a military academy,[47]
+and of a national university, were also urged; and the necessity of
+augmenting the compensations to the officers of the United States, in
+various instances, was explicitly stated.
+
+     [Footnote 47: The constitutional power of congress to
+     appropriate money to objects of the description here
+     recommended was denied by the opposition.]
+
+Adverting to the dissatisfaction which had been expressed by one of
+the great powers of Europe, the President said, "while in our external
+relations some serious inconveniences and embarrassments have been
+overcome, and others lessened, it is with much pain and deep regret I
+mention, that circumstances of a very unwelcome nature have lately
+occurred. Our trade has suffered, and is suffering extensive injuries
+in the West Indies from the cruisers and agents of the French
+republic; and communications have been received from its minister
+here, which indicate the danger of a further disturbance of our
+commerce by its authority; and which are, in other respects, far from
+agreeable.
+
+"It has been my constant, sincere and earnest wish, in conformity with
+that of our nation, to maintain cordial harmony, and a perfectly
+friendly understanding with that republic. This wish remains unabated;
+and I shall persevere in the endeavour to fulfil it to the utmost
+extent of what shall be consistent with a just and indispensable
+regard to the rights and honour of our country; nor will I easily
+cease to cherish the expectation, that a spirit of justice, candour
+and friendship, on the part of the republic, will eventually ensure
+success.
+
+"In pursuing this course, however, I can not forget what is due to the
+character of our government and nation; or to a full and entire
+confidence in the good sense, patriotism, self-respect, and fortitude
+of my countrymen.
+
+"I reserve for a special message, a more particular communication on
+this interesting subject."
+
+The flourishing state of the revenue, the expectation that the system
+for the gradual extinction of the national debt would be completed at
+this session, the anxiety which he felt respecting the militia, were
+successively mentioned, and the speech was concluded in the following
+terms:
+
+"The situation in which I now stand, for the last time, in the midst
+of the representatives of the people of the United States, naturally
+recalls the period when the administration of the present form of
+government commenced; and I can not omit the occasion to congratulate
+you, and my country, on the success of the experiment; nor to repeat
+my fervent supplications to the Supreme Ruler of the universe, and
+sovereign arbiter of nations, that his providential care may still be
+extended to the United States;--that the virtue and happiness of the
+people may be preserved; and that the government, which they have
+instituted for the protection of their liberties, may be perpetual."
+
+The answer of the senate embraced the various topics of the speech,
+and approved every sentiment it contained.
+
+To a review of the prosperous situation of the interior of the United
+States, the senate subjoined--
+
+"Whilst contemplating the causes that produce this auspicious result,
+we must acknowledge the excellence of the constitutional system, and
+the wisdom of the legislative provisions;--but we should be deficient
+in gratitude and justice, did we not attribute a great portion of
+these advantages, to the virtue, firmness, and talents of your
+administration; which have been conspicuously displayed, in the most
+trying times, and on the most critical occasions--it is therefore,
+with the sincerest regrets, that we now receive an official
+notification of your intentions to retire from the public employments
+of your country.
+
+"When we review the various scenes of your public life, so long and so
+successfully devoted to the most arduous services, civil and military;
+as well during the struggles of the American revolution, as the
+convulsive periods of a recent date, we can not look forward to your
+retirement without our warmest affections, and most anxious regards,
+accompanying you; and without mingling with our fellow citizens at
+large, in the sincerest wishes for your personal happiness, that
+sensibility and attachment can express.
+
+"The most effectual consolation that can offer for the loss we are
+about to sustain, arises from the animating reflection, that the
+influence of your example will extend to your successors, and the
+United States thus continue to enjoy an able, upright, and energetic
+administration."
+
+In the house of representatives, a committee of five had been
+appointed to prepare a respectful answer to the speech, three of whom
+were friends to the administration. Knowing well that the several
+propositions it contained could not be noticed in detail, without
+occasioning a debate in which sentiments opposed to those of the
+address would be expressed, probably by a majority of the house; and
+hoping that the disposition would be general to avow in strong terms
+their attachment to the person and character of the President, the
+committee united in reporting an answer, which, in general terms,
+promised due attention to the various subjects recommended to their
+consideration, but was full and explicit in the expression of
+attachment to himself, and of approbation of his administration.
+
+But the unanimity which prevailed in the committee did not extend to
+the house.
+
+After amplifying and strengthening the expressions of the report which
+stated the regrets of the house that any interruption should have
+taken place in the harmony which had subsisted between the United
+States and France, and modifying those which declared their hopes in
+the restoration of that affection which had formerly subsisted between
+the two republics, so as to avoid any implication that the rupture of
+that affection was exclusively ascribable to France, a motion was made
+by Mr. Giles to expunge from the answer the following paragraphs.
+
+"When we advert to the internal situation of the United States, we
+deem it equally natural and becoming to compare the present period
+with that immediately antecedent to the operation of the government,
+and to contrast it with the calamities in which the state of war still
+involves several of the European nations, as the reflections deduced
+from both tend to justify, as well as to excite a warmer admiration of
+our free constitution, and to exalt our minds to a more fervent and
+grateful sense of piety towards Almighty God for the beneficence of
+his Providence, by which its administration has been hitherto so
+remarkably distinguished.
+
+"And while we entertain a grateful conviction that your wise, firm,
+and patriotic administration has been signally conducive to the
+success of the present form of government, we can not forbear to
+express the deep sensations of regret with which we contemplate your
+intended retirement from office.
+
+"As no other suitable occasion may occur, we can not suffer the
+present to pass without attempting to disclose some of the emotions
+which it can not fail to awaken.
+
+"The gratitude and admiration of your countrymen are still drawn to
+the recollection of those resplendent virtues and talents which were
+so eminently instrumental to the achievement of the revolution, and of
+which that glorious event will ever be the memorial. Your obedience to
+the voice of duty and your country, when you quitted reluctantly, a
+second time, the retreat you had chosen, and first accepted the
+presidency, afforded a new proof of the devotedness of your zeal in
+its service, and an earnest of the patriotism and success which have
+characterized your administration. As the grateful confidence of the
+citizens in the virtues of their chief magistrate has essentially
+contributed to that success, we persuade ourselves that the millions
+whom we represent, participate with us in the anxious solicitude of
+the present occasion.
+
+"Yet we can not be unmindful that your moderation and magnanimity,
+twice displayed by retiring from your exalted stations, afford
+examples no less rare and instructive to mankind than valuable to a
+republic.
+
+"Although we are sensible that this event, of itself, completes the
+lustre of a character already conspicuously unrivalled by the
+coincidence of virtue, talents, success, and public estimation; yet we
+conceive we owe it to you, sir, and still more emphatically to
+ourselves and to our nation, (of the language of whose hearts we
+presume to think ourselves, at this moment, the faithful interpreters)
+to express the sentiments with which it is contemplated.
+
+"The spectacle of a free and enlightened nation offering by its
+representatives the tribute of unfeigned approbation to its first
+citizen, however novel and interesting it may be, derives all its
+lustre (a lustre which accident or enthusiasm could not bestow, and
+which adulation would tarnish) from the transcendent merit, of which
+it is the voluntary testimony.
+
+"May you long enjoy that liberty which is so dear to you, and to which
+your name will ever be so dear; may your own virtue and a nation's
+prayers obtain the happiest sunshine for the decline of your days, and
+the choicest of future blessings. For our country's sake; for the sake
+of republican liberty, it is our earnest wish that your example may be
+the guide of your successors; and thus, after being the ornament and
+safeguard of the present age, become the patrimony of our
+descendants."
+
+In support of this motion, after urging the indelicacy of exulting
+over the misfortunes of others by contrasting our happiness with their
+misery, Mr. Giles said, that with respect to the wisdom[48] and
+firmness of the President, he differed in opinion from the answer; and
+though he might be singular, yet it being his opinion, he should not
+be afraid to avow it. He had not that grateful conviction there
+mentioned, and if he were to come there and express it, he should
+prove an inconsistent character. He should not go into a lengthy
+discussion on this point, but if they turned their eyes to our foreign
+relations, there would be found no reason to exult in the wisdom and
+firmness of the administration. He believed, on the contrary, that it
+was from a want of wisdom and firmness that we were brought into our
+present critical situation. If gentlemen had been satisfied with
+expressing their esteem of the patriotism and virtue of the President,
+they might have got a unanimous vote; but they could not suppose that
+gentlemen would so far forget self-respect as to join in the proposed
+adulation.
+
+     [Footnote 48: Some objection has been made to the accuracy
+     of this speech, as reported in the Daily Advertiser. The
+     author has therefore deemed it proper to make some extracts
+     from the Aurora, the leading paper of that party, of which
+     Mr. Giles was a conspicuous member.
+
+     Mr. Giles, after stating that "the want of wisdom and
+     firmness" in the administration, "had conducted the affairs
+     of the nation to a crisis which threatens greater calamities
+     than any that has before occurred,"--remarks as
+     follows:--"Another sentiment in the report he could not
+     agree to. He did not regret the President's retiring from
+     office. He hoped he would retire, and enjoy the happiness
+     that awaited him in retirement. He believed it would more
+     conduce to that happiness that he should retire than if he
+     should remain in office. He believed the government of the
+     United States, founded on the broad basis of the people,
+     that they were competent to their own government, and the
+     remaining of no man in office was necessary to the success
+     of that government. The people would truly be in a
+     calamitous situation, if one man were essential to the
+     existence of the government. He was convinced that the
+     United States produces a thousand citizens capable of
+     filling the presidential chair, and he would trust to the
+     discernment of the people for a proper choice. Though the
+     voice of all America should declare the President's retiring
+     as a calamity, he could not join in the declaration, because
+     he did not conceive it a misfortune. He hoped the President
+     would be happy in his retirement, and he hoped he would
+     retire." He reverted again to that part of the report which
+     declared the administration to have been wise and firm in
+     its measures. "He had always disapproved," he repeated, "of
+     the measures of that administration with respect to foreign
+     relations, and many members of the house had also; he was
+     therefore surprised that gentlemen should now come forward
+     and wish him, in one breath, to disavow all his former
+     opinions, without being previously convinced of having been
+     in an error. For his own part, he conceived there was more
+     cause than ever for adhering to his old opinion. The course
+     of events had pointed out their propriety; and, if he was
+     not much mistaken, a crisis was at hand which would confirm
+     them. He wished, that while gentlemen were willing to
+     compliment the President, they would have some respect for
+     the feelings of others."--_Aurora, December 15th, 1796._]
+
+Mr. Giles said he was one of those citizens who did not regret the
+President's retiring from office. He hoped he would retire to his
+country seat and enjoy all the happiness he could wish; and he
+believed he would enjoy more there than in his present situation. He
+believed the government of the United States would go on without him.
+The people were competent to their own government. What calamities
+would attend the United States if one man alone was essential to their
+government! He believed there were a thousand men in the United States
+who were capable of filling the presidential chair as well as it had
+been filled heretofore. And although a clamour had been raised in all
+parts of the United States, more or less, from apprehensions on the
+departure of the President from office, yet, not feeling these
+apprehensions himself, he was perfectly easy on the occasion. He
+wished the President as much happiness as any man; and hoping he would
+retire, he could not express any regrets at the event. And it would be
+extraordinary, if gentlemen whose names in the yeas and nays are found
+in opposition to certain prominent measures of the administration,
+should now come forward and approve those measures. This could not be
+expected. He, for his part, retained the same opinions he had always
+done with respect to those measures, nor should any influence under
+heaven prevent him from expressing that opinion--an opinion in which
+he was confident, ere long, all America would concur.[49]
+
+     [Footnote 49: Dunlap and Claypole's Daily Advertiser,
+     December 16th, 1796.]
+
+This motion was opposed with great earnestness by the party which had
+supported the administration. The advantages which had resulted from
+the constitution were said to be too obvious to be controverted; and
+it was maintained that a comparison of the present situation of the
+United States with its condition anterior to the adoption of that
+instrument, or with the condition of foreign powers, was natural and
+proper. This comparison was made not for the purposes of exultation,
+but of exciting just sentiments respecting their own conduct.
+
+In reply to the observations respecting the President, it was said,
+that the whole course of his administration had demonstrated the
+correctness with which the terms "wisdom and firmness" were applied to
+it. Particular circumstances were stated in which these qualities had
+been pre-eminently displayed; but the general impression which facts
+had made on the public mind was considered as dispensing with the
+necessity of stating the particular facts themselves.
+
+It might be true, they said, that there were many others who could
+fill with propriety and advantage the presidential chair, but no man
+could fill it who possessed, in an equal degree, the confidence of the
+people. The possession of this confidence enabled the chief magistrate
+to perform the duties of his office in a manner greatly conducive to
+the interests of the nation, and the loss of so valuable a public
+servant was certainly just cause of regret. With this sentiment, the
+feelings of the community fully accorded. In every part of the United
+States, the declarations of their constituents attested the regrets
+with which this event was contemplated by them. Those gentlemen who
+did not participate in these feelings would have an opportunity to
+record their names with their opinions. But those who did participate
+in them ought not to be restrained from expressing them.
+
+The motion to strike out was lost; after which the words "the
+spectacle of a whole nation, the freest and most enlightened in the
+world," were amended, so as to read, "the spectacle of a free and
+enlightened nation," and the answer was carried by a great majority.
+
+{1797}
+
+Early in the session, the President communicated to congress in a
+special message, the complaints alleged by the representative of the
+French republic against the government of the United States. These
+complaints embracing most of the transactions of the legislative and
+executive departments, in relation to the belligerent powers, a
+particular and careful review of almost every act of the
+administration, which could affect those powers, became indispensable.
+The principal object for the mission of General Pinckney to Paris,
+having been to make full and fair explanations of the principles and
+conduct of the American government, this review was addressed to that
+minister. It presented a minute and comprehensive detail of all the
+points of controversy which had arisen between the two nations; and
+defended the measures which had been adopted in America, with a
+clearness, and a strength of argument, believed to be irresistible. To
+place the subject in a point of view, admitting of no possible
+misunderstanding, the secretary of state had annexed to his own full
+and demonstrative reasoning, documents, establishing the real fact in
+each particular case, and the correspondence relating to it.
+
+This letter, with its accompanying documents, was laid before
+congress.
+
+Those who read these valuable papers will not be surprised, that the
+President should have relied upon their efficacy in removing from the
+government of France, all impressions unfavourable to the fairness of
+intention which had influenced the conduct of the United States; and
+in effacing from the bosoms of the great body of the American people,
+all those unjust and injurious suspicions which had been entertained
+against their own administration. Should their immediate operation on
+the executive of France disappoint his hopes, he persuaded himself
+that he could not mistake their influence in America; and he felt the
+most entire conviction that the accusations against the United States
+would cease, with the evidence that those accusations were
+countenanced and supported by a great portion of the American people.
+
+These documents were communicated to the public; but, unfortunately,
+their effect at home was not such as had been expected, and they were
+consequently inoperative abroad. The fury of political controversy
+seemed to sustain no diminution; and the American character continued
+to be degraded by reciprocal criminations, which the two great parties
+made upon each other, of being under a British, and a French
+influence.
+
+The measures particularly recommended by the President in his speech,
+at the opening of the session, were not adopted; and neither the
+debates in Congress, nor the party publications with which the nation
+continued to be agitated, furnished reasonable ground for the hope,
+that the political intemperance which had prevailed from the
+establishment of the republican form of government in France, was
+about to be succeeded by a more conciliatory spirit.
+
+The President contemplated with a degree of pleasure[50] seldom felt
+at the resignation of power, his approaching retirement to the
+delightful scenes of domestic and rural life.
+
+     [Footnote 50: See note No. XV. at the end of the volume.]
+
+It was impossible to be absolutely insensible to the bitter
+invectives, and malignant calumnies of which he had long been the
+object. Yet in one instance only, did he depart from the rule he had
+prescribed for his conduct regarding them. Apprehending permanent
+injury from the republication of certain spurious letters which have
+been already noticed, he, on the day which terminated his official
+character, addressed to the secretary of state the following letter.
+
+[Sidenote: He denies the authenticity of certain spurious letters
+published as his in 1776.]
+
+"Dear Sir,
+
+"At the conclusion of my public employments, I have thought it
+expedient to notice the publication of certain forged letters which
+first appeared in the year 1777, and were obtruded upon the public as
+mine. They are said by the editor to have been found in a small
+portmanteau that I had left in the care of my mulatto servant named
+Billy, who, it is pretended, was taken prisoner at Fort Lee, in 1776.
+The period when these letters were first printed will be recollected,
+and what were the impressions they were intended to produce on the
+public mind. It was then supposed to be of some consequence to strike
+at the integrity of the motives of the American Commander-in-chief,
+and to paint his inclinations as at variance with his professions and
+his duty--another crisis in the affairs of America having occurred,
+the same weapon has been resorted to, to wound my character and
+deceive the people.
+
+"The letters in question have the dates, addresses, and signatures
+here following:
+
+     New York, June 12th, 1776.
+
+     To Mr. Lund Washington, at Mount Vernon, Fairfax county,
+     Virginia.
+
+     G.W.
+
+     June 18th, 1776.
+
+     To John Parke Custis, Esqr., at the Hon Benedict Calvert's
+     Esqr., Mount Airy, Maryland.
+
+     G.W.
+
+     New York, July 8th, 1776.
+
+     To Mr. Lund Washington, Mount Vernon, Fairfax county,
+     Virginia.
+
+     G.W.
+
+     New York, July 16th, 1776.
+
+     To Mr. Lund Washington.
+
+     G.W.
+
+     New York, July 15th, 1776.
+
+     To Mr. Lund Washington.
+
+     G.W.
+
+     New York, July 22d, 1776.
+
+     To Mr. Lund Washington.
+
+     G.W.
+
+     June 24th, 1776.
+
+     To Mrs. Washington.
+
+     G.W.
+
+"At the time when these letters first appeared, it was notorious to
+the army immediately under my command, and particularly to the
+gentlemen attached to my person, that my mulatto man Billy had never
+been one moment in the power of the enemy. It is also a fact that no
+part of my baggage, or any of my attendants, were captured during the
+whole course of the war. These well known facts made it unnecessary,
+during the war, to call the public attention to the forgery by any
+express declaration of mine; and a firm reliance on my fellow
+citizens, and the abundant proofs they gave of their confidence in me,
+rendered it alike unnecessary to take any formal notice of the revival
+of the imposition, during my civil administration. But as I can not
+know how soon a more serious event may succeed to that which will this
+day take place, I have thought it a duty that I owed to myself, to my
+country, and to truth, now to detail the circumstances above recited,
+and to add my solemn declaration that the letters herein described are
+a base forgery, and that I never saw or heard of them until they
+appeared in print. The present letter I commit to your care, and
+desire it may be deposited in the office of the department of state,
+as a testimony of the truth to the present generation and to
+posterity. Accept, &c. &c."
+
+[Sidenote: John Adams elected president, and Thomas Jefferson vice
+president.]
+
+In February, the votes for the first and second magistrates of the
+union were opened and counted in presence of both houses; and the
+highest number appearing in favour of Mr. Adams, and the second in
+favour of Mr. Jefferson, the first was declared to be the President,
+and the second the Vice President, of the United States, for four
+years to commence on the fourth day of the ensuing March.
+
+On that day, the members of the senate, conducted by the Vice
+President, together with the officers of the general and state
+governments, and an immense concourse of citizens, convened in the
+hall of the house of representatives, in which the oaths were
+administered to the President.
+
+The sensibility which was manifested when General Washington entered,
+did not surpass the cheerfulness which overspread his own countenance,
+nor the heartfelt pleasure with which he saw another invested with the
+powers that had so long been exercised by himself.[51]
+
+     [Footnote 51: See note No. XVI. at the end of the volume.]
+
+[Sidenote: General Washington retires to Mount Vernon.]
+
+After the solemnities of the occasion had been concluded, and he had
+paid to his successor those respectful compliments which he believed
+to be equally due to the man and to the office, he hastened[52] to
+that real felicity which awaited him at Mount Vernon, the enjoyment of
+which he had long impatiently anticipated.
+
+     [Footnote 52: See note No. XVII. at the end of the volume.]
+
+The same marks of respect and affection for his person, which had on
+all great occasions been manifested by his fellow citizens, still
+attended him. His endeavours to render his journey private were
+unavailing; and the gentlemen of the country through which he passed,
+were still ambitious of testifying their sentiments for the man who
+had, from the birth of the republic, been deemed the first of American
+citizens. Long after his retirement, he continued to receive addresses
+from legislative bodies, and various classes of citizens, expressive
+of the high sense entertained of his services.
+
+Notwithstanding the extraordinary popularity of the first President of
+the United States, scarcely has any important act of his
+administration escaped the most bitter invective.
+
+[Sidenote: Political situation of the United States at this period.]
+
+On the real wisdom of the system which he pursued, every reader will
+decide for himself. Time will, in some measure, dissipate the
+prejudices and passions of the moment, and enable us to view objects
+through a medium which represents them truly.
+
+Without taking a full review of measures which were reprobated by one
+party and applauded by the other, the reader may be requested to
+glance his eye at the situation of the United States in 1797, and to
+contrast it with their condition in 1788.
+
+At home, a sound credit had been created; an immense floating debt had
+been funded in a manner perfectly satisfactory to the creditors: an
+ample revenue had been provided; those difficulties which a system of
+internal taxation, on its first introduction, is doomed to encounter,
+were completely removed; and the authority of the government was
+firmly established. Funds for the gradual payment of the debt had been
+provided; a considerable part of it had been actually discharged; and
+that system which is now operating its entire extinction, had been
+matured and adopted. The agricultural and commercial wealth of the
+nation had increased beyond all former example. The numerous tribes of
+warlike Indians, inhabiting those immense tracts which lie between the
+then cultivated country and the Mississippi, had been taught, by arms
+and by justice, to respect the United States, and to continue in
+peace. This desirable object having been accomplished, that humane
+system was established for civilizing, and furnishing them with the
+conveniences of life which improves their condition, while it secures
+their attachment.
+
+Abroad, the differences with Spain had been accommodated; and the free
+navigation of the Mississippi had been acquired, with the use of New
+Orleans as a place of deposit for three years, and afterwards, until
+some other equivalent place should be designated. Those causes of
+mutual exasperation which had threatened to involve the United States
+in a war with the greatest maritime and commercial power in the world,
+had been removed; and the military posts which had been occupied
+within their territory, from their existence as a nation, had been
+evacuated. Treaties had been formed with Algiers and with Tripoli, and
+no captures appear to have been made by Tunis; so that the
+Mediterranean was opened to American vessels.
+
+This bright prospect was indeed, in part, shaded by the discontents of
+France. Those who have attended to the particular points of difference
+between the two nations, will assign the causes to which these
+discontents are to be ascribed, and will judge whether it was in the
+power of the President to have avoided them, without surrendering the
+real independence of the nation, and the most invaluable of all rights
+--the right of self-government.
+
+Such was the situation of the United States at the close of
+Washington's administration. Their circumstances at its commencement
+will be recollected; and the contrast is too striking not to be
+observed.
+
+That this beneficial change in the affairs of America is to be
+ascribed exclusively to the wisdom which guided the national councils
+will not be pretended. That many of the causes which produced it
+originated with the government, and that their successful operation
+was facilitated, if not secured, by the system which was adopted, will
+scarcely be denied. To estimate that system correctly, their real
+influence must be allowed to those strong prejudices, and turbulent
+passions, with which it was assailed.
+
+Accustomed in the early part of his life to agricultural pursuits, and
+possessing a real taste for them, General Washington was particularly
+well qualified to enjoy, in retirement, that tranquil felicity which
+he had anticipated. Resuming former habits, and returning to ancient
+and well known employments, he was familiar with his new situation,
+and therefore exempt from the danger of that disappointment which is
+the common lot of those who, in old age, retire from the toils of
+business, or the cares of office, to the untried pleasures of the
+country. A large estate, which exhibited many proofs of having been
+long deprived of the attentions of its proprietor, in the management
+and improvement of which he engaged with ardour, an extensive
+correspondence, and the society of men and books, gave employment to
+every hour which was equally innocent and interesting, and furnished
+ground for the hope that the evening of a life which had been devoted
+to the public service, would be as serene, as its mid-day had been
+brilliant.
+
+Though devoted to these occupations, an absolute indifference to
+public affairs would have been incompatible with that love of country
+which had influenced all his conduct. Feeling strong impressions in
+favour of that system, with regard to foreign powers, which had been
+adopted by himself, and which was faithfully pursued by his successor,
+he could not be inattentive to the immense, and continued exertions,
+made by a powerful party to overturn it. Yet for a time, he sought to
+abstract himself from these political contests, and to diminish the
+interest which his feelings impelled him to take in them. His letters
+abound in paragraphs not unlike the following. "I have confidence
+however in that Providence which has shielded the United States from
+the evils that have hitherto threatened them; and, as I believe the
+major part of the people of this country to be well affected to its
+constitution and government, I rest satisfied that, should a crisis
+ever arise to call forth the sense of the community, it will be strong
+in support of the honour and dignity of the nation. Therefore, however
+much I regret the opposition which has for its object the
+embarrassment of the administration, I shall view things in the 'calm
+light of mild philosophy,' and endeavour to finish my course in
+retirement and ease."
+
+But the designs of France were soon manifested in a form which, to the
+veteran soldier and statesman of Mount Vernon, appeared to be too
+dangerous as well as unequivocal, to admit the preservation of this
+equanimity.
+
+[Sidenote: The French government refuses to receive General Pinckney
+as minister.]
+
+In the executive of that republic, General Pinckney encountered
+dispositions of a very different character from that amicable and
+conciliatory temper which had dictated his mission. After inspecting
+his letter of credence, the Directory announced to him their haughty
+determination "not to receive another minister plenipotentiary from
+the United States, until after the redress of grievances demanded of
+the American government, which the French republic had a right to
+expect from it." This message was succeeded, first by indecorous
+verbal communications, calculated to force the American minister out
+of France, and afterwards, by a written mandate to quit the
+territories of the republic.
+
+This act of hostility was accompanied with another which would explain
+the motives for this conduct, if previous measures had not rendered
+all further explanation unnecessary.
+
+On giving to the recalled minister his audience of leave, the
+president of the directory addressed a speech to him, in which terms
+of outrage to the government, were mingled with expressions of
+affection for the people of the United States; and the expectation of
+ruling the former, by their influence over the latter, was too clearly
+manifested not to be understood. To complete this system of hostility,
+American vessels were captured wherever found; and, under the pretext
+of their wanting a document, with which the treaty of commerce had
+been uniformly understood to dispense, they were condemned as prize.
+
+[Sidenote: Congress is convened.]
+
+[Sidenote: President's speech.]
+
+This serious state of things demanded a solemn consideration. On
+receiving from General Pinckney the despatches which communicated it,
+the President issued his proclamation requiring congress to meet on
+the 15th day of June. The firm and dignified speech delivered by the
+chief magistrate at the commencement of the session, exhibited that
+sensibility which a high minded and real American might be expected to
+feel, while representing to the national legislature the great and
+unprovoked outrages of a foreign government. Adverting to the audience
+of leave given by the executive Directory to Colonel Monroe, he said,
+"the speech of the President discloses sentiments more alarming than
+the refusal of a minister, because more dangerous to our independence
+and union; and, at the same time, studiously marked with indignities
+towards the government of the United States. It evinces a disposition
+to separate the people from their government; to persuade them that
+they have different affections, principles, and interests from those
+of their fellow citizens whom they themselves have chosen to manage
+their common concerns; and thus to produce divisions fatal to our
+peace. Such attempts ought to be repelled with a decision which shall
+convince France, and the world, that we are not a degraded people,
+humiliated under a colonial spirit of fear, and sense of inferiority,
+fitted to be the miserable instruments of foreign influence, and
+regardless of national honour, character, and interest."
+
+"Retaining still the desire which had uniformly been manifested by the
+American government to preserve peace and friendship with all nations,
+and believing that neither the honour nor the interest of the United
+States absolutely forbade the repetition of advances for securing
+these desirable objects with France, he should," he said, "institute a
+fresh attempt at negotiation, and should not fail to promote and
+accelerate an accommodation on terms compatible with the rights,
+duties, interests, and honour of the nation." But while he should be
+making these endeavours to adjust all differences with the French
+republic by amicable negotiation, he earnestly recommended it to
+congress to provide effectual measures of defence.
+
+[Sidenote: Three envoys extraordinary deputed to negotiate with
+France.]
+
+To carry into effect the pacific dispositions avowed in the speech,
+three envoys extraordinary were appointed, at the head of whom General
+Pinckney was placed. Their instructions conformed to the public
+language of the President. Peace and reconciliation were to be pursued
+by all means, compatible with the honour and the faith of the United
+States; but no national engagements were to be impaired; no innovation
+to be permitted upon those internal regulations for the preservation
+of peace which had been deliberately and uprightly established; nor
+were the rights of the government to be surrendered.
+
+The debates in the house of representatives, on the answer to the
+speech, were long and earnest. To expressions approving the conduct of
+the executive with regard to foreign nations, the opposition was
+ardent, but unsuccessful. On the third of June, an answer was agreed
+to which contained sentiments worthy of an American legislature, and
+for which several of the leaders of the opposition voted.
+
+The speech of the President was well adapted to the occasion, and to
+the times. It was calculated to rouse those indignant feelings which a
+high spirited people, insulted and injured by a foreign power, can
+never fail to display, if their judgment be not blinded, or their
+sensibility to external wrongs blunted, by invincible prejudices. He
+relied principally on the manifestation of these feelings for the
+success of the negotiation; and on their real existence, for the
+defence of the national rights, should negotiation fail. His
+endeavours were not absolutely unsuccessful. Some impression was made
+on the mass of the people; but it was too slight to be productive of
+the advantages expected from it. The conduct of France was still
+openly defended; and the opinion, that the measures which had been
+adopted by the executive of the United States furnished that republic
+with just cause of war, was still publicly maintained, and
+indefatigably circulated. According to these opinions, America could
+entitle herself to peace, only by retracing the steps she had taken,
+and yielding to the demands of her justly offended but generous and
+magnanimous ally.
+
+Still jealous for the honour, as well as confident of the importance,
+of his country, and retaining that full conviction respecting the
+propriety of its measures which had induced their adoption, General
+Washington could not repress the solicitude with which he contemplated
+passing events. His confidential letters disclose the strong feelings
+of his own bosom, but betray no apprehensions that the French
+government would press its present system to extremities. He firmly
+believed that the hostile attitude it had assumed was to be,
+exclusively, ascribed to the conduct of those Americans who had been
+the uniform advocates of all the pretensions of France, and who were
+said to be supported by a real majority of the people; and confidently
+expected that, under the old pretext of magnanimous forbearance, the
+executive directory would, slowly, and gradually, recede from its
+present system, so soon as the error in which it originated should
+become manifest. The opinion he had always entertained of the good
+sense and patriotism of his fellow citizens, silenced every doubt
+respecting the manner in which they would act, when their real
+situation should be perceived by themselves.
+
+{1798}
+
+For a considerable length of time, no certain intelligence reached the
+United States respecting the negotiation at Paris. At length, in the
+winter of 1798, letters were received from the American envoys,
+indicating an unfavourable state of things; and, in the spring,
+despatches arrived which announced the total failure of the mission.
+
+History will scarcely furnish the example of a nation, not absolutely
+degraded, which has received from a foreign power such open contumely,
+and undisguised insult, as were, on this occasion, suffered by the
+United States in the persons of their ministers.
+
+[Sidenote: Their treatment.]
+
+It was insinuated that their being taken from the party[53] which had
+supported the measures of their own government furnished just cause of
+umbrage; and, under slight pretexts, the executive directory delayed
+to accredit them as the representatives of an independent nation. In
+this situation, they were assailed by persons, not indeed invested
+with formal authority, but exhibiting sufficient evidence of the
+source from which their powers were derived, who, in direct and
+explicit terms, demanded money from the United States as the condition
+which must precede, not only the reconciliation of America to France,
+but any negotiation on the differences between the two countries.
+
+     [Footnote 53: Two of them were of the party denominated
+     federal; the third was arranged with the opposition.]
+
+That an advance of money by a neutral to a belligerent power would be
+an obvious departure from neutrality, though an insuperable objection
+to this demand, did not constitute the most operative reason for
+repelling it. Such were the circumstances under which it was made,
+that it could not be acceded to without a surrender of the real
+independence of the United States; nor without being, in fact, the
+commencement of a system, the end of which it was impossible to
+foresee.
+
+[Illustration: Mount Vernon
+
+_This colonial mansion overlooking the Potomac River fifteen miles
+south of Washington, D.C., and famous as the home and burial-place of
+the "Father of His Country," was built in 1743 by Washington's elder
+brother, Lawrence, who called it Mount Vernon, after Admiral Vernon,
+under whom he had served in the British Navy. Mount Vernon, which was
+much enlarged by President Washington, was by him bequeathed to
+Bushrod Washington, upon whose death it came into the hands of John A.
+Washington, his nephew, who sold it in 1858 to the Ladies Mount Vernon
+Association, which holds it in trust as a national shrine._]
+
+A decided negative was therefore given to the preliminary required by
+these unofficial agents; but they returned to the charge with
+wonderful perseverance, and used unwearied arts to work upon the fears
+of the American ministers for their country, and for themselves. The
+immense power of France was painted in glowing colours, the
+humiliation of the house of Austria was stated, and the conquest of
+Britain was confidently anticipated. In the friendship of France
+alone, it was said, could America look for safety; and the fate of
+Venice was held up to warn her of the danger which awaited those who
+incurred the displeasure of the great republic. The ministers were
+assured that, if they believed their conduct would be approved in the
+United States, they were mistaken. The means which the Directory
+possessed, in that country, to excite odium against them, were great,
+and would unquestionably be employed.
+
+This degrading intercourse was at length interrupted by the positive
+refusal of the envoys to hold any further communication with the
+persons employed in it.
+
+Meanwhile, they urged the object of their mission with persevering but
+unavailing solicitude. The Directory still refused to acknowledge them
+in their public character; and the secretary of exterior relations, at
+unofficial visits which they made him, renewed the demand which his
+agents had unsuccessfully pressed.
+
+Finding the objections to their reception in their official character
+insurmountable, the American ministers made a last effort to execute
+the duties assigned to them. In a letter addressed to the secretary of
+exterior relations, they entered at large into the explanations
+committed to them by their government, and illustrated, by a variety
+of facts, the uniform friendliness of its conduct to France.[54]
+Notwithstanding the failure of this effort, and their perfect
+conviction that all further attempts would be equally unavailing, they
+continued, with a passiveness which must search for its apology in
+their solicitude to demonstrate to the American people the real views
+of the French republic, to employ the only means in their power to
+avert the rupture which was threatened, and which appeared to be
+inevitable.
+
+     [Footnote 54: It is a remarkable fact, that the answer of
+     the French minister to this letter, an answer which
+     criminated the American government in bitter terms, was in
+     the possession of a printer in Philadelphia who had
+     uniformly supported the pretensions of that republic, before
+     it reached the American government.]
+
+During these transactions, occasion was repeatedly taken to insult the
+American government; open war was continued to be waged by the
+cruisers of France on American commerce; and the flag of the United
+States was a sufficient justification for the capture and condemnation
+of any vessel over which it waved.
+
+At length, when the demonstration became complete, that the resolution
+of the American envoys was not less fixed, than their conduct had been
+guarded and temperate, various attempts were made to induce two of
+them, voluntarily, to relinquish their station; on the failure of
+which, they were ordered to quit the territories of the republic. As
+if to aggravate this national insult, the third, who had been selected
+from that party which was said to be friendly to France, was permitted
+to remain, and was invited to resume the discussions which had been
+interrupted.
+
+The despatches communicating these events were laid before congress,
+and were afterwards published. The indignation which they excited was
+warm and extensive. The attempt to degrade the United States into a
+tributary nation was too obvious to be concealed; and the resentment
+produced, as well by this attempt as by the threats which accompanied
+it, was not confined to the federalists. For the moment, a spirit was
+roused on which an American may reflect with pride, and which he may
+consider as a sure protection from external danger. In every part of
+the continent, the favourite sentiment was "millions for defence, not
+a cent for tribute."
+
+The disposition still existed to justify France, by criminating the
+American government, by contending that her intentions were not really
+hostile, that her conduct was misrepresented by men under British
+influence, who wished for war, or had been deceived by unauthorized
+intriguers; that, admitting it to be otherwise, she only demanded
+those marks of friendship which, at a critical moment, she had herself
+afforded; that the real interests of the United States required a
+compliance with this demand; that it would cost more money to resist
+than to yield to it; that the resistance would infallibly be
+ineffectual; and that national honour was never secured by national
+defeat. Neither these sentiments, nor the arguments which were founded
+on them, accorded with the general feeling; and it required the
+co-operation of other causes to establish the influence of those who
+urged them.
+
+[Sidenote: Measures of hostility adopted by the American government
+against France.]
+
+In congress, vigorous measures were adopted for retaliating injuries
+which had been sustained, and for repelling those which were
+threatened. Amongst these was a regular army. A regiment of
+artillerists and engineers was added to the permanent establishment;
+and the President was authorized to raise twelve additional regiments
+of infantry, and one regiment of cavalry, to serve during the
+continuance of the existing differences with the French republic if
+not sooner discharged. He was also authorized to appoint officers for
+a provisional army, and to receive and organize volunteer corps who
+would be exempt from ordinary militia duty; but neither the volunteers
+nor the officers of the provisional army were to receive pay unless
+called into actual service.
+
+Addresses[55] to the executive from every part of the United States
+attested the high spirit of the nation, and the answers of the
+President were well calculated to give it solidity and duration.
+
+     [Footnote 55: Having heard that the President contemplated a
+     tour as far south as the district of Columbia, General
+     Washington invited him to Mount Vernon, and concluded his
+     letter with saying: "I pray you to believe that no one has
+     read the various approbatory addresses which have been
+     presented to you with more heartfelt satisfaction than I
+     have done, nor are there any who more sincerely wish that
+     your administration of the government may be easy, happy and
+     honourable to yourself, and prosperous to the country."]
+
+No sooner had a war become probable, to the perils of which no man
+could be insensible, than the eyes of all were directed to General
+Washington, as the person who should command the American army. He
+alone could be seen at the head of a great military force without
+exciting jealousy; he alone could draw into public service, and
+arrange properly the best military talents of the nation; and he more
+than any other, could induce the utmost exertions of its physical
+strength.
+
+Indignant at the unprovoked injuries which had been heaped upon his
+country, and convinced that the conflict, should a war be really
+prosecuted by France with a view to conquest, would be extremely
+severe, and could be supported, on the part of America, only by a
+persevering exertion of all her force, he could not determine, should
+such a crisis arrive, to withhold those aids which it might be in his
+power to afford, should public opinion really attach to his services
+that importance which would render them essential. His own reflections
+appear to have resulted in a determination not to refuse once more to
+take the field, provided he could be permitted to secure efficient aid
+by naming the chief officers of the army, and to remain at home until
+his service in the field should be required by actual invasion.
+
+A confidential and interesting letter from Colonel Hamilton of the
+19th of May, on political subjects, concludes with saying, "You ought
+also to be aware, my dear sir, that in the event of an open rupture
+with France, the public voice will again call you to command the
+armies of your country; and though all who are attached to you will
+from attachment as well as public considerations, deplore an occasion
+which should once more tear you from that repose to which you have so
+good a right; yet it is the opinion of all those with whom I converse
+that you will be compelled to make the sacrifice. All your past
+labours may demand, to give them efficacy, this further, this very
+great sacrifice."
+
+"You may be assured," said General Washington in reply, "that my mind
+is deeply impressed with the present situation of public affairs, and
+not a little agitated by the outrageous conduct of France towards the
+United States, and at the inimitable conduct of those partisans who
+aid and abet her measures. You may believe further, from assurances
+equally sincere, that if there was any thing in my power to be done
+consistently, to avert or lessen the danger of the crisis, it should
+be rendered with hand and heart.
+
+"But, my dear sir, dark as matters appear at present, and expedient as
+it is to be prepared for the worst that can happen, (and no man is
+more disposed to this measure than I am) I can not make up my mind
+yet, for the expectation of open war; or, in other words, for a
+formidable invasion by France. I can not believe, although I think her
+capable of any thing, that she will attempt to do more than she has
+done. When she perceives the spirit and policy of this country rising
+into resistance, and that she has falsely calculated upon support from
+a large part of the people[56] to promote her views and influence in
+it, she will desist even from those practices, unless unexpected
+events in Europe, or the acquisition of Louisiana and the Floridas,
+should induce her to continue them. And I believe further, that
+although the leaders of their party in this country will not change
+their sentiments, they will be obliged to change their plan, or the
+mode of carrying it on. The effervescence which is appearing in all
+quarters, and the desertion of their followers, will frown them into
+silence--at least for a while.
+
+     [Footnote 56: See note No. XVIII. at the end of the volume.]
+
+"If I did not view things in this light, my mind would be infinitely
+more disquieted than it is: for, if a crisis should arrive when a
+sense of duty, or a call from my country should become so imperious as
+to leave me no choice, I should prepare for relinquishment, and go
+with as much reluctance from my present peaceful abode, as I should go
+to the tombs of my ancestors."
+
+The opinion that prudence required preparations for open war, and that
+General Washington must once more be placed at the head of the
+American armies, strengthened every day; and on the 22d of June, the
+President addressed him a letter in which that subject was thus
+alluded to.
+
+"In forming an army, whenever I must come to that extremity, I am at
+an immense loss whether to call out the old generals, or to appoint a
+young set. If the French come here, we must learn to march with a
+quick step, and to attack, for in that way only they are said to be
+vulnerable. I must tax you, sometimes, for advice. We must have your
+name, if you will in any case permit us to use it. There will be more
+efficacy in it than in many an army."
+
+A letter from the secretary of war, written four days afterwards,
+concludes with asking, "May we flatter ourselves that, in a crisis so
+awful and important, you will accept the command of all our armies? I
+hope you will, because you alone can unite all hearts and all hands,
+if it is possible that they can be united."
+
+These letters reached General Washington on the same day. The
+following extract from his reply to the President will exhibit the
+course of his reflections relative to his appearance once more at the
+head of the American armies.
+
+"At the epoch of my retirement, an invasion of these states by any
+European power, or even the probability of such an event in my days,
+was so far from being contemplated by me, that I had no conception
+either that or any other occurrence would arise in so short a period
+which could turn my eyes from the shades of Mount Vernon. But this
+seems to be the age of wonders. And it is reserved for intoxicated and
+lawless France (for purposes of Providence far beyond the reach of
+human ken) to slaughter her own citizens, and to disturb the repose of
+all the world besides. From a view of the past,--from the prospect of
+the present,--and of that which seems to be expected, it is not easy
+for me to decide satisfactorily on the part it might best become me to
+act. In case of actual invasion by a formidable force, I certainly
+should not intrench myself under the cover of age and retirement, if
+my services should be required by my country to assist in repelling
+it. And if there be good cause to expect such an event, which
+certainly must be better known to the government than to private
+citizens, delay in preparing for it may be dangerous, improper, and
+not to be justified by prudence. The uncertainty however of the
+latter, in my mind, creates my embarrassment; for I can not bring it
+to believe, regardless as the French are of treaties, and of the laws
+of nations, and capable as I conceive them to be of any species of
+despotism and injustice, that they will attempt to invade this country
+after such a uniform and unequivocal expression of the determination
+of the people in all parts to oppose them with their lives and
+fortunes. That they have been led to believe by their agents and
+partisans among us that we are a divided people, that the latter are
+opposed to their own government, and that the show of a small force
+would occasion a revolt, I have no doubt; and how far these men (grown
+desperate) will further attempt to deceive, and may succeed in keeping
+up the deception, is problematical. Without that, the folly of the
+Directory in such an attempt would, I conceive, be more conspicuous,
+if possible, than their wickedness.
+
+"Having with candour made this disclosure of the state of my mind, it
+remains only for me to add, that to those who knew me best, it is best
+known that, should imperious circumstances induce me to exchange once
+more the smooth paths of retirement for the thorny ways of public
+life, at a period too when repose is more congenial to nature, it
+would be productive of sensations which can be more easily conceived
+than expressed."
+
+His letter to the secretary of war was more detailed and more
+explicit. "It can not," he said, "be necessary for me to promise to
+you or to others who know my sentiments, that to quit the tranquillity
+of retirement, and enter the boundless field of responsibility, would
+be productive of sensations which a better pen than I possess would
+find it difficult to describe. Nevertheless, the principle by which my
+conduct has been actuated through life, would not surfer me, in any
+great emergency, to withhold any services I could render when required
+by my country;--especially in a case where its dearest rights are
+assailed by lawless ambition and intoxicated power, in contempt of
+every principle of justice, and in violation of solemn compact, and of
+laws which govern all civilized nations:--and this too with the
+obvious intent to sow thick the seeds of disunion for the purpose of
+subjugating our government, and destroying our independence and
+happiness.
+
+"Under circumstances like these, accompanied by an actual invasion of
+our territory, it would be difficult for me, at any time, to remain an
+idle spectator, under the plea of age or retirement. With sorrow, it
+is true, I should quit the shades of my peaceful abode, and the ease
+and happiness I now enjoy, to encounter anew the turmoils of war, to
+which, possibly, my strength and powers might be found incompetent.
+These, however, should not be stumbling blocks in my own way. But
+there are other things highly important for me to ascertain and settle
+before I could give a definite answer to your question.
+
+     1st. The propriety in the opinion of the public, so far as
+     that opinion has been expressed in conversation, of my
+     appearing again on the public theatre, after declaring the
+     sentiments I did in my valedictory address of September,
+     1796.
+
+     2dly. A conviction in my own breast, from the best
+     information that can be obtained, that it is the wish of my
+     country that its military force should be committed to my
+     charge; and,
+
+     3dly. That the army now to be formed should be so appointed
+     as to afford a well grounded hope of its doing honour to the
+     country, and credit to him who commands it in the field.
+
+"On each of these heads you must allow me to make observations."
+
+General Washington then proceeded to detail his sentiments on those
+points on which his consent to take command of the army must depend.
+
+[Sidenote: General Washington appointed commander-in-chief of the
+American Army.]
+
+Some casual circumstances delayed the reception of the letters of the
+President and secretary of war for several days, in consequence of
+which, before the answer of General Washington reached the seat of
+government, the President had nominated him to the chief command of
+all the armies raised or to be raised in the United States, with the
+rank of Lieutenant General; and the senate had unanimously advised and
+consented to his appointment.
+
+By the secretary of war, who was directed to wait upon him with his
+commission, the President addressed to him the following letter:
+
+"Mr. M'Henry, the secretary of war, will have the honour to wait on
+you in my behalf, to impart to you a step I have ventured to take,
+which I should have been happy to have communicated in person, had
+such a journey, at this time, been in my power.
+
+"My reasons for this measure will be too well known to need any
+explanation to the public. Every friend and every enemy of America
+will comprehend them at first blush. To you, sir, I owe all the
+apology I can make. The urgent necessity I am in of your advice and
+assistance, indeed of your conduct and direction of the war, is all I
+can urge; and that is a sufficient justification to myself and to the
+world. I hope it will be so considered by yourself. Mr. M'Henry will
+have the honour to consult you upon the organization of the army, and
+upon every thing relating to it."
+
+Open instructions, signed by the President, were on the same day
+delivered to the secretary of war, of which the following is a copy:
+
+"It is my desire that you embrace the first opportunity to set out on
+your journey to Mount Vernon, and wait on General Washington with the
+commission of Lieutenant General and Commander-in-chief of the armies
+of the United States, which, by the advice and consent of the senate,
+has been signed by me.
+
+"The reasons and motives which prevailed on me to venture on such a
+step as the nomination of this great and illustrious character, whose
+voluntary resignation alone occasioned my introduction to the office I
+now hold, were too numerous to be detailed in this letter, and are too
+obvious and important to escape the observation of any part of America
+or Europe. But as it is a movement of great delicacy, it will require
+all your address to communicate the subject in a manner that shall be
+inoffensive to his feelings, and consistent with all the respect that
+is due from me to him.
+
+"If the General should decline the appointment, all the world will be
+silent, and respectfully acquiesce. If he should accept it, all the
+world, except the enemies of his country, will rejoice. If he should
+come to no decisive determination, but take the subject into
+consideration, I shall not appoint any other lieutenant general until
+his conclusion is known.
+
+"His advice in the formation of a list of officers would be extremely
+desirable to me. The names of Lincoln, Morgan, Knox, Hamilton, Gates,
+Pinckney, Lee, Carrington, Hand, Muhlenberg, Dayton, Burr, Brooks,
+Cobb, Smith, as well as the present Commander-in-chief, may be
+mentioned to him, and any others that occur to you. Particularly, I
+wish to have his opinion on the men most suitable for inspector
+general, adjutant general, and quarter master general.
+
+"His opinion on all subjects would have great weight, and I wish you
+to obtain from him as much of his reflections upon the times and the
+service as you can."
+
+The communications between General Washington and the secretary of war
+appear to have been full and unreserved. The impressions of the former
+respecting the critical and perilous situation of his country had
+previously determined him to yield to the general desire, and accept
+the commission offered him, provided he could be permitted to select
+for the high departments of the army, and especially for the military
+staff, those in whom he could place the greatest confidence. Being
+assured that there was every reason to believe his wishes in this
+respect would not be thwarted, he gave to the secretary the
+arrangement[57] which he would recommend for the principal stations in
+the army; and, on the 13th of July, addressed the following letter to
+the President.
+
+     [Footnote 57: _The following is the list of generals, and of
+     the military staff._
+
+     Alexander Hamilton, _Inspector_.
+
+     Charles C. Pinckney,               }
+     Henry Knox, or, if either refuses  }  Major Generals.
+     Henry Lee.                         }
+
+     Henry Lee (if not Major General)   }
+     John Brooks,                       }
+     William S. Smith, or               }  Brigadiers.
+     John E. Howard.                    }
+
+     Edward Hand, or                    }
+     Jonathan Dayton, or                }  Adjutant General.
+     William S. Smith.                  }
+
+     Edward Carrington, Quarter Master General.
+     James Craik, Director of the Hospital.]
+
+"I had the honour, on the evening of the 11th instant, to receive from
+the hands of the secretary at war, your favour of the seventh,
+announcing that you had, with the advice and consent of the senate,
+appointed me Lieutenant General and Commander-in-chief of the armies
+raised or to be raised for the service of the United States.
+
+"I can not express how greatly affected I am at this new proof of
+public confidence, and at the highly flattering manner in which you
+have been pleased to make the communication. At the same time, I must
+not conceal from you my earnest wish that the choice had fallen upon a
+man less declined in years, and better qualified to encounter the
+usual vicissitudes of war.
+
+"You know, sir, what calculations I had made relative to the probable
+course of events on my retiring from office, and the determination,
+with which I had consoled myself, of closing the remnant of my days in
+my present peaceful abode. You will therefore be at no loss to
+conceive and appreciate the sensations I must have experienced, to
+bring my mind to any conclusion that would pledge me, at so late a
+period of life, to leave scenes I sincerely love, to enter upon the
+boundless field of public action, incessant trouble, and high
+responsibility.
+
+"It was not possible for me to remain ignorant of, or indifferent to
+recent transactions. The conduct of the Directory of France towards
+our country; their insidious hostility to its government; their
+various practices to withdraw the affections of the people from it;
+the evident tendency of their arts, and those of their agents, to
+countenance and invigorate opposition; their disregard of solemn
+treaties and the laws of nations; their war upon our defenceless
+commerce; their treatment of our ministers of peace; and their
+demands, amounting to tribute, could not fail to excite in me
+sentiments corresponding with those my countrymen have so generally
+expressed in their affectionate addresses to you.
+
+"Believe me, sir, no man can more cordially approve the wise and
+prudent measures of your administration. They ought to inspire
+universal confidence, and will no doubt, combined with the state of
+things, call from congress such laws and means as will enable you to
+meet the full force and extent of the crisis.
+
+"Satisfied, therefore, that you have sincerely wished and endeavoured
+to avert war, and exhausted to the last drop the cup of
+reconciliation, we can, with pure hearts, appeal to heaven for the
+justice of our cause, and may confidently trust the final result to
+that kind Providence who has heretofore, and so often, signally
+favoured the people of the United States.
+
+"Thinking in this manner, and feeling how incumbent it is upon every
+person of every description to contribute, at all times, to his
+country's welfare, and especially in a moment like the present, when
+every thing we hold dear and sacred is so seriously threatened, I have
+finally determined to accept the commission of Commander-in-chief of
+the armies of the United States, with the reserve only,--that I shall
+not be called into the field until the army is in a situation to
+require my presence, or it becomes indispensable by the urgency of
+circumstances.
+
+"In making this reservation, I beg it to be understood that I do not
+mean to withhold any assistance to arrange and organize the army,
+which you may think I can afford. I take the liberty also to mention
+that I must decline having my acceptance considered as drawing after
+it any immediate charge upon the public, or that I can receive any
+emoluments annexed to the appointment before I am in a situation to
+incur expense."
+
+From this period, General Washington intermingled the cares and
+attentions of office with his agricultural pursuits. His solicitude
+respecting the organization of an army which he might possibly be
+required to lead against an enemy the most formidable in the world,
+was too strong to admit of his being inattentive to its arrangements.
+Yet he never did believe that an invasion of the United States would
+actually take place. His conviction that it was not the interest of
+France to wage an unprovoked war with America, and that the hostile
+measures which the executive Directory had adopted originated in the
+opinion that those measures would overthrow the administration, and
+place power in the hands of those who had uniformly supported all the
+pretensions of the French republic, remained unshaken. As a necessary
+consequence of this conviction, he was persuaded that the indignation
+which this system had excited, would effect its change. The only
+circumstance that weakened this hope, arose from the persevering
+opposition which was still maintained in congress, and from the
+evidence which was daily afforded that those party animosities, to
+which he ascribed the present dangerous crisis, were far from being
+healed. Those who had embraced the cause of France in the controversy
+between that nation and the United States, had been overwhelmed by a
+flood of testimony which silenced them for a time, but which weakened
+them more in appearance than in reality. They were visibly recovering
+both strength and confidence. It is not therefore wonderful that
+General Washington should have expressed himself more freely than had
+been his custom, respecting American parties, and that he should have
+exerted an influence which he had not been in the habit of employing,
+to induce men whose talents he respected, but who had declined
+political life, to enter into the national and state legislatures.
+
+Events soon demonstrated that he had not calculated unreasonably on
+the effects of the spirit manifested by his country. Although America,
+supplicating for peace, had been spurned with contempt; although the
+executive Directory had rejected with insult her repeated and sincere
+prayers to be permitted to make explanations, and had haughtily
+demanded a concession of their arrogant and unfounded claims or the
+advance of pecuniary aids, as a preliminary to negotiation;--America,
+in arms, was treated with some respect. Indirect pacific overtures
+were made, and a willingness on the part of France, to accommodate the
+existing differences on reasonable terms, was communicated.
+
+{1799}
+
+The President, truly solicitous to restore that harmony and good
+understanding which the United States had laboured so incessantly and
+so sincerely to preserve with their ancient ally, caught at the
+overtures which were indirectly made, and again appointed three envoys
+extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary to the French republic.
+These gentlemen found the government in the hands of a person who had
+taken no part in those transactions which had embroiled the two
+countries, and who entered into negotiations with them which
+terminated in the amicable adjustment of differences.
+
+General Washington did not live to witness the restoration of peace.
+
+[Sidenote: His death.]
+
+On Friday the 13th of December, while attending to some improvements
+upon his estate, he was exposed to a light rain, by which his neck and
+hair became wet. Not apprehending danger from this circumstance, he
+passed the afternoon in his usual manner; but, in the night, was
+seized with an inflammatory affection of the windpipe. The disease
+commenced with a violent ague, accompanied with some pain in the upper
+and fore part of the throat, a sense of stricture in the same part, a
+cough, and a difficult rather than a painful deglutition, which were
+soon succeeded by fever, and a quick and laborious respiration.
+
+Believing bloodletting to be necessary, he procured a bleeder who took
+from his arm twelve or fourteen ounces of blood, but he would not
+permit a messenger to be despatched for his family physician until the
+appearance of day. About eleven in the morning Doctor Craik arrived;
+and perceiving the extreme danger of the case, requested that two
+consulting physicians should be immediately sent for. The utmost
+exertions of medical skill were applied in vain. The powers of life
+were manifestly yielding to the force of the disorder; speaking, which
+was painful from the beginning, became almost impracticable:
+respiration became more and more contracted and imperfect, until half
+past eleven on Saturday night; when, retaining the full possession of
+his intellect, he expired without a struggle.
+
+Believing at the commencement of his complaint, as well as through
+every succeeding stage of it, that its conclusion would be mortal, he
+submitted to the exertions made for his recovery, rather as a duty,
+than from any expectation of their efficacy. Some hours before his
+death, after repeated efforts to be understood, he succeeded in
+expressing a desire that he might be permitted to die without
+interruption. After it became impossible to get any thing down his
+throat, he undressed himself and went to bed, there to die. To his
+friend and physician, Doctor Craik, who sat on his bed, and took his
+head in his lap, he said with difficulty, "Doctor, I am dying, and
+have been dying for a long time, but I am not afraid to die."
+
+During the short period of his illness he economized his time, in
+arranging with the utmost serenity those few concerns which required
+his attention; and anticipated his approaching dissolution with every
+demonstration of that equanimity, for which his life was so uniformly,
+and singularly, conspicuous.
+
+The deep and wide spreading grief occasioned by this melancholy event,
+assembled a great concourse of people for the purpose of paying the
+last tribute of respect to the first of Americans. His body, attended
+by military honours and the ceremonies of religion, was deposited in
+the family vault at Mount Vernon, on Wednesday, the 18th of December.
+
+So short was his illness that, at the seat of government, the
+intelligence of his death preceded that of his indisposition. It was
+first communicated by a passenger in the stage to an acquaintance whom
+he met in the street, and the report quickly reached the house of
+representatives which was then in session. The utmost dismay and
+affliction was displayed for a few minutes; after which a member
+stated in his place, the melancholy information which had been
+received. This information he said was not certain, but there was too
+much reason to believe it true.
+
+"After receiving intelligence," he added, "of a national calamity so
+heavy and afflicting, the house of representatives can be but ill
+fitted for public business." He therefore moved an adjournment. Both
+houses adjourned until the next day.
+
+On the succeeding day, as soon as the orders were read, the same
+member addressed the chair in the following terms:
+
+"The melancholy event which was yesterday announced with doubt, has
+been rendered but too certain. Our WASHINGTON is no more! the hero,
+the patriot, and the sage of America;--the man on whom, in times of
+danger, every eye was turned, and all hopes were placed,--lives now
+only in his own great actions, and in the hearts of an affectionate
+and afflicted people.
+
+"If, sir, it had even not been usual openly to testify respect for the
+memory of those whom heaven has selected as its instruments for
+dispensing good to man, yet, such has been the uncommon worth, and
+such the extraordinary incidents which have marked the life of him
+whose loss we all deplore, that the whole American nation, impelled by
+the same feelings, would call, with one voice, for a public
+manifestation of that sorrow which is so deep and so universal.
+
+"More than any other individual, and as much as to one individual was
+possible, has he contributed to found this our wide spreading empire,
+and to give to the western world independence and freedom.
+
+"Having effected the great object for which he was placed at the head
+of our armies, we have seen him convert the sword into the
+ploughshare, and sink the soldier into the citizen.
+
+"When the debility of our federal system had become manifest, and the
+bonds which connected this vast continent were dissolving, we have
+seen him the chief of those patriots who formed for us a constitution
+which, by preserving the union, will, I trust, substantiate and
+perpetuate those blessings which our revolution had promised to
+bestow.
+
+"In obedience to the general voice of his country calling him to
+preside over a great people, we have seen him once more quit the
+retirement he loved, and, in a season more stormy and tempestuous than
+war itself, with calm and wise determination, pursue the true
+interests of the nation, and contribute, more than any other could
+contribute, to the establishment of that system of policy, which will,
+I trust, yet preserve our peace, our honour, and our independence.
+
+"Having been twice unanimously chosen the chief magistrate of a free
+people, we have seen him, at a time when his re-election with
+universal suffrage could not be doubted, afford to the world a rare
+instance of moderation, by withdrawing from his high station to the
+peaceful walks of private life.
+
+"However the public confidence may change, and the public affections
+fluctuate with respect to others, with respect to him, they have, in
+war and in peace, in public and in private life, been as steady as his
+own firm mind, and as constant as his own exalted virtues.
+
+"Let us then, Mr. Speaker, pay the last tribute of respect and
+affection to our departed friend. Let the grand council of the nation
+display those sentiments which the nation feels. For this purpose I
+hold in my hand some resolutions which I take the liberty of offering
+to the house."
+
+The resolutions,[58] after a preamble stating the death of General
+Washington, were in the following terms.
+
+     [Footnote 58: These resolutions were prepared by General
+     Lee, who happening not to be in his place when the
+     melancholy intelligence was received and first mentioned in
+     the house, placed them in the hands of the member who moved
+     them.]
+
+"Resolved, that this house will wait on the President in condolence of
+this mournful event.
+
+"Resolved, that the speaker's chair be shrouded with black, and that
+the members and officers of the house wear black during the session.
+
+"Resolved, that a committee, in conjunction with one from the senate,
+be appointed to consider on the most suitable manner of paying honour
+to the memory of the MAN, first in war, first in peace, and first in
+the hearts of his fellow citizens."
+
+Immediately after the passage of these resolutions, a written message
+was received from the President, accompanying a letter from Mr. Lear,
+which he said, "will inform you that it had pleased Divine Providence
+to remove from this life our excellent fellow citizen, GEORGE
+WASHINGTON, by the purity of his life, and a long series of services
+to his country, rendered illustrious through the world. It remains for
+an affectionate and grateful people, in whose hearts he can never die,
+to pay suitable honour to his memory."
+
+To the speaker and members of the house of representatives who waited
+on him in pursuance of the resolution which has been mentioned, he
+expressed the same deep-felt and affectionate respect "for the most
+illustrious and beloved personage America had ever produced."
+
+The senate, on this melancholy occasion, addressed to the President
+the following letter:
+
+"The senate of the United States respectfully take leave, sir, to
+express to you their deep regret for the loss their country sustains
+in the death of General GEORGE WASHINGTON.
+
+"This event, so distressing to all our fellow citizens, must be
+peculiarly heavy to you who have long been associated with him in
+_deeds of patriotism_. Permit us, sir, to mingle our tears with yours.
+On this occasion it is manly to weep. To lose such a man, at such a
+crisis, is no common calamity to the world. Our country mourns a
+father. The Almighty disposer of human events has taken from us our
+greatest benefactor and ornament. It becomes us to submit with
+reverence, to HIM who 'maketh darkness his pavilion.'
+
+"With patriotic pride we review the life of our WASHINGTON, and
+compare him with those of other countries who have been pre-eminent in
+fame. Ancient and modern names are diminished before him. Greatness
+and guilt have too often been allied; but _his_ fame is whiter than it
+is brilliant. The destroyers of nations stood abashed at the majesty
+of _his_ virtues. It reproved the intemperance of their ambition, and
+darkened the splendour of victory. The scene is closed,--and we are no
+longer anxious lest misfortune should sully his glory; he has traveled
+on to the end of his journey, and carried with him an increasing
+weight of honour: he has deposited it safely where misfortune can not
+tarnish it; where malice can not blast it. Favoured of heaven, he
+departed without exhibiting the weakness of humanity; magnanimous in
+death, the darkness of the grave could not obscure his brightness.
+
+"Such was the man whom we deplore. Thanks to God, his glory is
+consummated. Washington yet lives on earth in his spotless
+example--his spirit is in heaven.
+
+"Let his countrymen consecrate the memory of the heroic general, the
+patriotic statesman, and the virtuous sage: let them teach their
+children never to forget that the fruits of his labours and his
+example _are their inheritance_."
+
+To this address the President returned the following answer: "I
+receive, with the most respectful and affectionate sentiments, in this
+impressive address, the obliging expressions of your regret for the
+loss our country has sustained in the death of her most esteemed,
+beloved, and admired citizen.
+
+"In the multitude of my thoughts and recollections on this melancholy
+event, you will permit me to say that I have seen him in the days of
+adversity, in some of the scenes of his deepest distress and most
+trying perplexities. I have also attended him in his highest elevation
+and most prosperous felicity, with uniform admiration of his wisdom,
+moderation, and constancy.
+
+"Among all our original associates in that memorable _league of this
+continent_ in 1774, which first expressed the SOVEREIGN WILL OF A FREE
+NATION IN AMERICA, he was the only one remaining in the general
+government. Although with a constitution more enfeebled than his, at
+an age when he thought it necessary to prepare for retirement, I feel
+myself alone, bereaved of my last brother; yet I derive a strong
+consolation from the unanimous disposition which appears in all ages
+and classes to mingle their sorrows with mine on this common calamity
+to the world.
+
+"The life of our WASHINGTON can not suffer by a comparison with those
+of other countries who have been most celebrated and exalted by fame.
+The attributes and decorations of _royalty_ could only have served to
+eclipse the majesty of those virtues which made him, from being a
+modest _citizen_, a more resplendent luminary. Misfortune, had he
+lived, could hereafter have sullied his glory only with those
+superficial minds who, believing that characters and actions are
+marked by success alone, rarely deserve to enjoy it. _Malice_ could
+never blast his honour, and _Envy_ made him a singular exception to
+her universal rule. For himself, he had lived long enough to life and
+to glory:--for his fellow citizens, if their prayers could have been
+answered, he would have been immortal: for me, his departure is at a
+most unfortunate moment. Trusting, however, in the wise and righteous
+dominion of Providence over the passions of men, and the results of
+their councils and actions, as well as over their lives, nothing
+remains for me but _humble resignation_.
+
+"His example is now complete; and it will teach wisdom and virtue to
+magistrates, citizens, and men, not only in the present age, but in
+future generations, as long as our history shall be read. If a Trajan
+found a Pliny, a Marcus Aurelius can never want biographers,
+eulogists, or historians."
+
+The joint committee which had been appointed to devise the mode by
+which the nation should express its feelings on this melancholy
+occasion, reported the following resolutions:
+
+"That a marble monument be erected by the United States at the city of
+Washington, and that the family of General Washington be requested to
+permit his body to be deposited under it; and that the monument be so
+designed as to commemorate the great events of his military and
+political life.
+
+"That there be a funeral procession from congress hall to the German
+Lutheran church, in memory of General Washington, on Thursday, the
+26th instant, and that an oration be prepared at the request of
+congress, to be delivered before both houses on that day; and that the
+president of the senate, and speaker of the house of representatives,
+be desired to request one of the members of congress to prepare and
+deliver the same.
+
+"That it be recommended to the people of the United States to wear
+crape on the left arm as a mourning for thirty days.
+
+"That the President of the United States be requested to direct a copy
+of these resolutions to be transmitted to Mrs. Washington, assuring
+her of the profound respect congress will ever bear to her person and
+character, of their condolence on the late affecting dispensation of
+Providence, and entreating her assent to the interment of the remains
+of General Washington in the manner expressed in the first resolution.
+
+"That the President be requested to issue his proclamation, notifying
+to the people throughout the United States the recommendation
+contained in the third resolution."
+
+These resolutions passed both houses unanimously, and those which
+would admit of immediate execution were carried into effect. The whole
+nation appeared in mourning. The funeral procession was grand and
+solemn, and the eloquent oration, which was delivered on the occasion
+by General Lee, was heard with profound attention and with deep
+interest.
+
+Throughout the United States, similar marks of affliction were
+exhibited. In every part of the continent funeral orations were
+delivered, and the best talents of the nation were devoted to an
+expression of the nation's grief.
+
+To the letter of the President which transmitted to Mrs. Washington
+the resolutions of congress, and of which his secretary was the
+bearer, that lady answered, "Taught by the great example which I have
+so long had before me, never to oppose my private wishes to the public
+will, I must consent to the request made by congress which you have
+had the goodness to transmit to me;--and in doing this, I need not, I
+can not say what a sacrifice of individual feeling I make to a sense
+of public duty."
+
+The monument, however, has not been erected. That the great events of
+the political as well as military life of General Washington should be
+commemorated, could not be pleasing to those who had condemned, and
+who continued to condemn, the whole course of his administration. This
+resolution, although it passed unanimously, had many enemies. That
+party which had long constituted the opposition, and which, though the
+minority for the moment, nearly divided the house of representatives,
+declared its preference for the equestrian statue which had been voted
+by congress at the close of the war. The division between a statue and
+a monument was so nearly equal, that the session passed away without
+an appropriation for either. The public feelings soon subsided, and
+those who possessed the ascendancy over the public sentiment employed
+their influence to draw odium on the men who favoured a monument; to
+represent that measure as a part of a general system to waste the
+public money; and to impress the idea that the only proper monument to
+the memory of a meritorious citizen, was that which the people would
+erect in their affections.
+
+[Illustration: Resting-Place of George and Martha Washington at Mount
+Vernon
+
+_Dying December 14, 1799, the body of Washington Was placed, with
+simple but impressive ceremonies, in the old family vault, from which
+it was removed in 1831 to a tomb of plain brick construction, near a
+wooded ravine a short distance from the house. Behind an iron grating
+may be seen the two sarcophagi which contain the mortal remains of
+George Washington and his wife, Martha._]
+
+General Washington was rather above the common size, his frame was
+robust, and his constitution vigorous--capable of enduring great
+fatigue, and requiring a considerable degree of exercise for the
+preservation of his health. His exterior created in the beholder the
+idea of strength, united with manly gracefulness.
+
+[Sidenote: And character.]
+
+His manners were rather reserved than free, though they partook
+nothing of that dryness, and sternness, which accompany reserve when
+carried to an extreme; and on all proper occasions, he could relax
+sufficiently to show how highly he was gratified by the charms of
+conversation, and the pleasures of society. His person and whole
+deportment exhibited an unaffected and indescribable dignity,
+unmingled with haughtiness, of which all who approached him were
+sensible; and the attachment of those who possessed his friendship,
+and enjoyed his intimacy, was ardent, but always respectful.
+
+His temper was humane, benevolent, and conciliatory; but there was a
+quickness in his sensibility to any thing apparently offensive, which
+experience had taught him to watch, and to correct.
+
+In the management of his private affairs he exhibited an exact yet
+liberal economy. His funds were not prodigally wasted on capricious
+and ill examined schemes, nor refused to beneficial though costly
+improvements. They remained therefore competent to that expensive
+establishment which his reputation, added to a hospitable temper, had
+in some measure imposed upon him; and to those donations which real
+distress has a right to claim from opulence.
+
+He made no pretensions to that vivacity which fascinates, or to that
+wit which dazzles, and frequently imposes on the understanding-More
+solid than brilliant, judgment, rather than genius, constituted the
+most prominent feature of his character.
+
+Without making ostentatious professions of religion, he was a sincere
+believer in the Christian faith, and a truly devout man.
+
+As a military man, he was brave, enterprising, and cautious. That
+malignity which was sought to strip him of all the higher qualities of
+a General, has conceded to him personal courage, and a firmness of
+resolution which neither dangers nor difficulties could shake. But
+candour will allow him other great and valuable endowments. If his
+military course does not abound with splendid achievements, it
+exhibits a series of judicious measures adapted to circumstances,
+which probably saved his country.
+
+Placed, without having studied the theory, or been taught in the
+school of experience the practice of war, at the head of an
+undisciplined, ill organized multitude, which was impatient of the
+restraints, and unacquainted with the ordinary duties of a camp,
+without the aid of officers possessing those lights which the
+Commander-in-chief was yet to acquire, it would have been a miracle
+indeed had his conduct been absolutely faultless. But, possessing an
+energetic and distinguishing mind, on which the lessons of experience
+were never lost, his errors, if he committed any, were quickly
+repaired; and those measures which the state of things rendered most
+adviseable, were seldom, if ever, neglected. Inferior to his adversary
+in the numbers, in the equipment, and in the discipline of his troops,
+it is evidence of real merit that no great and decisive advantages
+were ever obtained over him, and that the opportunity to strike an
+important blow never passed away unused. He has been termed the
+American Fabius; but those who compare his actions with his means,
+will perceive at least as much of Marcellus as of Fabius, in his
+character. He could not have been more enterprising, without
+endangering the cause he defended, nor have put more to hazard,
+without incurring justly the imputation of rashness. Not relying upon
+those chances which sometimes give a favourable issue to attempts
+apparently desperate, his conduct was regulated by calculations made
+upon the capacities of his army, and the real situation of his
+country. When called a second time to command the armies of the United
+States, a change of circumstances had taken place, and he meditated a
+corresponding change of conduct. In modelling the army of 1798, he
+sought for men distinguished for their boldness of execution, not less
+than for their prudence in counsel, and contemplated a system of
+continued attack. "The enemy," said the General in his private
+letters, "must never be permitted to gain foothold on our shores."
+
+In his civil administration, as in his military career, ample and
+repeated proofs were exhibited of that practical good sense, of that
+sound judgment, which is perhaps the most rare, and is certainly the
+most valuable quality of the human mind. Devoting himself to the
+duties of his station, and pursuing no object distinct from the public
+good, he was accustomed to contemplate at a distance those critical
+situations in which the United States might probably be placed; and to
+digest, before the occasion required action, the line of conduct which
+it would be proper to observe. Taught to distrust first impressions,
+he sought to acquire all the information which was attainable, and to
+hear, without prejudice, all the reasons which could be urged for or
+against a particular measure. His own judgment was suspended until it
+became necessary to determine; and his decisions, thus maturely made,
+were seldom if ever to be shaken. His conduct therefore was
+systematic, and the great objects of his administration were steadily
+pursued.
+
+Respecting, as the first magistrate in a free government must ever do,
+the real and deliberate sentiments of the people, their gusts of
+passion passed over, without ruffling the smooth surface of his mind.
+Trusting to the reflecting good sense of the nation for approbation
+and support, he had the magnanimity to pursue its real interests, in
+opposition to its temporary prejudices; and, though far from being
+regardless of popular favour, he could never stoop to retain, by
+deserving to lose it. In more instances than one, we find him
+committing his whole popularity to hazard, and pursuing steadily, in
+opposition to a torrent which would have overwhelmed a man of ordinary
+firmness, that course which had been dictated by a sense of duty.
+
+In speculation, he was a real republican, devoted to the constitution
+of his country, and to that system of equal political rights on which
+it is founded. But between a balanced republic and a democracy, the
+difference is like that between order and chaos. Real liberty, he
+thought, was to be preserved, only by preserving the authority of the
+laws, and maintaining the energy of government. Scarcely did society
+present two characters which, in his opinion, less resembled each
+other, than a patriot and a demagogue.
+
+No man has ever appeared upon the theatre of public action, whose
+integrity was more incorruptible, or whose principles were more
+perfectly free from the contamination of those selfish and unworthy
+passions, which find their nourishment in the conflicts of party.
+Having no views which required concealment, his real and avowed
+motives were the same; and his whole correspondence does not furnish a
+single case, from which even an enemy would infer that he was capable,
+under any circumstances, of stooping to the employment of duplicity.
+No truth can be uttered with more confidence than that his ends were
+always upright, and his means always pure. He exhibits the rare
+example of a politician to whom wiles were absolutely unknown, and
+whose professions to foreign governments, and to his own countrymen,
+were always sincere. In him was fully exemplified the real
+distinction, which forever exists, between wisdom and cunning, and the
+importance as well as truth of the maxim that "honesty is the best
+policy."
+
+If Washington possessed ambition, that passion was, in his bosom, so
+regulated by principles, or controlled by circumstances, that it was
+neither vicious, nor turbulent. Intrigue was never employed as the
+means of its gratification, nor was personal aggrandizement its
+object. The various high and important stations to which he was called
+by the public voice, were unsought by himself; and, in consenting to
+fill them, he seems rather to have yielded to a general conviction
+that the interests of his country would be thereby promoted, than to
+an avidity for power.
+
+Neither the extraordinary partiality of the American people, the
+extravagant praises which were bestowed upon him, nor the inveterate
+opposition and malignant calumnies which he encountered, had any
+visible influence upon his conduct. The cause is to be looked for in
+the texture of his mind.
+
+In him, that innate and unassuming modesty which adulation would have
+offended, which the voluntary plaudits of millions could not betray
+into indiscretion, and which never obtruded upon others his claims to
+superior consideration, was happily blended with a high and correct
+sense of personal dignity, and with a just consciousness of that
+respect which is due to station. Without exertion, he could maintain
+the happy medium between that arrogance which wounds, and that
+facility which allows the office to be degraded in the person who
+fills it.
+
+It is impossible to contemplate the great events which have occurred
+in the United States under the auspices of Washington, without
+ascribing them, in some measure, to him. If we ask the causes of the
+prosperous issue of a war, against the successful termination of which
+there were so many probabilities? of the good which was produced, and
+the ill which was avoided, during an administration fated to contend
+with the strongest prejudices, that a combination of circumstances,
+and of passions, could produce? of the constant favour of the great
+mass of his fellow citizens, and of the confidence which, to the last
+moment of his life, they reposed in him? the answer, so far as these
+causes may be found in his character, will furnish a lesson well
+meriting the attention of those who are candidates for political fame.
+
+Endowed by nature with a sound judgment, and an accurate
+discriminating mind, he feared not that laborious attention which made
+him perfectly master of those subjects, in all their relations, on
+which he was to decide: and this essential quality was guided by an
+unvarying sense of moral right, which would tolerate the employment,
+only, of those means that would bear the most rigid examination; by a
+fairness of intention which neither sought nor required disguise: and
+by a purity of virtue which was not only untainted, but unsuspected.
+
+
+
+
+NOTES.
+
+
+NOTE--No. I. _See Page 9._
+
+_The following are copies of these interesting questions, and of the
+letter which enclosed them._
+
+Philadelphia, 18th April, 1793.
+
+SIR,--The posture of affairs in Europe, particularly between France
+and Great Britain, place the United States in a delicate situation,
+and require much consideration of the measures which will be proper
+for them to observe in the war between those powers. With a view to
+forming a general plan of conduct for the executive, I have stated and
+enclosed sundry questions to be considered preparatory to a meeting at
+my house to-morrow, where I shall expect to see you at 9 o'clock, and
+to receive the result of your reflections thereon.
+
+_Ques._ I. 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?
+
+_Ques._ II. Shall a minister from the republic of France be received?
+
+_Ques._ III. If received, shall it be absolutely or with
+qualifications; and if with qualifications, of what kind?
+
+_Ques._ IV. 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 until the government of France shall be _established_?
+
+_Ques._ V. If they have the right, is it expedient to do either? and
+which?
+
+_Ques._ VI. If they have an option, would it be a breach of neutrality
+to consider the treaties still in operation?
+
+_Ques._ VII. If the treaties are to be considered as now in operation,
+is the guarantee in the treaty of alliance applicable to a defensive
+war only, or to war, either offensive or defensive?
+
+_Ques._ VIII. Does the war in which France is engaged appear to be
+offensive or defensive on her part? or of a mixed and equivocal
+character?
+
+_Ques._ IX. If of a mixed and equivocal character, does the guarantee
+in any event apply to such a war?
+
+_Ques._ X. What is the effect of a guarantee, such as that to be found
+in the treaty of alliance between the United States and France?
+
+_Ques._ XI. Does any article in either of the treaties prevent ships
+of war, other than privateers, of the powers opposed to France, from
+coming into the ports of the United States to act as convoys to their
+own merchantmen? or does it lay any other restraints upon them more
+than would apply to the ships of war of France?
+
+_Ques._ XII. Should the future regent of France send a minister to the
+United States, ought he to be received?
+
+_Ques._ XIII. Is it necessary or adviseable to call together the two
+houses of congress with a view to the present posture of European
+affairs? if it is, what should be the particular objects of such a
+call?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+NOTE--No. II. _See Page 15._
+
+The official letter announcing to the convention the appointment of
+Mr. Genet, contained a communication of a very delicate nature, which
+was immediately made public. That the French government had not
+mingled with its desire to separate America from Britain, a
+willingness to see the United States acquire a degree of strength
+which might render them truly independent, and formidable to their
+neighbours, though well known to congress, had been concealed from the
+people at large. It seems, therefore, to have been apprehended by the
+leaders of the revolution in France, that some remnant of that
+affection which had been so lavishly expressed for their fallen
+monarch while exercising sovereign power, might still be cherished in
+the American bosom, and might obstruct the endeavours they were about
+to make to produce a more intimate connexion between the two nations.
+It might be supposed that such sentiments, if they existed, would be
+effectually destroyed by a disclosure of the motives which had
+influenced the conduct of those by whom the aids so highly valued had
+been granted. The letter alluded to contains this passage: "From the
+instructions that were given by the former ministry to the agents in
+that country (America) which the executive council caused to be laid
+before them, they have seen with indignation, that at the very time
+when the good people of America expressed to us their friendship and
+gratitude in the most affectionate manner, Vergennes and Montmorin
+thought, _that it was not suitable to France to give to America all
+the consistence of which it was capable, because it would acquire a
+strength which it might probably abuse_. They, therefore, enjoined on
+their agents a passive conduct in regard to that nation, and to speak
+of nothing but the personal views of the king for its prosperity. The
+operations of war were directed by the same Machiavellian maxims. The
+same duplicity was employed in the negotiations of peace; in which,
+when signed, the people for whom we had taken up arms were altogether
+neglected." The official letter brought by Mr. Genet, to the executive
+of the United States, conveyed in less explicit terms the same idea;
+and to prove the correctness of these allegations, he communicated
+copies of official documents expressing in plain terms the solicitude
+of France and Spain to exclude the United States from the Mississippi;
+their jealousies of the growing power and ambition of this country;
+and the wish of France, expressed while the question was pending, that
+the constitution might not be adopted, as it "suits France that the
+United States should remain in their present state, because if they
+should acquire the consistence of which they are susceptible, they
+would soon acquire a force or a power which they would be very ready
+to abuse." The minister of the king, however, was directed not to avow
+the inclination of his sovereign on this point.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+NOTE--No. III. _See Page 40._
+
+Of the excessive and passionate devotion which was felt for the French
+republic, and of the blind and almost equally extensive hostility to
+the measures of the administration, the gazettes of the day are
+replete with the most abundant proof. As an example of this spirit,
+the following toasts are selected, because they were given at a
+festival made by persons of some distinction, at which the governor of
+Pennsylvania and the minister of France were present.
+
+To commemorate the 14th of July, the anniversary of the destruction of
+the Bastille, the officers of the 2d regiment of Philadelphia militia
+assembled at Weed's ferry. Eighty-five rounds were discharged from the
+artillery in honour of the eighty-five departments of France, and the
+following toasts were given:
+
+1st. The _fourteenth_ day of July; may it be a sabbath in the calendar
+of freedom, and a jubilee to the European world.
+
+2d. The _tenth_ of August; may the freemen who offered up their lives
+on the altar of liberty be ever remembered as martyrs, and canonized
+as saints.
+
+3d. May the Bastille of despotism throughout the earth be crumbled
+into dust, and the Phoenix of freedom grow out of the ashes.
+
+4th. Nerve to the arm, fortitude to the heart, and triumph to the soul
+struggling for the rights of man.
+
+5th. May no blind attachment to men lead France to the precipice of
+that tyranny from which they have escaped.
+
+6th. May the sister republics of France and America be as incorporate
+as light and heat, and the man who endeavours to disunite them be
+viewed as the Arnold of his country.
+
+7th. May honour and probity be the principles by which the connexions
+of free nations shall be determined; and no Machiavellian commentaries
+explain the text of treaties.
+
+8th. _The treaty of alliance with France_: may those who attempt to
+evade or violate the political obligations and faith of our country be
+considered as traitors, and consigned to infamy.
+
+9th. _The citizen soldiers_, before they act may they know and approve
+the cause, and may remorse attend the man that would think of opposing
+the French while they war for the rights of man.
+
+10th. The _youth_ of the _Paris legion_; may the rising generation of
+America imitate their heroism and love of country.
+
+11th. The republics of France and America; may the cause of liberty
+ever be a bond of union between the two nations.
+
+12th. A dagger to the bosom of that man who makes patriotism a cover
+to his ambition, and feels his country's happiness absorbed in his
+own.
+
+13th. May _French_, superior to _Roman or Grecian_ virtue, be the
+electric fluid of freedom, that shall animate and quicken the earth.
+
+14th. Union and mutual confidence to the patriots of France; confusion
+and distress to the counsels of their enemies.
+
+15th. May the succeeding generation wonder that such beings as _kings_
+were ever permitted to exist.
+
+Volunteer from the chair.
+
+The rule of proportion; as France acted with respect to America, so
+may America act with respect to France!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+NOTE--No. IV. _See Page 47._
+
+Of the sensibility of the president to the calumnies against his
+administration with which the press abounded, and of their new
+direction against him personally, his correspondence furnishes but few
+evidences. The first and almost only notice taken of them is in a
+private letter of the 21st of July, to his friend General Lee, then
+governor of Virginia, an extract from which follows:
+
+"That there are in this, as in all other countries, discontented
+characters I well know; as also that these characters are actuated by
+very different views:--Some good, from an opinion that the measures of
+the general government are impure;--some bad, and (if I might be
+allowed to use so harsh an expression) diabolical, inasmuch as they
+are not only meant to impede the measures of that government
+generally, but more especially to destroy the confidence which it is
+necessary the people should place (until they have unequivocal proof
+of demerit) in their public servants:--for in this light I consider
+myself whilst I am an occupant of office; and if they were to go
+further and call me their slave, during this period, I would not
+dispute the point with them. But in what will this abuse terminate?
+
+"For the result, as it respects myself, I care not. I have a
+consolation within of which no earthly efforts can deprive me;--and
+that is, that neither ambitious nor interested motives have influenced
+my conduct. The arrows of malevolence, therefore, however barbed and
+pointed, can never reach my most valuable part; though, whilst I am
+_up_ as a _mark_, they will be continually aimed at me. The
+publications in Freneau's and Bache's papers are outrages on common
+decency; and they progress in that style in proportion as their pieces
+are treated with contempt, and passed over in silence by those against
+whom they are directed. Their tendency, however, is too obvious to be
+mistaken by men of cool and dispassionate minds;--and, in my opinion,
+ought to alarm them; because it is difficult to prescribe bounds to
+their effect."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+NOTE--No. V. _See Page 48._
+
+They are as follows:
+
+1st. The original arming and equipping of vessels in the ports of the
+United States by any of the belligerent parties, for military service,
+offensive or defensive, is deemed unlawful.
+
+2d. Equipments of merchant vessels, by either of the belligerent
+parties in the ports of the United States, purely for the
+accommodation of them as such, is deemed lawful.
+
+3d. Equipments in the ports of the United States of vessels of war in
+the immediate service of the government of any of the belligerent
+parties, which if done to other vessels would be of a doubtful nature
+as being applicable either to commerce or war, are deemed lawful,
+except those which shall have made prize of the subjects, people, or
+property of France, coming with their prizes into the ports of the
+United States pursuant to the seventeenth article of our treaty of
+amity and commerce with France.
+
+4th. Equipments in the ports of the United States by any of the
+parties at war with France of vessels fitted for merchandise and war,
+whether with or without commissions, which are doubtful in their
+nature as being applicable either to commerce or war, are deemed
+lawful, except those which shall have made prize, &c.
+
+5th. Equipments of any of the vessels of France, in the ports of the
+United States, which are doubtful in their nature as being applicable
+to commerce or war, are deemed lawful.
+
+6th. Equipments of every kind in the ports of the United States, of
+privateers of the powers at war with France, are deemed unlawful.
+
+7th. Equipments of vessels in the ports of the United States, which
+are of a nature solely adapted to war, are deemed unlawful; except
+those stranded or wrecked, as mentioned in the eighteenth article of
+our treaty with France, the sixteenth of our treaty with the United
+Netherlands, the ninth of our treaty with Prussia, and except those
+mentioned in the nineteenth article of our treaty with France, the
+seventeenth of our treaty with the United Netherlands, the eighteenth
+of our treaty with Prussia.
+
+8th. Vessels of either of the parties, not armed, or armed previous to
+their coming into the ports of the United States, which shall not have
+infringed any of the foregoing rules, may lawfully engage or enlist
+therein their own subjects or citizens, not being inhabitants of the
+United States, except privateers of the powers at war with France, and
+except those vessels which shall have made prize, &c.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+NOTE--No. VI. _See Page 64._
+
+The earnestness as well as force with which the argument against this
+measure was pressed on the British cabinet, and the extreme irritation
+it produced on the public mind, contrasted with the silence of the
+executive respecting a much more exceptionable decree of the national
+convention, and the composure of the people of the United States under
+that decree, exhibits a striking proof of the difference with which
+not only the people, but an administration, which the phrensy of the
+day accused of partiality to England, contemplated at that time the
+measures of the two nations.
+
+On the 9th of May, 1793, the national convention passed a decree
+relative to the commerce of neutrals; the first article of which is in
+these words: "The French ships of war and privateers may stop and
+bring into the ports of the republic, such neutral vessels as are
+loaded, in whole or in part either with provisions belonging to
+neutrals and destined for enemy ports, or with merchandise belonging
+to enemies."
+
+On the 23d of May, in consequence of the remonstrances of Mr. Morris,
+the convention declared, "that the vessels of the United States are
+not comprised in the regulations of the decree of the 9th of May." On
+the 28th of the same month the decree of the 23d was repealed, and on
+the first of July it was re-established. But on the 27th of July it
+was again repealed, and thus the decree of the 9th of May was left in
+full operation against the vessels of the United States.
+
+So far was this regulation from affecting the sentiments of America
+for France, that its existence was scarcely known.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+NOTE--No. VII. _See Page 90._
+
+Before these resolutions were offered, the strength of parties was in
+some measure tried in a fuller house than that which had elected the
+speaker.
+
+A rule had been entered into by a former congress providing, that on
+the discussion of confidential communications from the president, the
+house should be cleared of all persons except the members and clerk.
+On taking up a confidential message relative to the truce between
+Portugal and Algiers, the doors as usual were closed. The next day
+when the subject was resumed, Mr. Nicholas expressed his opinion that
+there was no necessity for shutting the galleries; upon which the rule
+was mentioned with a request that it should be read. Mr. Madison moved
+a reconsideration of this rule. In the course of the debate on the
+motion, it was said by its advocates that secrecy in a republican
+government wounds the majesty of the sovereign people--that this
+government is in the hands of the people--and that they have a right
+to know all the transactions relative to their own affairs. This right
+ought not to be infringed incautiously, for such secrecy tends to
+diminish the confidence of the people in their own government.
+
+In reply to these remarks it was said, that because this government is
+republican, it will not be pretended that it can have no secrets. The
+President of the United States is the depositary of secret
+transactions. His duty may lead him to communicate them to the members
+of the house, and the success, safety, and energy of the government
+may depend on keeping those secrets inviolable. The people have a
+right to be well governed. They have interests as well as rights, and
+it is the duty of the legislature to take every possible measure to
+promote those interests. To discuss the secret transactions of the
+government publicly, was the ready way to sacrifice the public
+interest, and to deprive the government of all foreign information.
+Afterwards the rule was amended so far as to leave it in the
+discretion of the house, after receiving a confidential message, to
+debate upon it in private or in public.
+
+Among the resolutions reported from the committee of the whole house
+on this occasion, was one for appointing a committee to report the
+naval force which would be necessary for the protection of the
+commerce of the United States against the Algerine corsairs, together
+with an estimate of the expense. It was moved to amend this resolution
+by adding, "and the ways and means for defraying the same." This
+motion revived the old party question of calling on the secretary of
+the treasury to report ways and means. The amendment was carried, Ayes
+46. Noes 44.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+NOTE--No. VIII. _See Page 147._
+
+The private correspondence of Mr. Morris with the president exhibits a
+faithful picture, drawn by the hand of a master, of the shifting
+revolutionary scenes which with unparalleled rapidity succeeded each
+other in Paris. With the eye of an intelligent, and of an
+unimpassioned observer, he marked all passing events, and communicated
+them with fidelity. He did not mistake despotism for freedom, because
+it was sanguinary, because it was exercised by those who denominated
+themselves the people, or because it assumed the name of liberty.
+Sincerely wishing happiness and a really free government to France, he
+could not be blind to the obvious truth that the road to those
+blessings had been mistaken. It was expected by his enemies that the
+correspondence which was asked for would disclose something which
+might be deemed offensive to the rulers of the republic, and
+consequently furnish additional matter for charging the administration
+with unfriendliness to France.
+
+The resolution requesting all the correspondence, not even excluding
+that which the president might think proper to withhold, involved
+considerations of some delicacy, respecting which it was proper that
+the rights of the executive should be precisely understood. It was,
+therefore, laid before the cabinet, and, in conformity with their
+advice, the President sent a message to the senate informing them that
+he had examined the correspondence they requested, and had caused it
+to be copied, except in those particulars which in his judgment, for
+public considerations, ought not to be communicated; which copies he
+transmitted to them. The nature of these papers, he added, manifested
+the propriety of their being received as confidential.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+NOTE--No. IX. _See Page 164._
+
+This opinion derived fresh confirmation from a notification
+transmitted in August, 1794, by the governor of Upper Canada to
+Captain Williamson, who was establishing a settlement on the Great
+Sodus, a bay of lake Ontario, about twenty miles from Oswego, and
+within the state of New York. Captain Williamson not being at the
+place, Lieutenant Sheaff, the bearer of the message, addressed a
+letter to him, in which he said, that he had come with instructions
+from the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada to demand by what
+authority an establishment had been ordered at that place, and to
+require that such a design be immediately relinquished for the reasons
+stated in the written declaration accompanying the letter.
+
+The written declaration was in these words:
+
+"I am commanded to declare that, during the inexecution of the treaty
+of peace between Great Britain and the United States, and until the
+existing differences respecting it shall be mutually and finally
+adjusted, the taking possession of any part of the Indian territory,
+either for the purposes of war or sovereignty, is held to be a direct
+violation of his Britannic majesty's rights, as they unquestionably
+existed before the treaty, and has an immediate tendency to interrupt,
+and in its progress to destroy that good understanding which has
+hitherto subsisted between his Britannic majesty and the United States
+of America. I, therefore, require you to desist from any such
+aggression."
+
+In the same spirit, complaints had been made as early as 1792, of
+encroachments made by the people of Vermont on a country confessedly
+within the territorial line of the United States, but inhabited by
+persons said to live under the protection of the British garrisons.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+NOTE--No. X. _See Page 205._
+
+     _On receiving the resignation of the secretary, the
+     President addressed a letter to him expressive of the sense
+     he entertained of his services. This letter is not found in
+     the letter book, but its purport may be collected from the
+     following answer._
+
+Philadelphia, February 3d, 1795.
+
+"SIR,--My particular acknowledgments are due for your very kind letter
+of yesterday. As often as I may recall the vexations I have endured,
+your approbation will be a great and precious consolation.
+
+"It was not without a struggle that I yielded to the very urgent
+motives which impelled me to relinquish a station in which I could
+hope to be in any degree instrumental in promoting the success of an
+administration under your direction; a struggle which would have been
+far greater had I supposed that the prospect of future usefulness was
+proportioned to the sacrifices to be made.
+
+"Whatever may be my destination hereafter, I entreat you to be
+persuaded (not the less for my having been sparing in professions)
+that I shall never cease to render a just tribute to those eminent and
+excelling qualities which have been already productive of so many
+blessings to your country--that you will always have my fervent wishes
+for your public and personal felicity, and that it will be my pride to
+cultivate a continuance of that esteem, regard and friendship, of
+which you do me the honour to assure me."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+NOTE--No. XI. _See Page 216._
+
+The following toasts which were given at a civic feast in Philadelphia
+on the first of May, attended by a great number of American citizens,
+to celebrate the victories of France, and which was honoured by the
+presence of the minister and consul of the French republic, and of the
+consul of Holland, then subdued by the arms of France, will furnish
+some idea of the prevailing spirit of the times.
+
+1st. The republic of France; whose triumphs have made this day a
+jubilee; may she destroy the race of kings, and may their broken
+sceptres and crowns, like the bones and teeth of the Mammoth, be the
+only evidences that such monsters ever infested the earth.
+
+2d. The republic of France; may the shores of Great Britain soon hail
+the tricoloured standard, and the people rend the air with shouts of
+long live the republic.
+
+3d. The republic of France; may her navy clear the ocean of pirates,
+that the common highway of nations may no longer, like the highways of
+Great Britain, be a receptacle for robbers.
+
+4th. The republic of France; may all free nations learn of her to
+transfer their attachment from men to principles, and from individuals
+to the people.
+
+5th. The republic of France; may her example in the abolition of
+titles and splendour be a lesson to all republics to destroy those
+leavens of corruption.
+
+6th. The republic of Holland; may the flame of liberty which they have
+rekindled never be permitted to expire for want of vigilance and
+energy.
+
+7th. The republic of Holland; may her two sisters, the republics of
+France and America, form with her an invincible triumvirate in the
+cause of liberty.
+
+8th. The republic of Holland; may she again give birth to a Van Tromp
+and De Ruyter, who shall make the satellites of George tremble at
+their approach, and seek their safety in flight.
+
+9th. The republic of Holland; may that fortitude which sustained her
+in the dire conflict with Philip II. and the success that crowned her
+struggles, be multiplied upon her, in the hour of her regeneration.
+
+10th. The republic of Holland; may that government which they are
+about establishing have neither the balances of aristocracy, nor the
+checks of monarchy.
+
+11th. The republic of America; may the sentiment that impelled her to
+resist a British tyrant's will, and the energy which rendered it
+effectual, prompt her to repel usurpation in whatever shape it may
+assail her.
+
+12th. The republic of America; may the aristocracy of wealth founded
+upon the virtues, the toils, and the blood of her revolutionary armies
+soon vanish, and like the baseless fabric of a vision, leave not a
+wreck behind.
+
+13th. The republic of America; may her government have public good for
+its object, and be purged of the dregs of sophisticated republicanism.
+
+14th. The republic of America; may the alliance formed between her and
+France acquire vigour with age, and that man be branded as the enemy
+of liberty who shall endeavour to weaken or unhinge it.
+
+15th. The republic of America; may her administration have virtue
+enough to defy the ordeal of patriotic societies, and patriotism
+enough to cherish instead of denouncing them.
+
+It was not in Philadelphia alone that this temper was manifested. In
+every part of the United States, the love of France appeared to be a
+passion much more active with immense numbers, than that of America.
+Her victories were celebrated with enthusiasm, her heroes were toasted
+on public occasions, and moderation with regard to England was deemed
+a crime not readily to be pardoned.
+
+General Washington received an invitation to attend this feast in the
+following terms.
+
+SIR,--The subscribers, a committee in behalf of a number of American,
+French, and Dutch citizens, request the honour of your company to a
+civic festival, to be given on Friday, April 17th, appointed to
+celebrate the late victories of the French republic, and the
+emancipation of Holland.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+NOTE--No. XII. _See Page 231._
+
+A letter addressed to his government in October, 1794, by the minister
+of the French republic was intercepted by the captain of a British
+frigate and forwarded to Mr. Hammond, by whom it was delivered about
+the last of July to the secretary of the treasury, who, on the arrival
+of the President in Philadelphia, placed it in his hands. This letter
+alluded to communications from Mr. Randolph which, in the opinion of
+the President, were excessively improper. The ecclaircissements which
+the occasion required were followed by the resignation of the
+secretary. For the purpose, he alleged, of vindicating his conduct, he
+demanded a sight of a confidential letter which had been addressed to
+him by the President, and which was left in the office. His avowed
+design was to give this as well as some others of the same description
+to the public in order to support the allegation, that in consequence
+of his attachment to France and to liberty, he had fallen a victim to
+the intrigues of a British and an aristocratic party. The answer given
+to this demand was a license which few politicians in turbulent times
+could allow to a man who had possessed the unlimited confidence of the
+person giving it. "I have directed," said the President, "that you
+should have the inspection of my letter of the 22d of July, agreeable
+to your request: and you are at full liberty to publish without
+reserve _any_ and _every_ private and confidential letter I ever wrote
+_you_: nay more--every word I ever uttered to or in your presence,
+from whence you can derive any advantage in your vindication."
+
+As the asperity with which Mr. Randolph spoke of the President on
+other occasions as well as in his vindication, was censured by many,
+it may rescue the reputation of that gentleman from imputations which
+might be injurious to it to say that, some time before his death, he
+had the magnanimity to acknowledge the injustice of those imputations.
+A letter to the honourable Bushrod Washington, of July 2d, 1810, a
+copy of which was transmitted by Mr. Randolph to the author, contains
+the following declarations among others of similar import. "I do not
+retain the smallest degree of that feeling which roused me fifteen
+years ago against some individuals. For the world contains no
+treasure, deception, or charm which can seduce me from the consolation
+of being in a state of good will towards all mankind; and I should not
+be mortified to ask pardon of any man with whom I have been at
+variance for any injury which I may have done him. If I could now
+present myself before your venerated uncle, it would be my pride to
+confess my contrition that I suffered my irritation, let the cause be
+what it might, to use some of those expressions respecting him which,
+at this moment of my indifference to the ideas of the world, I wish to
+recall, as being inconsistent with my subsequent conviction. My life
+will I hope be sufficiently extended for the recording of my sincere
+opinion of his virtues and merit, in a style which is not the result
+of a mind merely debilitated by misfortune, but of that Christian
+philosophy on which alone I depend for inward tranquillity."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+NOTE--No. XIII. _See Page 231._
+
+This place was offered to Mr. Henry, a gentleman of eminent talents,
+great influence, and commanding eloquence. He had led the opposition
+to the constitution in Virginia, but, after its adoption, his
+hostility had in some measure subsided. He was truly a personal friend
+of the President, and had lately manifested a temper not inimical to
+the administration. The chief magistrate was anxious to engage him in
+the public service, but was aware of the embarrassments which must
+result from placing in so confidential a station, a person whose
+opinions might lead him to thwart every measure of the executive. It
+was, therefore, necessary to come to some explanations with Mr. Henry
+on this subject, and the letter which invited him into the department
+of state opened the way for this explanation by stating truly the
+views and character of the administration. "I persuade myself, sir,"
+said the President, "it has not escaped your observation, that a
+crisis is approaching which must, if it can not be arrested, soon
+decide whether order and good government shall be preserved, or
+anarchy and confusion ensue. I can most religiously aver that I have
+no wish incompatible with the dignity, happiness, and true interests
+of the people of this country. My ardent desire is, and my aim has
+been (as far as depended upon the executive department) to comply
+strictly with all our foreign and domestic engagements; but to keep
+the United States free from political connexions with _every_ other
+country;--to see them independent of _all_, and under the influence of
+_none_. In a word, I want an _American_ character; that the powers of
+Europe may be convinced we act for _ourselves_ and not for _others_.
+This, in my judgment, is the only way to be respected abroad, and
+happy at home; and not by becoming the partisans of Great Britain or
+France, create dissensions, disturb the public tranquillity, and
+destroy, perhaps forever, the cement that binds the union.
+
+"I am satisfied these sentiments can not be otherwise than congenial
+to your own. Your aid, therefore, in carrying them into effect would
+be flattering and pleasing to me."
+
+This accurate chart of the road he was invited to travel, presented in
+itself no impediments which to Mr. Henry appeared insurmountable. By
+private considerations alone was he restrained from proceeding in it.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+NOTE--No. XIV. _See Page 272._
+
+The course of the war in Europe had brought the two parties into
+opposition on a point on which no difference had originally existed
+between them, which gave more countenance to the charge that the
+advocates of the American government were unfriendly to France than it
+could justly claim when first made. Those who in 1793 had supported
+the proclamation of neutrality, and the whole system connected with
+it, were then, generally speaking, ardent and sincere in their wishes
+for the success of the French arms. But as the troops of the republic
+subdued Belgium and Holland; as they conquered Italy, and established
+the complete influence of France over the monarchy of Spain, this
+union of sentiment gradually disappeared. By one party it was
+contended that America could feel no interest in seeing Europe
+subjected to any one power. That to such a power, the Atlantic would
+afford no impassable barriers; and that no form of government was a
+security against national ambition. They, therefore, wished this
+series of victories to be interrupted; and that the balance of Europe
+should not be absolutely overturned. Additional strength was
+undoubtedly given to this course of reasoning by the aggressions of
+France on the United States.
+
+In the opinion of the opposite party, the triumphs of France were the
+triumphs of liberty. In their view every nation which was subdued, was
+a nation liberated from oppression. The fears of danger to the United
+States from the further aggrandizement of a single power were treated
+as chimerical, because that power being a republic must, consequently,
+be the friend of republics in every part of the globe, and a stranger
+to that lust of domination which was the characteristic passion of
+monarchies. Shifting with address the sentiment really avowed by their
+opponents, they ridiculed a solicitude for the existence of a balance
+of power in Europe, as an opinion that America ought to embark herself
+in the crusade of kings against France in order to preserve that
+balance.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+NOTE--No. XV. _See Page 326._
+
+The following extract from a letter written to General Knox the day
+before the termination of his office, exhibits the sentiments with
+which he contemplated this event, and with which he viewed the
+unceasing calumnies with which his whole administration continued to
+be aspersed.
+
+"To the wearied traveller who sees a resting place, and is bending his
+body to lean thereon, I now compare myself; but to be suffered to do
+_this_ in peace, is too much to be endured by _some_. To misrepresent
+my motives; to reprobate my politics; and to weaken the confidence
+which has been reposed in my administration;--are objects which can
+not be relinquished by those who will be satisfied with nothing short
+of a change in our political system. The consolation, however, which
+results from conscious rectitude, and the approving voice of my
+country unequivocally expressed by its representatives--deprives their
+sting of its poison, and places in the same point of view both the
+weakness and the malignity of their efforts.
+
+"Although the prospect of retirement is most grateful to my soul, and
+I have not a wish to mix again in the great world, or to partake in
+its politics, yet I am not without my regrets at parting with (perhaps
+never more to meet) the few intimates whom I love. Among these, be
+assured you are one."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+NOTE--No. XVI. _See Page 329._
+
+In the speech delivered by the President on taking the oaths of
+office, after some judicious observations on the constitution of his
+country, and on the dangers to which it was exposed, that able
+statesman thus spoke of his predecessor.
+
+"Such is the amiable and interesting system of government (and such
+are some of the abuses to which it may be exposed) which the people of
+America have exhibited, to the admiration and anxiety of the wise and
+virtuous of all nations, for eight years, under the administration of
+a citizen, who, by a long course of great actions, regulated by
+prudence, justice, temperance and fortitude, conducting a people
+inspired with the same virtues, and animated with the same ardent
+patriotism and love of liberty, to independence and peace, to
+increasing wealth and unexampled prosperity, has merited the gratitude
+of his fellow-citizens, commanded the highest praises of foreign
+nations, and secured immortal glory with posterity.
+
+"In that retirement which is his voluntary choice, may he long live to
+enjoy the delicious recollection of his services, the gratitude of
+mankind, the happy fruits of them to himself and the world, which are
+daily increasing, and that splendid prospect of the future fortunes of
+his country which is opening from year to year. His name may be still
+a rampart, and the knowledge that he lives a bulwark against all open
+or secret enemies of his country's peace."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+NOTE--No. XVII. _See Page 330._
+
+To testify their love for the person who had for eight years
+administered the government of the United States, the merchants of
+Philadelphia had prepared a splendid banquet for the day, to which the
+general, several officers of rank in the late army, the heads of
+departments, foreign ministers, and other persons of distinction were
+invited.
+
+In the rotundo in which it was given, an elegant compliment was
+prepared for the _principal guest_, which is thus described in the
+papers of the day.
+
+"Upon entering the area the general was conducted to his seat. On a
+signal given, music played Washington's march, and a scene which
+represented simple objects in the rear of the principal seat was drawn
+up, and discovered emblematical painting.
+
+"The principal was a female figure large as life, representing
+America, seated on an elevation composed of sixteen marble steps. At
+her left side, stood the federal shield and eagle, and at her feet,
+lay the cornucopia; in her right hand, she held the Indian calumet of
+peace supporting the cap of liberty: in the perspective appeared the
+temple of fame; and on her left hand, an altar dedicated to public
+gratitude, upon which incense was burning. In her left hand she held a
+scroll inscribed valedictory; and at the foot of the altar lay a
+plumed helmet and sword, from which a figure of General Washington,
+large as life, appeared, retiring down the steps, pointing with his
+right hand to the emblems of power which he had resigned, and with his
+left to a beautiful landscape representing Mount Vernon, in front of
+which oxen were seen harnessed to the plough. Over the general
+appeared a _Genius_ placing a wreath of laurels on his head."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+NOTE--No. XVIII. _See Page 348._
+
+     _(All footnotes on pages covered by Note No. XVIII are
+     references to the correspondence of Thomas Jefferson.)_
+
+A letter from Mr. Jefferson to Mr. Mazzei, an Italian who had passed
+some time in the United States, was published in Florence, and
+republished in the Moniteur, with some severe strictures on the
+conduct of the United States, and a remark "that the French government
+had testified its resentment by breaking off communication with an
+ungrateful and faithless ally until she shall return to a more just
+and benevolent conduct. No doubt," adds the editor, "it will give rise
+in the United States to discussions which may afford a triumph to the
+party of good republicans, the friends of France.
+
+"Some writers, in disapprobation of this wise and necessary measure of
+the Directory, maintain that, in the United States, the French have
+for partisans only certain demagogues who aim to overthrow the
+existing government. But their impudent falsehoods convince no one,
+and prove only, what is too evident, that they use the liberty of the
+press to serve the enemies of France."
+
+Mr. Jefferson, in his correspondence,[59] has animadverted on the
+preceding note with such extreme bitterness, as to impose on its
+author the necessity of entering into some explanations. Censure from
+a gentleman who has long maintained an unexampled ascendency over
+public opinion, can not be entirely disregarded.
+
+     [Footnote 59: Vol. iv. p. 402.]
+
+The offence consists in the reference to the letter written by him to
+Mr. Mazzei, which was published in Florence, and republished in Paris
+by the editor of the Moniteur, then the official paper of the
+Directory. In this letter, Mr. Jefferson says, a paragraph was
+interpolated which makes him charge his own country with ingratitude
+and injustice to France.
+
+By the word "country," Mr. Jefferson is understood to allude to the
+government, not to the people of America.
+
+This letter, containing the sentence now alleged to be interpolated,
+was published throughout the United States in the summer of 1797. It
+became immediately, as may well be supposed, the subject of universal
+conversation. The writer, and the individual to whom it particularly
+alludes, filled too large a space in the public mind for such a paper
+not to excite general attention and deep interest. It did excite both.
+
+Had it been fabricated, Mr. Jefferson, it was supposed, could not have
+permitted it to remain uncontradicted. It came in a form too
+authentic, the matter it contained affected his own reputation and
+that of the illustrious individual who is its principal subject, too
+vitally to permit the imputation to remain unnoticed. It would not, it
+could not have remained unnoticed, if untrue. Yet its genuineness was
+never questioned by Mr. Jefferson, or by any of his numerous friends.
+Not even to General Washington, as is now avowed, was it ever denied.
+Had it been denied to him, his strong sense of justice and of right
+would have compelled him to relieve the reputation of the supposed
+writer from a charge of such serious import.
+
+It was, of course, universally received as a genuine letter. An open
+avowal of it could not have added to the general conviction.
+
+The letter having this irresistible claim on the general confidence,
+no one part of it was entitled to less credit than every other. The
+interpolation of a particular sentence was neither suggested nor
+suspected. The whole was published in Europe and republished in
+America as the letter of Mr. Jefferson, with his name subscribed. The
+genuineness of no part of it was ever called into question. How then
+could the public or any individual have ventured to select a
+particular sentence, and to say--this is spurious?
+
+Had it been suggested by Mr. Jefferson or his confidential friends
+that the letter was in general his, but that one sentence was
+fabricated, there is not perhaps an individual in the United States
+who would have pointed to that which censured the conduct of our
+government towards France, as the fabricated sentence. That which
+placed the then chief magistrate at the head of the "Anglican,
+monarchical, and aristocratical party which had sprung up," would have
+been much more probably selected. This conjecture is hazarded because,
+at the date of the letter,[60] Mr. Jefferson shared the confidence of
+General Washington, and was on terms of intimate professed friendship
+with him; while his censures of the conduct of the United States
+towards France were open and unreserved. The sentence there said to be
+interpolated would, if really written by him, have involved no
+imputation on his sincerity,--would have consisted perfectly with his
+general declarations. These declarations were so notorious, especially
+after the mission of Mr. Jay to Great Britain, and the reception of
+the treaty negotiated by him, that there was perhaps not an individual
+in the United States, at all conversant with public affairs, to whom
+they were unknown. Without reference to other proofs, sufficient
+evidence of this fact is furnished by that portion of his
+correspondence which has been selected for publication. Some examples
+will be quoted.
+
+     [Footnote 60: April, 1796.]
+
+In a letter of the 27th of April, 1795,[61] he says, "I sincerely
+congratulate you on the great prosperities of our two first allies,
+the French and the Dutch.[62] If I could but see them now at peace
+with the rest of their continent, I should have little doubt of dining
+with Pichegru in London next autumn; for I believe I should be tempted
+to leave my clover for a while, to go and hail the dawn of
+republicanism in that island."
+
+     [Footnote 61: Vol. iii. p. 313.]
+
+     [Footnote 62: Holland, it will be remembered, had been
+     conquered by Pichegru.]
+
+In a letter of September 21st, 1795,[63] after speaking of the
+discussions in the papers concerning the treaty, and alluding to the
+efforts made to give it effect as the boldest act of Hamilton and Jay
+to undermine the government, he says, "a bolder party stroke was never
+struck. For it certainly is an attempt by a party who find they have
+lost their majority in one branch of the legislature, to make a law by
+the aid of the other branch and of the executive, under colour of a
+treaty, which shall bind up the hands of the adverse branch from ever
+restraining the commerce of their patron nation."
+
+     [Footnote 63: Vol. iii. p. 316.]
+
+On the 30th of November, 1795,[64] he says, "I join with you in
+thinking the treaty an execrable thing." "I trust the popular branch
+of the legislature will disapprove of it, and thus rid us of this
+infamous act, which is really nothing more than an alliance between
+England and the Anglo men of this country, against the legislature and
+people of the United States."
+
+     [Footnote 64: Vol. iii. p. 317.]
+
+On the 21st of December, 1795,[65] speaking of a contemporary member
+of the cabinet, he says, "The fact is that he has generally given his
+principles to the one party and his practice to the other, the oyster
+to one, and the shell to the other. Unfortunately, the shell was
+generally the lot of his friends, the French and Republicans, and the
+oyster of their antagonists."
+
+     [Footnote 65: Vol. iii. p. 319.]
+
+On the 21st of March, 1796,[66] he says, "The British treaty has been
+formally at length laid before congress. All America is a tiptoe to
+see what the house of representatives will decide on it." Speaking of
+the right of the legislature to determine whether it shall go into
+effect or not, and of the vast importance of the determination, he
+adds, "It is fortunate that the first decision is to be made in a case
+so palpably atrocious as to have been predetermined by all America."
+
+     [Footnote 66: Vol. iii. p. 323.]
+
+On the 27th of the same month he says,[67] "If you decide in favour of
+your right to refuse co-operation, I should wonder on what occasion it
+is to be used, if not in one, where the rights, the interest, the
+honour and faith of our nation are so grossly sacrificed; where a
+faction has entered into a conspiracy with the enemies of their
+country to chain down the legislature at the feet of both; where the
+whole mass of your constituents have condemned the work in the most
+unequivocal manner, and are looking to you as their last hope to save
+them from the effects of the avarice and corruption of the first
+agent, the revolutionary machinations of others, and the
+incomprehensible acquiescence of the only honest man who has assented
+to it. I wish that his honesty and his political errors may not
+furnish a second occasion to exclaim, 'curse on his virtues, they have
+undone his country.'"
+
+     [Footnote 67: Vol. iii. p. 324.]
+
+On the 12th of June, 1796,[68] he says, "Congress have risen. You will
+have seen by their proceedings what I always observed to you, that one
+man outweighs them all in influence over the people, who have
+supported his judgment against their own, and that of their
+representatives. Republicanism must lie on its oars, resign the vessel
+to its pilot, and themselves to the course he thinks best for them."
+
+     [Footnote 68: Vol. iii. p. 328.]
+
+On the 22d of January, 1797,[69] he says, "I sincerely deplore the
+situation of our affairs with France. War with them and consequent
+alliance with Great Britain will completely compass the object of the
+executive council from the commencement of the war between France and
+England; taken up by some of them from that moment; by others more
+latterly."
+
+     [Footnote 69: Vol. iii. p. 347.]
+
+On the 17th of June, 1797,[70] he says, "I have always hoped that the
+popularity of the late President being once withdrawn from active
+effect, the natural feelings of the people towards liberty would
+restore the equilibrium between the executive and legislative
+departments which had been destroyed by the superior weight and effect
+of that popularity; and that their natural feelings of moral
+obligation would discountenance the unnatural predilection of the
+executive in favour of Great Britain. But, unfortunately, the
+preceding measures had already alienated the nation who were the
+object of them, and the reaction has on the minds of our citizens an
+effect which supplies that of the Washington popularity.
+
+     [Footnote 70: Vol. iii. p. 347]
+
+"P.S. Since writing the above we have received a report that the
+French Directory has proposed a declaration of war against the United
+States to the Council of Ancients, who have rejected it. Thus we see
+two nations who love one another affectionately, brought by the ill
+temper of their executive administrations to the very brink of a
+necessity to imbrue their hands in the blood of each other."
+
+On the 14th of February, 1799,[71] he says, "The President has
+appointed, and the senate approved, Rufus King, to enter into a treaty
+of commerce with the Russians, at London, and William Smith (Phocion)
+envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to go to
+Constantinople to make one with the Turks. So that as soon as there is
+a coalition of Turks, Russians, and English against France, we seize
+that moment to countenance it as openly as we dare, by treaties which
+we never had with them before. All this helps to fill up the measure
+of provocation towards France, and to get from them a declaration of
+war which we are afraid to be the first in making."
+
+     [Footnote 71: Vol. iii. p. 418.]
+
+If these sentiments, in perfect coincidence with the pretensions of
+France, and censuring the neutral course of the American government,
+were openly avowed by Mr. Jefferson; if, when they appeared embodied
+in a letter addressed to a correspondent in Europe, and republished
+throughout the United States, they remained, even after becoming the
+topic of universal interest and universal excitement, totally
+uncontradicted, who could suspect that any one sentence, particularly
+that avowing a sentiment so often expressed by the writer, had been
+interpolated?
+
+Yet Mr. Jefferson, unmindful of these circumstances, after some
+acrimonious remarks on Colonel Pickering, has said,[72] "and even
+Judge Marshall makes history descend from its dignity, and the ermine
+from its sanctity, to exaggerate, to record, and to sanction this
+forgery."
+
+     [Footnote 72: Vol. iv. p. 402.]
+
+The note itself will best demonstrate the inaccuracy of this
+commentary. To this text an appeal is fearlessly made.
+
+This unmerited invective is followed by an accusation not less
+extraordinary. It is made a cause of crimination that the author has
+copied the remark of the Parisian editor, instead of the letter
+itself.
+
+To remove this reproach, he will now insert the letter, not as
+published in Europe, and transferred from the French to the American
+papers, but as preserved and avowed by Mr. Jefferson, and given to the
+world by his grandson. It is in these words.
+
+"Monticello, April 24th, 1796.[73]
+
+"My Dear Friend,
+
+"The aspect of our politics has wonderfully changed since you left us.
+In place of that noble love of liberty and republican government which
+carried us triumphantly through the war, an Anglican, monarchical, and
+aristocratical party has sprung up, whose avowed object is to draw
+over us the substance as it has already done the forms of the British
+government. The main body of our citizens, however, remain true to
+their republican principles; the whole landed interest is republican,
+and so is a great mass of talents. Against us are the executive, the
+judiciary, two out of three branches of the legislature, all the
+officers of the government, all who want to be officers, all timid men
+who prefer the calm of despotism to the boisterous sea of liberty,
+British merchants and Americans trading on British capitals,
+speculators and holders in the banks and public funds, a contrivance
+invented for the purposes of corruption, and for assimilating us in
+all things to the rotten as well as sound parts of the British model.
+It would give you a fever were I to name to you the apostates who have
+gone over to these heresies, men who were Samsons in the field and
+Solomons in council, but who have had their heads shorn by the harlot
+England. In short, we are likely to preserve the liberty we have
+obtained only by unremitting labours and perils. But we shall preserve
+it; and our mass of weight and wealth on the good side is so great as
+to leave no danger that force will ever be attempted against us. We
+have only to awake and snap the Lilliputian cords with which they have
+been entangling us during the first sleep which succeeded our labours.
+
+"I will forward the testimonials, &c."
+
+     [Footnote 73: Vol. iii. p. 327.]
+
+The reader is requested to pause, to reflect on the state of things at
+the date of this letter, and to ask himself if its inevitable tendency
+be not to strengthen the impression in the Directory of France which
+had influenced its conduct towards the United States?--If it be not in
+the same spirit with the interpolated sentence, carried to a greater
+extreme, and calculated to produce the same effect?--If the editor who
+made the interpolation might not reasonably suppose that he was only
+applying expressly to France a sentiment already indicated in terms
+too plain to be misunderstood?
+
+France and Great Britain were then waging deadly war against each
+other. In this mortal conflict, each sought to strengthen herself, or
+weaken her adversary by any influence to be acquired over foreign
+powers--by obtaining allies when allies were attainable, or securing
+neutrality where co-operation was not to be expected. The temper with
+which the American people contemplated this awful spectacle can not be
+forgotten. The war of our revolution, in which France fought by the
+side of America against Great Britain, was fresh in their
+recollection. Her unexamined professions of republicanism enlisted all
+their affections in her favour, and all their antipathies against the
+monarchs with whom she was contending. Feelings which were believed to
+be virtuous, and which certainly wore the imposing garb of patriotism,
+impelled them with almost irresistible force against that wise
+neutrality which the executive government had laboured to preserve,
+and had persisted in preserving with wonderful and unexampled
+firmness. France might, not unreasonably, indulge the hope that our
+government would be forced out of its neutral course, and be compelled
+to enter into the war as her ally. The letter to Mazzei could scarcely
+fail to encourage this hope.
+
+The suggestion had been repeatedly made, and France not only
+countenanced but acted on it, that the American people were ready to
+take part with her, and were with difficulty restrained by their
+government. That the government had fallen into the hands of an
+English party who were the more closely attached to their favourite
+nation, because they were unfriendly to republicanism, and sought to
+assimilate the government of the United States to that of England.
+Partiality to England was ingratitude to France. Monarchical
+propensities were of course anti-republican, and led to a system of
+policy separating the United States from republican France, and
+connecting them with her monarchical enemies.
+
+These sentiments were expressed in the interpolated sentence; and are
+intimated in terms perhaps more offensive, certainly not to be
+mistaken, in the letter as avowed.
+
+Review its language.
+
+"In place of that noble love of liberty and republican government
+which carried us triumphantly through the War, an Anglican,
+monarchical, and aristocratical party has sprung up, whose avowed
+object is to draw over us the substance as it has already done the
+forms of the British government."
+
+Could this party have been friendly--must it not have been hostile to
+France? It was not only monarchical and aristocratical,--it was
+Anglican also. Consequently it was anti-Gallican. But it did not
+comprehend the mass of the people. "The main body of our citizens,
+however," continues the letter, "remain true to their republican
+principles; the whole landed interest is republican, and so is a great
+mass of talents." Who then composed this odious Anglican, monarchical,
+aristocratical party? The letter informs us: "Against us are the
+executive, the judiciary, two out of three branches of the
+legislature, all the officers of the government, all who want to be
+officers, all timid men who prefer the calm of despotism to the
+boisterous sea of liberty, British merchants and Americans trading on
+British capitals, speculators, and holders in the banks and public
+funds."
+
+The executive then and at least one other branch of the legislature
+were Anglican. The judiciary, a department not absolutely
+insignificant in a maritime war, was also Anglican. But the executive,
+being the organ of intercourse with foreign nations, is considered by
+them as essentially the government. This being thought Anglican, its
+course being such as to induce the writer to brand it with this odious
+epithet, ought it to excite surprise that an editor, the organ of the
+French government, made the strictures upon it which are quoted in the
+note? Are not those strictures as applicable to the letter now avowed
+as to the interpolated sentence?
+
+The remark that the "French government had testified its resentment by
+breaking off communication with an ungrateful and faithless ally until
+she shall return to a more just and benevolent conduct," was the
+assertion of a fact which had taken place, and the commentary
+discloses its object not less plainly than did the time at which this
+fact was announced to the American government and people.[74] "It will
+give rise in the United States," says the editor, "to discussions
+which may afford a triumph to the party of good republicans, the
+friends of France."
+
+     [Footnote 74: It was announced by Mr. Adet in the crisis of
+     the first contest for the Presidency between Mr. Adams and
+     Mr. Jefferson.]
+
+The letter, without the aid of the interpolated sentence, could not
+fail to cherish this sentiment. It states explicitly an unequivocal
+division and a decided hostility between those who administered the
+government, and the great body of land holders, who, in this country,
+are the people. The first were Anglican and monarchical, the last were
+republican, and, in the language of the Moniteur, "the friends of
+France." What so certain to produce or continue the rupture of
+communication mentioned by the editor as the opinion that this
+statement was true? If we could doubt, our doubts are removed by the
+declaration that it would produce "discussions in the United States
+which may afford a triumph to the party of good republicans, the
+friends of France;" and by the declaration of Mr. Adet.
+
+The interpolated sentence then does not vary the import of the letter,
+nor change the impression it made in France, and must make on the mind
+of the reader.
+
+Were it otherwise, Mr. Jefferson should have directed his reproaches
+towards himself for the countenance his silent acquiescence gave to
+the opinion that the whole letter was genuine--not towards the great
+body of his countrymen who yielded implicit faith to this imposing
+testimony.
+
+Could such a letter from such a personage be entirely overlooked by
+the biographer of Washington? Having assumed the task of delineating
+the character, and detailing the actions and opinions of the great
+soldier and statesman of America, an essential part of which was to be
+looked for in the difficulties and the opposition he encountered and
+overcame, could a transaction which contains such strong intrinsic
+evidence of those difficulties and that opposition be passed over in
+total silence? These questions were revolved in his mind while engaged
+in this part of the work; and the result to which his judgment
+conducted him was a conviction that, though he might forbear to make
+those strictures on the letter which the relative situation of the
+writer and the individual so seriously criminated seemed to invite,
+his duty required him to notice it so far as it indicated the violence
+of party spirit at the time, the extreme to which it was carried, the
+dangers to which it led, and the difficulties which the wise and firm
+mind of Washington was doomed to encounter.
+
+The remarks of the French editor were quoted because they have a
+strong tendency, especially when connected with subsequent events, to
+explain the motives by which the Directory was actuated in its
+aggressions on the United States, and to justify the policy of the
+Washington administration. These remarks did not grow out of the
+interpolated sentence, nor were they confined to it. They apply to the
+whole letter. That sentence is not cited, nor is any particular
+allusion made to it, in the note which is charged with "exaggerating,
+recording, and sanctioning the forgery." How then could Mr. Jefferson
+deliberately make the charge?
+
+In the same letter he endeavours to convey the opinion that the harsh
+and injurious strictures made to Mazzei were not intended for General
+Washington, and that this distinguished individual never applied them
+to himself.
+
+The evidence in support of this proposition is not derived from the
+person whose opinion Mr. Jefferson undertakes to state. The writer
+says,[75] "I do affirm that there never passed a word, written or
+verbal, directly or indirectly, between General Washington and myself
+on the subject of that letter." If his observations on this point are
+to be considered as reasoning rather than assertion, they may be
+freely examined.
+
+     [Footnote 75: Vol. iv. p. 401.]
+
+At the head of the list of those composing the "Anglican, monarchical,
+aristocratical party," the letter places "the executive." "Against us
+are the executive, the judiciary, two out of three branches of the
+legislature, all the officers of government, all who want to be
+officers," &c.
+
+The letter speaks in the present tense, and the term "executive" can
+describe only the then actual President. Consequently, it designates
+General Washington as expressly as if he had been named.
+
+If this positive evidence could be strengthened by auxiliary proof, it
+is furnished by the same sentence. "All officers of government, all
+who want to be officers," are included in the enumeration of those
+composing the party opposed to "the main body of citizens who remained
+true to republican principles."
+
+By whom were these Anglican, monarchical, and aristocratical officers
+selected? By General Washington. To him alone were they indebted for
+their appointments. To whom did those "who wanted to be officers" look
+for the gratification of their wishes? To the same person. Would every
+individual in search of office enlist himself in a party so odious to
+"the main body of our citizens," and "the whole landed interest," if
+he did not think the road leading directly to that which he sought?
+
+As if willing to keep out of view what can not be explained away, Mr.
+Jefferson turns our attention to other passages supposed to be more
+equivocal. He insists[76] that the letter saying "that two out of the
+three branches of the legislature were against us, was an obvious
+exception of him; it being well known that the majorities in the two
+branches of the senate and representatives were the very instruments
+which carried, in opposition to the old and real republicans, the
+measures which were the subjects of condemnation in this letter."
+
+     [Footnote 76: Vol. iv. p. 405.]
+
+But did these measures obtain the force of laws by the mere act of the
+senate and house of representatives? Did not the President assent to
+them? If he did, how could the expression "two out of three branches
+of the legislature" be an obvious exception of him? But the letter
+speaks of the then existing legislature. "Against us _are_ two out of
+three branches of the legislature." The fact is notorious that the
+house of representatives was, at the date of the letter, opposed to
+the administration. Mr. Jefferson himself gives us this information.
+In September, 1795,[77] he terms the effort to carry the treaty with
+Great Britain into effect, "an attempt of a party who find _they have
+lost their majority in one branch of the legislature_ to make a law by
+the aid of the other branch and the executive under colour of a
+treaty," &c. Mr. Jefferson then has deprived himself of this
+explanation. He could not have intended to exclude the President by
+the phrase "two out of three branches of the legislature."
+
+     [Footnote 77: Vol. iii. p. 316.]
+
+The same letter contains also the following expression,[78] "Mr.
+Pickering quotes the passage in the letter of the men who were Samsons
+in the field and Solomons in the council, but who had their heads
+shorn by the harlot England." "Now this expression also was perfectly
+understood by General Washington. He knew that I meant it for the
+Cincinnati generally; and that from what had passed between us at the
+commencement of that institution, I could not mean to include him."
+
+     [Footnote 78: Vol. iv. p. 404.]
+
+In the letter to Mazzei these words obviously designate distinguished
+individuals, not whole classes of men, many of whom were unknown. "It
+would give you a fever were _I to name to you the apostates_ who have
+gone over to these heresies; men who were Samsons in the field and
+Solomons in the council, but who have had their heads shorn by the
+harlot England."
+
+In addition to this apparent allusion to individuals, it may be asked,
+could Mr. Jefferson mean to say that every officer engaged in the war
+of our revolution (for almost every one of them was a member of the
+Cincinnati) was an apostate who had gone over to the heresies he was
+describing? Could he mean to say that all those who had passed their
+prime of manhood in the field fighting the battles of American
+independence, and of republicanism against England, had become
+apostates from the cause to which their lives had been devoted, and
+the vile instruments of the power it was their pride and boast to have
+overthrown? That they were in a body following their ancient chief in
+a course directly opposite to that glorious career by which they had
+elevated their country to its high rank among the nations of the
+earth?
+
+There is other evidence that he could not have intended to fix this
+foul stigma on the officers of the revolution. They were far from
+being united in support of the administration. In Virginia certainly,
+a large number, perhaps a majority of the Cincinnati were opposed to
+it. Two[79] of them in congress at the time, and were among the most
+zealous supporters of Mr. Jefferson, and of that system of measures
+which he termed republican. The very letter under discussion contains
+an assertion incompatible with this construction of these terms. "The
+whole landed interest is republican." At the date of this letter there
+were few if any members of the Cincinnati in the south who were not
+also land holders. In the southern region generally, the army of our
+revolution was officered by land holders and their sons.
+
+     [Footnote 79: Colonels Cabell and Par.]
+
+But if the writer of the letter could have intended to designate the
+members of the Cincinnati as "Samsons in the field," could he also
+have alluded to them as "Solomons in council?" Were the brave and
+hardy men who passed their youth, not in college, not in study, but
+under arms, suddenly converted, all of them, into "Solomons in
+council?" That some of them were entitled to this appellation is
+acknowledged with pride and pleasure, but as a class, it could not fit
+them. It is difficult to treat the proposition seriously.
+
+It is impossible for the intelligent reader to concur with Mr.
+Jefferson in the conclusion he draws from these premises, when he
+says,[80] "General Washington then understanding perfectly what and
+whom I meant to designate in both phrases, and that they could not
+have any application or view to himself, could find in neither any
+cause of offence to himself."
+
+     [Footnote 80: Vol. iv. p. 406.]
+
+But were it otherwise, had Mr. Jefferson been as successful in the
+opinion of others as he would seem to be in his own, in proving that
+the phrases on which he reasons do not comprehend General Washington,
+what would be gained? Would it follow that the word "executive" did
+not mean the President, or that it excluded General Washington who was
+President when the letter was written, and had been President during
+the whole time while the laws were enacted, and the measures carried
+into execution, which he so harshly criminates? If the word
+"executive" must mean him, does it palliate the injury to be assured
+that the writer did not class him among "Samsons in the field" or
+"Solomons in council?"
+
+It is matter of some surprise to find a letter written so late as
+June, 1824, on the political paragraph contained in the letter to
+Mazzei, the following averment.[81] "In this information there was not
+one word which would not then have been or would not now be approved
+by every republican in the United States, looking back to those
+times."
+
+     [Footnote 81: Vol. iv. p. 402.]
+
+In June, 1834, then, twenty-eight years after this extraordinary
+letter was written, and twenty-three years after its principal object
+had ceased to thwart the policy, or be an obstacle to the ambition of
+any man, Mr. Jefferson could deliberately, and on full consideration
+permit himself to make this assertion, and thus in effect to repeat
+the charge that General Washington belonged to an "Anglican,
+monarchical, and aristocratical party whose _avowed_ object was to
+draw over us the substance as they had already done the forms of the
+British government,"--and this too while the venerated object of the
+charge was the chief magistrate of this great republic, acting under
+the obligation of a solemn oath "faithfully to execute the office of
+President of the United States, and to the best of his ability to
+preserve, protect, and defend the constitution!"
+
+This unpleasant subject is dismissed. If the grave be a sanctuary
+entitled to respect, many of the intelligent and estimable friends of
+Mr. Jefferson may perhaps regret that he neither respected it himself,
+nor recollected that it is a sanctuary from which poisoned arrows
+ought never to be shot at the dead or the living.
+
+
+END OF VOLUME V.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life of George Washington, Vol. 5
+(of 5), by John Marshall
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tree	46a0f7344ba79e2cddd640e292ff0b733693a7fe