Writing to Gouverneur Morris, the American minister in France (October

20, 1792), he says. "From the complexion of some of our newspapers

foreigners would be led to believe that inveterate political dissensions

exist among us, and that we are on the very verge of disunion, but the

fact is otherwise. The great body of the people now feel the advantages

of the general government, and would not, I am persuaded, do anything

that should destroy it, but this kind of representations is an evil

which must be placed in opposition to the infinite benefits resulting

from a free press, and I am sure you need not be told that in this

country a personal difference in political sentiments is often made to

take the garb of general dissensions."

Besides the public business which pressed heavily on Washington during

his present residence at Mount Vernon he found a new source of anxiety

in the alarming illness of his nephew, George Augustine Washington,

to whom the care of the estate had been entrusted since 1789, when the

duties of the Presidency had called the chief to the seat of government.

This gentleman had served in the Revolutionary War as aid to Lafayette,

with the rank of major. Writing to Lafayette (June 10, 1792), Washington

says: "I am afraid my nephew George, your old aid, will never have his

health perfectly re-established. He has lately been attacked with

the alarming symptom of spitting large quantities of blood, and the

physicians give no hope of a restoration, unless it can be effected by

a change of air and a total dereliction of business, to which he is too

anxiously attentive. He will, if he should be taken from his family

and friends, leave three fine children, two sons and a daughter. To the

eldest of the boys he has given the name of Fayette, and a fine-looking

child he is."

George Augustine Washington sunk rapidly after this and died at the

residence of Colonel Bassett, where he had gone for a change of air, on

the 5th of February, 1793. Washington, on hearing of his decease, wrote

immediately from Philadelphia, to his widow, [7] condoling with her on

the heavy loss, and inviting her to reside, with her children, at Mount

Vernon.

In the latter part of October Washington returned to Philadelphia, in

anticipation of the meeting of Congress.

On the 5th of November (1792), Congress again convened. In Washington's

speech, delivered at the commencement of the session, Indian affairs

were treated at considerable length, and the continuance of the war was

mentioned as a subject of much regret. "The reiterated endeavors," it

was said, "which had been made to effect a pacification had hitherto

issued in new and outrageous proofs of persevering hostility on the part

of the tribes with whom the United States were in contest.

"A detail of the measures that had been pursued and of their

consequences, which would be laid before Congress, while it would

confirm the want of success thus far, would evince that means, as proper

and as efficacious as could have been devised, had been employed. The

issue of some of them was still depending, but a favorable one, though

not to be despaired of, was not promised by anything that had yet

happened."

That a sanction, commonly respected even among savages, had been found

insufficient to protect from massacre the emissaries of peace, was

particularly noticed, and the families of those valuable citizens

who had thus fallen victims to their zeal for the public service were

recommended to the attention of the Legislature.

That unprovoked aggression had been made by the southern Indians, and

that there was just cause for apprehension that the war would extend to

them also, was mentioned as a subject of additional concern.

"Every practicable exertion had been made to be prepared for the

alternative of prosecuting the war in the event of a failure of pacific

overtures. A large proportion of the troops authorized to be raised had

been recruited, though the numbers were yet incomplete, and pains

had been taken to discipline them and put them in a condition for the

particular kind of service to be performed. But a delay of operations,

besides being dictated by the measures that were pursuing toward a

pacific termination of the war, had been in itself deemed preferable to

immature efforts."

The humane system which has since been pursued with partial success,

of gradually civilizing the savages by improving their condition, of

diverting them in some degree from hunting to domestic and agricultural

occupations, by imparting to them some of the most simple and useful

acquisitions of society, and of conciliating them to the United States

by a beneficial and well-regulated commerce, had ever been a favorite

object with the President, and the detailed view which was not taken of

Indian affairs was concluded with a repetition of his recommendations of

these measures.

The subject next adverted to in the speech was the impediments which,

in some places, continued to embarrass the collection of the duties on

spirits distilled within the United States. After observing that these

impediments were lessening in local extent, but that symptoms of such

increased opposition had lately manifested themselves in certain places

as, in his judgment, to render his special interposition advisable,

the President added: "Congress may be assured that nothing within

constitutional and legal limits, which may depend on me, shall be

wanting to assert and maintain the just authority of the laws. In

fulfilling this trust I shall count entirely on the full cooperation of

the other departments of government and upon the zealous support of all

good citizens."

After noticing various objects which would require the attention of the

Legislature, the President addressed himself particularly to the House

of Representatives, and said: "I entertain a strong hope that the state

of the national finances is now sufficiently matured to enable you

to enter upon a systematic and effectual arrangement for the regular

redemption and discharge of the public debt, according to the right

which has been reserved to the government. No measure can be more

desirable, whether viewed with an eye to its intrinsic importance, or to

the general sentiments and wish of the nation."

The addresses of the two Houses in answer to the speech were, as usual,

respectful and affectionate. The several subjects recommended to the

attention of Congress, were noticed either in general terms, or in a

manner to indicate a coincidence of sentiment between the legislative

and executive departments. The turbulent spirit which had manifested

itself in certain parts of the Union, was mentioned by both houses with

a just degree of censure and the measures adopted by the President, as

well as the resolution he expressed to compel obedience to the laws,

were approved, and the House of Representatives, in the most unqualified

terms, declared opinions in favor of systematic and effectual

arrangements for discharging the public debt. But the subsequent

proceedings of the Legislature did not fulfill the expectations excited

by this auspicious commencement of the session.

At an early day in a committee of the whole House on the President's

speech, Mr. Fitzsimmons moved "that measures for the reduction of so

much of the public debt as the United States have a right to redeem,

ought to be adopted, and that the Secretary of the Treasury be directed

to report a plan for that purpose."

This motion was objected to by Mr. Madison as being premature. The

state of the finances, he thought, was not sufficiently understood

to authorize the adoption of the measure it contemplated. The debate,

however, soon took a different direction.

On a motion made, directing the Secretaries of the Treasury and of War

to attend the House and to give information, severe denunciations

were poured forth against the unconstitutionality of subjecting

the representatives to the control of the heads of the executive

departments. The motions for requiring a report from Hamilton on a plan

for redeeming the public debt, and for paying a debt owing to the bank,

which were brought in by Mr. Fitzsimmons, renewed the contest, but,

although Madison and others opposed the reference to the Secretary of

the Treasury, the resolution was carried.

Hamilton's report proposed a plan for the redemption of the debt. But

the expenses of the Indian war rendering it unsafe, in his opinion, to

rest absolutely on the existing revenue, he also proposed to extend the

internal taxes to pleasure horses, or pleasure carriages, as might be

deemed most advisable. For the reimbursement of the bank, he recommended

that power be conferred to negotiate a loan for two million dollars--the

dividends on the shares held by the government to be pledged for the

interest, and, as the government paid six per cent, to the bank, he

relied on the saving that would be effected by borrowing at a lower rate

of interest. The consideration of this report was deferred on various

grounds, and a motion was made to reduce the military establishment. The

debate was long and earnestly contested, but the motion was rejected on

the 5th of January, 1793.

A few weeks later another subject was introduced into the House which

absorbed the attention of the members and put an end, for the present

session, to every measure connected with the finances.

Mr. Giles, on the 23d of January (1793), moved several resolutions,

requiring information, among other things, on various points growing out

of the loans authorized by Congress in August, 1790. The object was to

inculpate the Secretary of the Treasury respecting the management and

application of these loans, and of the revenue generally. Mr. Giles

indulged himself in remarks which clearly showed the animus of his

proceedings, and it was his determination to prove to the House that

there was a large balance in the funds unaccounted for. The resolutions

were agreed to without debate, as was only due to Mr. Hamilton, and soon

after, three successive and able reports were sent in, containing the

information required.

In these reports a full exposition was given of the views and motives

of the secretary, in the conduct of the treasury department. It is also

evident that Hamilton felt aggrieved at this attack upon his reputation,

and he did not hesitate to use language of great plainness and severity,

observing in conclusion: "Thus have I not only furnished a just and

affirmative view of the real situation of the public accounts, but have

likewise shown, I trust, in a conspicuous manner, fallacies enough in

the statements, from which the inference of an unaccounted-for balance

is drawn, to evince that it is one tissue of error."

But the matter did not end here. Mr. Giles, on the 28th of February

(1793), submitted to the House a series of nine resolutions, containing

charges against the secretary. The substance of them was, that he had

failed to give Congress information, in due time, of moneys drawn from

Europe; that he had violated the law of the 4th of August, 1790, by an

unauthorized application of money borrowed under it; that he had drawn

part of the money into the United States, without any instructions from

the President; that he had exceeded his authority in making loans, under

the acts; that, without instructions from the President, he had drawn

more of the money borrowed in Holland than he was authorized by those

acts, and that he had been guilty of an indecorum to the House, in

undertaking to judge its motives in calling for information. The debate

was continued until the night of March 1st (1793), and was characterized

by unusual bitterness. It terminated in a rejection of the resolutions

and consequently in an entire exculpation of Hamilton from all

just censure. The highest number voting in favor of any one of the

resolutions was sixteen.

"The whole of the session was spent," says Mr. Gibbs, "in sifting the

conduct of the secretary. [8] The investigation served one purpose of

the opposition--it prevented any question being taken on the report.

It seems somewhat anomalous, that a party which had charged the

administration with a wish to perpetuate the debt, should thus have

thwarted its measures to discharge it; and an explanation of the fact

can only be found in a fixed determination to break down the secretary."

The other business of the session may be briefly stated. The claim for

compensation for loss on the certificates in which they had been paid,

advanced by the officers of the old Continental army, was rejected. An

act respecting "fugitives from justice, and persons escaping from the

service of their masters," was passed, early in February, by a vote of

forty-eight to seven. The trade with the Indians was regulated, and an

attempt was made to initiate an amendment to the constitution, because

the State of Georgia, sued in the Federal courts for a debt due to a

citizen of another State, had suffered judgment by default. And nearly

two millions of dollars were appropriated to the public service, in

addition to the almost three millions more for interest on the debt. On

Saturday, the 3d of March (1793), a constitutional period was put to the

existence of the present Congress. The members separated with obvious

symptoms of extreme irritation. "Various causes," says Marshall, "the

most prominent of which have already been noticed, had combined to

organize _two distinct parties_ in the United States, which were rapidly

taking the form of a ministerial and an opposition party. By that in

opposition, the President was not yet openly denounced. His personal

influence was too great to be encountered by a direct avowal that he was

at the head of their adversaries, and his public conduct did not admit

of a suspicion that he could allow himself to rank as the chief of

a party. Nor could public opinion he seduced to implicate him in the

ambitious plans and dark schemes for the subversion of liberty, which

were ascribed to a part of the administration, and to the leading

members who had supported the measures of finance adopted by the

Legislature."

Yet it was becoming apparent that things were taking a course which must

inevitably involve him in the political conflicts which were about to

take place. It was apparent that the charges against the Secretary of

the Treasury would not be relinquished, and that they were of a nature

to affect the chief magistrate materially, should his countenance not be

withdrawn from that officer. It was equally apparent that the fervor of

democracy, which was perpetually manifesting itself in the papers, in

invectives against levees, against the trappings of royalty, and against

the marks of peculiar respect which were paid to the President, must

soon include him more pointedly in its strictures.

These divisions, which are inherent in the nature of popular

governments, by which the chief magistrate, however unexceptionable his

conduct, and however exalted his character, must, sooner or later, be

more or less affected, were beginning to be essentially influenced by

the great events of Europe.

That revolution which has been the admiration, the wonder, and the

terror of the civilized world, had, from its commencement, been viewed

in America with the deepest interest. In its first stage, but one

sentiment respecting it prevailed, and that was a belief, accompanied

with an ardent wish, that it would improve the condition of France,

extend the blessings of liberty, and promote the happiness of the human

race. When the labors of the convention had terminated in a written

constitution, this unanimity of opinion was in some degree impaired. By

a few who had thought deeply on the science of government, and who, if

not more intelligent, certainly judge more dispassionately than their

fellow-citizens, that instrument was believed to contain the principles

of self-destruction. It was feared that a system so ill balanced could

not be permanent. A deep impression was made on the same persons by the

influence of the galleries over the Legislature, and of mobs over

the executive; by the tumultuous assemblages of the people, and their

licentious excesses during the short and sickly existence of the

regal authority. These did not appear to be the symptoms of a healthy

constitution or of genuine freedom. Persuaded that the present state of

things could not last, they doubted and they feared for the future.

In total opposition to this sentiment was that of the public generally.

There seems to be something infectious in the example of a powerful and

enlightened nation verging toward democracy, which impose on the human

mind, and leads human reason in fetters. Novelties, introduced by such

a nation, are stripped of the objections which had been preconceived

against them, and long-settled opinions yield to the overwhelming weight

of such dazzling authority. It wears the semblance of being the sense

of mankind, breaking loose from the shackles which had been imposed by

artifice, and asserting the freedom and the dignity of his nature.

The constitution of France, therefore, was generally received with

unqualified plaudits. The establishment of a legislature consisting of

a single body was defended not only as being adapted to the particular

situation of that country, but as being right in itself. Certain

anonymous writers, who supported the theory of a balanced government,

were branded as the advocates of royalty and of aristocracy. To question

the duration of the present order of things was thought to evidence an

attachment to unlimited monarchy, or a blind prejudice in favor of the

institutions of Great Britain, and the partiality of America in favor of

a senate was visibly declining.

In this stage of the revolution, however, the division of sentiment was

not marked with sufficient distinctness, nor the passions of the

people agitated with sufficient violence, for any powerful effect to

be produced on the two parties in America. But when the monarchy was

completely overthrown and a republic decreed, [9] the people of the

United States seemed electrified by the measure, and its influence was

felt by the whole society. The war in which the several potentates of

Europe were engaged against France, although in almost every instance

declared by that power, was pronounced to be a war for the extirpation

of human liberty and for the banishment of free government from the face

of the earth. The preservation of the constitution of the United States

was supposed to depend on its issue, and the coalition against France

was treated as a coalition against America also.

A cordial wish for the success of the French arms, or rather that the

war might terminate without any diminution of French power, and in such

a manner as to leave the people of that country free to choose their own

form of government, was perhaps universal, but, respecting the probable

issue of their internal conflicts, perfect unanimity of opinion did not

prevail. By some few individuals, the practicability of governing by

a system formed on the republican model, an immense, populous, and

military nation, whose institutions, habits, and morals were adapted

to monarchy, and which was surrounded by armed neighbors, was deemed a

problem which time alone could solve. The circumstances under which the

abolition of royalty was declared, the massacres which preceded it, the

scenes of turbulence and violence which were acted in every part of

the nation, appeared to them to present an awful and doubtful state of

things, respecting which no certain calculations could be made, and the

idea that a republic was to be introduced and supported by force, was,

to them, a paradox in politics. Under the influence of these appearances

the apprehension was entertained that, if the ancient monarchy should

not be restored a military despotism would be established. By the many,

these unpopular doubts were deemed unpardonable heresies, and the few to

whom they were imputed, were pronounced hostile to liberty. A suspicion

that the unsettled state of things in France had contributed to suspend

the payment of the debt to that nation had added to the asperity with

which the resolutions on that subject were supported, and the French

revolution will be found to have had great influence on the strength

of parties and on the subsequent political transactions of the United

States.

1. Footnote: Griswold, "Republican Court."

2. Footnote: "Republican Court."

3. Footnote: For designating the site of the new seat of government.

Washington remained with the commissioners several days engaged in this

business.

4. Footnote: The following is the message which he delivered on this

occasion:

GENTLEMEN OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:

I have maturely considered the act passed by the two Houses, entitled

"An act for the apportionment of representatives among the several

States according to the first enumeration," and I return it to your

House, wherein it originated, with the following objections.

First. The constitution has prescribed that representatives shall be

apportioned among the several States according to their respective

numbers, and there is no proportion or divisor which, applied to the

respective numbers of the States, will yield the number and allotment of

representatives proposed by the bill.

Secondly. The constitution has also provided that the number of

representatives shall not exceed one for thirty thousand--which

restriction is by the context, and by fair and obvious construction, to

be applied to the separate and respective numbers of the States--and

the bill has allotted to eight of the States more than one for thirty

thousand.

5. Footnote: Marshall.

6. Footnote: The salary of the Secretary of State, which was the

highest, was $3,500; that of the Secretary of the Treasury was $2,000.

Hamilton was finally obliged to resign, to gain a living.

7. Footnote: Mrs. Washington's maiden name was Frances Bassett. She was

the daughter of Colonel Bassett, an intimate friend of Washington.

8. Footnote: "Administrations of Washington and Adams."

9. Footnote: This event was announced to the President by the minister

plenipotentiary of France, at Philadelphia, in February, 1793. Through

the Secretary of State an answer was returned, of which the following is

an extract:

"The President receives with great satisfaction this attention of the

executive council, and the desire they have manifested of making known

to us the resolution entered into by the National Convention, even

before a definitive regulation of their new establishment could take

place. Be assured, sir, that the government and the citizens of the

United States view with the most sincere pleasure every advance of your

nation towards its happiness, an object essentially connected with its

liberty; and they consider the union of principles and pursuits between

our two countries as a link which binds still closer their interests and

affections.

"We earnestly wish, on our part, that these our mutual dispositions may

be improved to mutual good, by establishing our commercial intercourse

on principles as friendly to natural right and freedom as are those of

our governments."

CHAPTER VI.

WASHINGTON INAUGURATES THE SYSTEM OF NEUTRALITY. 1793.

As the time approached for the expiration of Washington's first term of

office as President of the United States, a great deal of anxiety was

felt lest he should determine on a final retirement from public life. It

was well known that he had originally accepted the office with extreme

reluctance, that his attention to its duties had impaired his health,

and that he was very desirous to pass the remainder of his life in

retirement and repose. But at the same time it was felt that a crisis in

public affairs was impending which imperatively demanded the whole force

of his character and the whole influence of his popularity to sustain

the government. Even at the period when the Federal government was first

inaugurated, the call of his country to give it strength and permanence

was not more urgent than that which now summoned him to save it from the

rage of party spirit. Troubles and difficulties were also threatening

the country from abroad as well as internal factions at home, and the

true friends of the country felt that none but Washington was equal

to the emergency. He received many letters urging his continuance in

office. Three of these were from members of the cabinet--Jefferson,

Hamilton, and Randolph.

Jefferson expressed himself as follows:

"When you first mentioned to me your purpose of retiring from the

government, though I felt all the magnitude of the event, I was in

a considerable degree silent. I knew that to such a mind as yours

persuasion was idle and impertinent; that, before forming your decision,

you had weighed all the reasons for and against the measure, had made up

your mind on full view of them, and that there could be little hope of

changing the result. Pursuing my reflections, too, I knew we were some

day to try to walk alone, and if the essay should be made while you

should be alive and looking on, we should derive confidence from that

circumstance and resource if it failed. The public mind, too, was then

calm and confident, and therefore in a favorable state for making the

experiment. Had no change of circumstances supervened, I should not,

with any hope of success, have now ventured to propose to you a change

of purpose. But the public mind is no longer so confident and serene,

and that from causes in which you are no ways personally mixed.

"The confidence of the whole Union is centered in you. Your being at the

helm will be more than an answer to every argument which can be used

to alarm and lead the people in any quarter into violence or secession.

North and South will hang together, if they have you to hang on; and

if the first corrective of a numerous representation should fail in its

effect, your presence will give time for trying others not inconsistent

with the union and peace of the States.

"I am perfectly aware of the oppression under which your present office

lays your mind, and of the ardor with which you pant for retirement to

domestic life. But there is sometimes an eminence of character on which

society have such peculiar claims, as to control the predilection of the

individual for a particular walk of happiness and restrain him to that

alone arising from the present and future benedictions of mankind. This

seems to be your condition, and the law imposed on you by Providence

in forming your character and fashioning the events on which it was to

operate, and it is to motives like these and not to personal anxieties

of mine or others, who have no right to call on you for sacrifices, that

I appeal from your former determination, and urge a revisal of it, on

the ground of change in the aspect of things. Should an honest majority

result from the new and enlarged representation, should those acquiesce,

whose principles or interests they may control, your wishes for

retirement would be gratified with less danger, as soon as that shall be

manifest, without awaiting the completion of the second period of four

years. One or two sessions will determine the crisis, and I cannot but

hope that you can resolve to add one or two more to the many years you

have already sacrificed to the good of mankind.

"The fear of suspicion that any selfish motive of continuance in office

may enter into this solicitation on my part obliges me to declare that

no such motive exists. It is a thing of mere indifference to the public

whether I retain or relinquish my purpose of closing my tour with the

first periodical renovation of the government. I know my own measure

too well to suppose that my services contribute anything to the public

confidence or the public utility. Multitudes can fill the office in

which you have been pleased to place me, as much to their advantage

and satisfaction. I, therefore, have no motive to consult but my own

inclination, which is bent irresistibly on the tranquil enjoyment of my

family, my farm, and my books. I should repose among them, it is true,

in far greater security, if I were to know that you remained at the

watch, and I hope it will be so. To the inducements urged from a view of

our domestic affairs I will add a bare mention of what indeed need only

be mentioned, that weighty motives for your continuance are to be found

in our foreign affairs. I think it probable that both the Spanish and

English negotiations, if not completed before your purpose is known,

will be suspended from the moment it is known, and that the latter

nation will then use double diligence in fomenting the Indian war.

"With my wishes for the future I shall, at the same time, express my

gratitude of the past, at least my portion of it, and beg permission to

follow you, whether in public or private life, with those sentiments of

sincere attachment and respect with which I am unalterably, dear sir,

your affectionate friend and humble servant."

Extract from Hamilton's letter:

"I received the most sincere pleasure at finding, in our last

conversation, that there was some relaxation in the disposition you had

before discovered to decline a re-election. Since your departure I have

lost no opportunity of sounding the opinions of persons whose opinions

were worth knowing on these two points: First, the effect of your

declining upon the public affairs, and upon your own reputation;

secondly, the effect of your continuing in reference to the declarations

you have made of your disinclination to public life. And I can truly say

that I have not found the least difference of sentiment on either point.

The impression is uniform, that your declining would be to be deplored

as the greatest evil that could befall the country at the present

juncture, and as critically hazardous to your own reputation; that your

continuance will be justified in the mind of every friend to his country

by the evident necessity for it.

"It is clear, says everyone with whom I have conversed, that the affairs

of the national government are not yet firmly established; that its

enemies, generally speaking, are as inveterate as ever; that their

enmity has been sharpened by its success, and by all the resentments

which flow from disappointed predictions and mortified vanity; that

a general and strenuous effort is making in every State to place the

administration of it in the hands of its enemies, as if they were its

safest guardians; that the period of the next House of Representatives

is likely to prove the crisis of its permanent character; that, if you

continue in office, nothing materially mischievous is to be apprehended,

if you quit much is to be dreaded; that the same motives which induced

you to accept originally ought to decide you to continue till matters

have assumed a more determinate aspect; that indeed it would have been

better, as it regards your own character, that you had never consented

to come forward than now to leave the business unfinished and in danger

of being undone; that, in the event of storms arising, there would be

an imputation either of want of foresight or want of firmness, and, in

fine, that on public and personal accounts, on patriotic and prudential

considerations, the clear path to be pursued by you will be again to

obey the voice of your country, which it is not doubted will be as

earnest and as unanimous as ever.

"I trust, sir, and I pray God, that you will determine to make a further

sacrifice of your tranquility and happiness to the public good. I trust

that it need not continue above a year or two more. And I think that it

will be more eligible to retire from office before the expiration of the

term of election than to decline a re-election.

"The sentiments I have delivered upon this occasion I can truly say

proceed exclusively from an anxious concern for the public welfare and

an affectionate personal attachment. These dispositions must continue to

govern, in every vicissitude, one who has the honor to be very truly and

respectfully, sir, yours, etc."

Randolph wrote as follows:

"I have persuaded myself that this letter, though unconnected with any

official relation, and upon a subject to the decision of which you alone

are competent, will be received in the spirit with which it is

written. The Union, for the sake of which I have encountered various

embarrassments, not wholly unknown to you, and sacrificed some opinions,

which, but for its jeopardy, I should never have surrendered, seems to

me to be, now, at the eve of a crisis. It is feared by those who take

a serious interest in the affairs of the United States that you will

refuse the chair of government at the approaching election. If such an

event must happen indulge me, at least, in the liberty of opening to you

a course of thought, which a calm attention to the Federal government

has suggested, and no bias of party has influenced.

"It cannot have escaped you that divisions are formed in our politics as

systematic as those which prevail in Great Britain. Such as opposed the

constitution, from a hatred to the Union, can never be conciliated

by any overture or atonement. By others it is meditated to push the

construction of Federal powers to every tenable extreme. A third class,

republican in principle, and, thus far, in my judgment, happy in their

discernment of our welfare, have, notwithstanding, mingled with their

doctrines a fatal error--that the State assemblies are to be resorted to

as the engines of correction to the Federal administration. The honors

belonging to the chief magistracy are objects of no common solicitude to

a few, who compose a fourth denomination.

"The fuel which has been already gathered for combustion wants no

addition. But how awfully might it be increased were the violence, which

is now suspended by a universal submission to your pretensions, let

loose by your resignation! Permit me, then, in the fervor of a dutiful

and affectionate attachment to you, to beseech you to penetrate the

consequences of a dereliction of the reins. The constitution would never

have been adopted, but from a knowledge that you had once sanctioned

it, and an expectation that you would execute it. It is in a state of

probation. The most inauspicious struggles are past, but the public

deliberations need stability. You alone can give them stability. You

suffered yourself to yield when the voice of your country summoned you

to the administration. Should a civil war arise you cannot stay at

home. And now much easier will it be to disperse the factions which are

rushing to this catastrophe than to subdue them after they shall appear

in arms? It is the fixed opinion of the world that you surrender nothing

incomplete.

"I am not unapprised of many disagreeable sensations which have labored

in your breast. But, let them spring from any cause whatsoever, of one

thing I think I am sure (and I speak this from a satisfactory inquiry

lately made), that, if a second opportunity shall be given to the

people of showing their gratitude, they will not be less unanimous than

before."

Washington's own views we learn from the following letter in answer to

Randolph:

"The purpose of this letter is merely to acknowledge the receipt of your

favors of the 5th and 13th instant, and to thank you for the information

contained in both, without entering into the details of either.

"With respect, however, to the interesting subject treated in that of

the 5th, I can express but one sentiment at this time, and that is a

wish, a devout one, that, whatever my ultimate determination shall be,

it may be for the best. The subject never recurs to my mind but with

additional poignancy, and, from the declining state of the health of

my nephew, to whom my concerns of a domestic and private nature are

entrusted, it comes with aggravated force. But as the all-wise Disposer

of events has hitherto watched over my steps, I trust that, in the

important one I may soon be called upon to take, He will mark the course

so plainly as that I cannot mistake the way. In full hope of this I will

take no measures for the present that will not leave me at liberty

to decide from circumstances and the best lights I can obtain on the

subject.

"I shall be happy, in the meantime, to see a cessation of the abuses

of public officers and of almost every measure of government with which

some of the gazettes are so strongly impregnated, and which cannot

fail, if persevered in with the malignancy with which they now teem,

of rendering the Union asunder. The seeds of discontent, distrust, and

irritation which are so plentifully sown, can scarcely fail to produce

this effect, and to mar that prospect of happiness which, perhaps, never

beamed with more effulgence upon any people under the sun, and this too

at a time when all Europe is gazing with admiration at the brightness of

our prospects. And for what is all this? Among other things, to afford

nuts for our transatlantic--(what shall I call them?)--foes.

"In a word, if government and the officers of it are to be the constant

theme for newspaper abuse, and this too without condescending to

investigate the motives or the facts, it will be impossible, I conceive,

for any man living to manage the helm or to keep the machine together.

But I am running from my text, and therefore will only add assurances of

the affectionate esteem and regard with which I am, etc."

To the remonstrances of his immediate advisers in the Cabinet were added

many more of the same tenor from other friends and correspondents.

He had, in fact, already determined to retire at this time, and had

accordingly prepared a farewell address to the people for the occasion.

But he had never publicly declared this intention, and, urged thus

strongly by leading men of all parties, he finally consented to remain

in office.

"Respecting the person who should fill the office of Vice-President,"

says Marshall, "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 labored 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 favor 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 favor of his country. Embracing afterward with

ardor 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."

Both parties seemed confident in their strength, and both made the

utmost exertions to insure success. On opening the ballots in the Senate

chamber (Feb. 13, 1793), 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. [1]

The ceremonial to be observed at the inauguration was the subject of

a difference of opinion, and a Cabinet council was called to take the

matter into consideration. Jefferson and Hamilton thought that the oath

ought to be administered in private, and that one of the judges of the

Supreme Court should attend to this duty at the President's own house.

Knox and Randolph were of a different opinion and decided that the

ceremony should take place in public. Washington coincided with them in

their views, and it was finally decided at a subsequent Cabinet meeting,

on the 1st of March, that the inauguration should take place in the

Senate chamber.

Among the senators who were present on this occasion were John Langdon

of New Hampshire, one of the purest and most disinterested of the

Revolutionary veterans; Oliver Ellsworth, from Connecticut, afterward

chief justice of the United States; Roger Sherman, also from

Connecticut, one of the committee for preparing the Declaration of

Independence; Rufus King, the eloquent statesman from New York; Robert

Morris, the great financier, from Pennsylvania, and James Monroe,

afterward President of the United States, from Virginia.

The proceedings, as recorded in Mr. Benton's "Abridgment of the Debates

of Congress," were as follows:

"Agreeably to notice given by the President of the United States on the

second instant, he came to the Senate chamber and took his seat in the

chair usually assigned to the president of the Senate, who, on this

occasion was seated at the right, and in advance of the President of the

United States; a seat on the left, and also in advance, being provided

for Judge Cushing, appointed to administer the oath. The doors of

the Senate chamber being open, the heads of the departments, foreign

ministers, the late speaker, and such members of the late House of

Representatives as were in town, together with as many other spectators

as could be accommodated, were present.

"After a short pause the president of the Senate arose and addressed the

President of the United States as follows:

"'Sir:--One of the judges of the Supreme Court of the United States

is now present and ready to administer to you the oath required by the

constitution to be taken by the President of the United States.'

"On which the President of the United States, rising from his seat, was

pleased to address the audience as follows:

"'FELLOW-CITIZENS:--I am again called upon, by the voice of my country,

to execute the functions of its chief magistrate. When the occasion

proper for it shall arrive, I shall endeavor to express the high sense

I entertain of this distinguished honor, and of the confidence which has

been reposed in me by the people of United America.

"'Previous to the execution of any official act of the President, the

constitution requires an oath of office. This oath I am now about

to take, and in your presence; that, if it shall be found during my

administration of the government, I have, in any instance, violated,

willingly, or knowingly, the injunction thereof, I may (besides

incurring constitutional punishment) be subject to the upbraidings of

all who are now witnesses of the present solemn ceremony.'

"Judge Cushing then administered the oath of office required by the

constitution, after which the President of the United States retired,

and the spectators dispersed."

The record of the proceedings thus given by Mr. Benton gives but a very

imperfect idea of the actual scene. Fortunately, an eye-witness, Arthur

J. Stansbury, for twenty-five years a reporter of Congress, has given us

a very lively and graphic description of the scene in his "Recollections

and Anecdotes of the Presidents of the United States." [2]

We copy his description in full:

"But I once had," says Mr. Stansbury, "an opportunity far more favorable

of beholding this greatest of men, under circumstances the best possible

for exhibiting him to the fullest advantage. It was a privilege which

could happen but once to any man, and I esteem the hour when I enjoyed

it as one of the brightest moments I was ever permitted to know. Its

remembrance yet glows vividly on my mind; years have not dimmed it;

the whole scene is yet before me; and I need not say with what force

repeated public occasions of a like kind have since recalled it to

remembrance. Yes, it was my favored lot to see and hear President

Washington address the Congress of the United States, when elected for

the last time. Of men now living, how few can say the same!

"I was but a schoolboy at the time, and had followed one of the many

groups of people who, from all quarters, were making their way to the

hall in Chestnut street, at the corner of Fifth, where the two Houses

of Congress then held their sittings, and where they were that day to be

addressed by the President, on the opening of his second term of office.

Boys can often manage to work their way through a crowd better than

men can; at all events, it so happened that I succeeded in reaching the

steps of the hall, from which elevation, looking in every direction, I

could see nothing but human heads--a vast fluctuating sea, swaying

to and fro, and filling every accessible place which commanded even a

distant view of the building. They had congregated, not with the hope of

getting into the hall, for that was physically impossible, but that they

might see Washington. Many an anxious look was cast in the direction

from which he was expected to come, till at length, true to the

appointed hour (he was the most punctual of men), an agitation was

observable on the outskirts of the crowd, which gradually opened and

gave space for the approach of an elegant white coach, drawn by six

superb white horses, having on its four sides beautiful designs of the

four seasons, painted by Cipriani. It slowly made its way till it drew

up immediately in front of the hall. The rush was now tremendous. But

as the coach door opened, there issued from it two gentlemen, with long

white wands, who, with some difficulty, parted the people, so as to

open a passage from the carriage to the steps, on which the fortunate

schoolboy had achieved a footing, and whence the whole proceeding could

be distinctly seen. As the person of the President emerged from the

carriage, a universal shout rent the air, and continued, as he very

deliberately mounted the steps. On reaching the platform, he paused,

looking back on the carriage, thus affording to the anxiety of the

people the indulgence they desired, of feasting their eyes upon his

person. Never did a more majestic personage present himself to the

public gaze. He was within two feet of me; I could have touched his

clothes; but I should as soon have thought of touching an electric

battery. Boy as I was, I felt as in the presence of a Divinity. As he

turned to enter the hall, the gentlemen with the white wands preceded

him, and, with still greater difficulty than before, repressed the

people, and cleared a way to the great staircase. As he ascended, I

ascended with him, step by step, creeping close to the wall, and almost

hidden by the skirts of his coat. Nobody looked at me; everybody was

looking at him; and thus I was permitted, unnoticed, to glide along,

and, happily, to make my way (where so many were vainly longing and

struggling to enter) into the lobby of the chamber of the House of

Representatives. Once in, I was safe; for had I even been seen by the

officers in attendance, it would have been impossible to get me out

again. I saw near me a large pyramidal stove, which, fortunately, had

but little fire in it, and on which I forthwith clambered, until I had

attained a secure perch, from which every part of the hall could be

deliberately and distinctly surveyed. Depend upon it, I made use of my

eyes.

"On either side of the broad aisle that was left vacant in the center

were assembled the two houses of Congress. As the President entered, all

rose, and remained standing till he had ascended the steps at the upper

end of the chamber and taken his seat in the speaker's chair. It was an

impressive moment. Notwithstanding that the spacious apartment, floor,

lobby, galleries, and all approaches were crowded to their utmost

capacity, not a sound was heard; the silence of expectation was unbroken

and profound; every breath seemed suspended. He was dressed in a full

suit of the richest black velvet; his lower limbs in short clothes with

diamond knee buckles and black silk stockings. His shoes, which were

brightly japanned, were surmounted with large square silver buckles. His

hair, carefully displayed in the manner of the day, was richly powdered,

and gathered behind into a black silk bag, on which was a bow of black

ribbon. In his hand he carried a plain cocked hat, decorated with the

American cockade. He wore by his side a light, slender dress-sword, in

a green shagreen scabbard, with a richly ornamented hilt. His gait was

deliberate, his manner solemn but self-possessed, and he presented,

altogether, the most august human figure I had then or have since

beheld.

"At the head of the Senate stood Thomas Jefferson, in a blue coat,

single breasted, with large bright basket-buttons, his vest and

small-clothes of crimson. I remember being struck with his animated

countenance, of a brick-red hue, his bright eye and foxy hair, as well

as by his tall, gaunt, ungainly form and square shoulders. A perfect

contrast was presented by the pale reflective face and delicate figure

of James Madison, and above all, by the short, burly, bustling form of

General Knox, with ruddy cheek, prominent eye, and still more prominent

proportions of another kind. In the semicircle which was formed behind

the chair, and on either hand of the President, my boyish gaze was

attracted by the splendid attire of the Chevalier d'Yrujo, the Spanish

ambassador, then the only foreign minister near our infant government.

His glittering star, his silk chapeau bras, edged with ostrich feathers,

his foreign air and courtly bearing, contrasted strongly with those

nobility of nature's forming who stood around him. It was a very fair

representation of the old world and the new. How often has the same

reflection occurred to me since, on witnessing the glittering and now

numerous company of foreign dignitaries collected round our President

by an inauguration day, or the recurrence of our national anniversary!

True, the individuals who form that brilliant coterie are, for the most

part, men eminent for general intelligence, as well as the virtues of

private life--men who meet, and well deserve, a cordial welcome on our

shores and often carry from it the sincerest regret. But how do the

personal sentiments and characters of the men themselves put out the

blaze of the gold and diamonds with which their governments had covered

them! And if, even in the unadorned presence of his successors, these

decorations seem puerile in Republican eyes, how would they have faded

away and been lost in the chilling grandeur of the public presence of

Washington!

"Having retained his seat for a few moments, while the members resumed

their seats, the President rose, and, taking from his breast a roll

of manuscript, proceeded to read his address. His voice was full and

sonorous, deep and rich in its tones, free from that trumpet ring which

it could assume amid the tumult of battle (and which is said to have

been distinctly heard above all its roar), but sufficiently loud and

clear to fill the chamber, and be heard, with perfect ease, in its most

remote recesses. The address was of considerable length; its topics,

of course, I forget, for I was too young to understand them; I only

remember, in its latter part, some reference to the Wabash river (then a

new name to my ear), and to claims or disputes on the part of the Indian

tribes. He read, as he did everything else, with a singular serenity and

composure, with manly ease and dignity, but without the smallest attempt

at display.

"Having concluded, he laid the manuscript upon the table before him and

resumed his seat, when, after a slight pause, he rose and withdrew, the

members rising and remaining on their feet until he left the chamber.

"The paper was then taken up by Mr. Beckley, the clerk of the House, and

again read from beginning to end. Beckley's enunciation, by the by, was

admirably clear, giving every syllable of every word, and I may say, he

was almost the only officer, whose official duty it is to read, whom I

ever heard read well.

"This form having been gone through, the members of the Senate retired

and I took advantage of the bustle to descend from my unwonted and

presumptuous elevation, and mingle with the dissolving crowd."

These recollections of Mr. Stansbury present a much livelier view of

the transactions of that memorable day; than that which any reader's

imagination can supply by the aid of the official record.

Washington was now once more plunged into the troubled ocean of public

affairs. Before following him into new scenes of self-sacrifice and

disinterestedness in the service of his country, we pause to notice a

pleasing act of private friendship, which, with his usual delicacy, he

calls an act of simple justice. In consequence of the active part

which he had taken in the French revolution, Washington's bosom friend,

Lafayette, had become a prisoner to the King of Prussia, and was

detained in captivity. The Marchioness Lafayette, after being a prisoner

in Paris, had been suffered to retire to her husband's estate, and

reside there under the safeguard of the municipality, without permission

to correspond with her friends. Ignorant of her actual residence,

but supposing that she might be suffering for want of ready money,

Washington sent her a considerable sum, and wrote as follows:

"MADAM:--If I had words that could convey to you an adequate idea of

my feelings on the present situation of the Marquis de Lafayette, this

letter would appear to you in a different garb. The sole object in

writing to you now is, to inform you that I have deposited in the hands

of Mr. Nicholas Van Staphorst, of Amsterdam, two thousand three hundred

and ten guilders, Holland currency, equal to two hundred guineas,

subject to your orders.

"This sum is, I am certain, the least I am indebted for services

rendered to me by the Marquis de Lafayette, of which I never yet have

received the account. I could add much, but it is best, perhaps, that

I should say little on this subject. Your goodness will supply any

deficiency.

"The uncertainty of your situation, after all the inquiries I have made,

has occasioned a delay in this address and remittance, and even now, the

measure adopted is more the effect of a desire to find where you are,

than from any knowledge I have obtained of your residence.

"At all times, and under all circumstances, you and yours will possess

the affectionate regards of him who has the honor to be, etc."

Shortly after writing this letter Washington received one from the

marchioness, and still later another, both written before the above

letter reached her. She requested Washington's interference with the

Prussian government on behalf of Lafayette, and was desirous, if he

could be released, that he and his family should reside in the United

States. Everything was done that could be done, by Washington and the

American ministers in Europe, to obtain Lafayette's release, but it was

not effected till several years after, and then through other means.

During the recess of Congress, Washington twice visited Mount Vernon,

once for a few days in April (1793), and again, for two or three weeks

in June and July. On the 4th of July he was present at the celebration

of the national anniversary by the citizens of Alexandria. He was

prevented from spending more time at Mount Vernon by the pressure

of public business, which was now assuming a new and very unpleasant

aspect.

During Washington's short visit to Mount Vernon in April, he received

a letter from Jefferson, dated April 7th, (1793), informing him

that France had declared war against England and Holland. Instantly

perceiving the danger of the United States becoming involved in the

hostilities of these nations, Washington, on the 12th of April, wrote

in reply to Jefferson: "War having actually commenced between France and

Great Britain, it behooves the government of this country to use every

means in its power to prevent the citizens thereof from embroiling

us with either of those powers, by endeavoring to maintain a strict

neutrality. I therefore require that you will give the subject mature

consideration, that such measures as shall be deemed most likely to

effect this desirable purpose may be adopted without delay, for I have

understood that vessels are already designated as privateers, and are

preparing accordingly. Such other measures as may be necessary for us

to pursue against events, which it may not be in our power to avoid or

control, you will also think of, and lay them before me on my arrival in

Philadelphia; for which place I shall set out tomorrow, but will leave

it to the advices which I may receive tonight by the post, to determine

whether it is to be by the direct route or by the one I proposed to

come, that is, by Reading."

The tenor of this letter shows that Washington was fully aware of the

importance of the emergency in our foreign relations which had now

arisen, and the result showed that, as usual, he was fully equal to the

occasion. The difficulty of the position arose from the fact already

adverted to--that of the two great political parties then existing,

one was in favor of direct aid to the French revolutionists, while the

other, desirous to remain neutral while the European contest was going

on, was charged by its opponents with partiality to England. It remained

for Washington, by that decision of character and inflexible firmness

for which he was so remarkable, to inaugurate that system of neutrality

and noninterference in the affairs of Europe, which has ever since

constituted the foreign policy of this country.

On his return to Philadelphia, Washington summoned a meeting of the

Cabinet, at the same time sending to each member a series of questions

to be considered as preparatory to the meeting. These questions,

thirteen in number, all referred to the measures to be taken by the

President in consequence of the revolution which had overthrown the

French monarchy; of the new organization of a republic in that country;

of the appointment of a minister from that republic to the United

States, and of the war declared by the National Convention of France

against Great Britain. The first of these questions, says Mr. Adams, [3]

was, whether a proclamation should issue to prevent interferences of our

citizens in the war, and whether the proclamation should or should not

contain a declaration of neutrality. The second was, whether a minister

from the Republic of France should be received. Upon these two questions

the opinion of the Cabinet was unanimous in the affirmative--that a

proclamation of neutrality should issue, and that the minister from the

French Republic should be received. But upon all the other questions,

the opinions of the four heads of the departments were equally divided.

They were indeed questions of difficulty and delicacy equal to

their importance. No less than whether, after a revolution in France

annihilating the government with which the treaties of alliance and

of commerce had been contracted, the treaties themselves were to be

considered binding as between the nations, and particularly whether

the stipulation of guarantee to France of her possessions in the West

Indies, was binding upon the United States to the extent of imposing

upon them the obligation of taking side with France in the war. As the

members of the Cabinet disagreed in their opinions upon these questions,

and as there was no immediate necessity for deciding them, the further

consideration of them was postponed, and they were never afterwards

resumed. While these discussions of the Cabinet of Washington were held,

the minister plenipotentiary from the French republic arrived in this

country. He had been appointed by the National Convention of France,

which had dethroned, tried, sentenced to death, and executed Louis the

Sixteenth, abolished the monarchy, and proclaimed a republic one and

indivisible, under the auspices of liberty, equality, and fraternity,

as thenceforth the government of France. By all the rest of Europe they

were then considered as revolted subjects in rebellion against their

sovereign, and were not recognized as constituting an independent

government.

Hamilton and Knox were of opinion that the minister from France should

be conditionally received, with the reservation of the question whether

the United States were still bound to fulfill the stipulations of the

treaties. They inclined to the opinion that treaties themselves were

annulled by the revolution of the government in France--an opinion to

which the example of the revolutionary government had given plausibility

by declaring some of the treaties made by the abolished monarchy no

longer binding upon the nation. Mr. Hamilton thought, also, that France

had no just claim to the fulfillment of the stipulation of guarantee,

because that stipulation, and the whole treaty of alliance in which

it was contained, were professedly, and on the face of them, only

defensive, while the war which the French convention had declared

against Great Britain, was on the part of France offensive, the first

declaration having been issued by her--that the United States were

at all events absolved from the obligation of the guarantee by their

inability to perform it, and that under the constitution of the United

States the interpretation of treaties, and the obligations resulting

from them, were within the competency of the executive department, at

least concurrently with the Legislature. It does not appear that these

opinions were debated or contested in the Cabinet. By their unanimous

advice the proclamation was issued, and it was decided to receive a

minister plenipotentiary of the French republic. Thus the executive

administration did assume and exercise the power of recognizing a

revolutionary foreign government as a legitimate sovereign, with whom

the ordinary diplomatic relations were to be entertained. But the

proclamation contained no allusion whatever to the United States and

France, nor of course to the article of guarantee or its obligations.

Whatever doubts may have been entertained by a large portion of people

of the right of the executive to acknowledge a new and revolutionary

government, not recognized by any other sovereign State, or of the sound

policy of receiving, without waiting for the sanction of Congress, a

minister from a republic which had commenced her career by putting to

death the King whom she had dethroned, and which had rushed into war

with almost all the rest of Europe, no manifestation of such doubts

was publicly made. A current of popular favor sustained the French

revolution, at that stage of its progress, which nothing could resist,

and far from indulging any question of the right of the President to

recognize a new revolutionary government, by receiving from it the

credentials which none but sovereigns can grant, the American people

would, at that moment, have scarcely endured an instant of hesitation

on the part of the President, which should have delayed for an hour

the reception of the minister from the republic of France. But the

proclamation enjoining neutrality upon the people of the United States,

indirectly counteracted the torrent of partiality in favor of France,

and was immediately assailed with intemperate violence in many of the

public journals. The right of the executive to issue any proclamation

of neutrality was fiercely and pertinaciously denied as a usurpation of

legislative authority, and in that particular case it was charged with

forestalling and prematurely deciding the question whether the United

States were bound, by the guarantee to France of her West India

possessions in the treaty of alliance, to take side in the war with her

against Great Britain--and with deciding it against France.

The proclamation of neutrality was signed on the 22d of April, 1793,

and was immediately published. "This measure," says Mr. Sparks, "both

in regard to its character and its consequences, was one of the most

important of Washington's administration. It was the basis of a system

by which the intercourse with foreign nations was regulated, and which

was rigidly adhered to. In fact, it was the only step that could have

saved the United States from being drawn into the vortex of European

wars, which raged with so much violence for a long time afterward. Its

wisdom and its good effects are now so obvious, on a calm review of past

events, that one is astonished at the opposition it met with, and the

strifes it enkindled, even after making due allowance for the passions

and prejudices which had hitherto been at work in producing discord and

divisions."

The proclamation of neutrality furnished the first occasion which was

thought a fit one for openly assaulting a character, around which the

affections of the people had thrown an armor 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 favor of France into conflict with those in favor of the chief

magistrate, that the enemies of his 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 Great Britain,

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.

Edmund Charles Genet, a man 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 indicated that if the American

executive should not be found sufficiently compliant with the views of

France, the resolution had been taken to appeal to the people of the

United States against their own government, and thus to effect an object

which legitimate negotiations might fail to accomplish.

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 fervor

expressed for his republic, into a too speedy disclosure of his

intentions.

On the 8th of April (1793) 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 (1793) he arrived at Philadelphia,

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 theater of action, and of other circumstances,

France did not wish to engage them in 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 Genet had reached Philadelphia, however, 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.

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 unwarrantably 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

offense.

The question of restitution, except as to the "Grange," was more

dubious. The cabinet agreed, however, that the original owners might

claim indemnification, and that if the property was not restored by

the captors, the value of it ought to be paid by the government of the

United States.

Genet was much dissatisfied with these decisions of the American

government. He denounced them as 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

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 offense of

infringing their sovereignty, that the vessels thus illegally equipped

would depart from their ports.

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

Washington, he seems to have expected that the popularity of his nation

would enable him to overthrow the administration, 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, as 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."

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 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. 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 cannot 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."

Such an insolent style of address as this could not be otherwise than

deeply offensive to Washington. He must have regarded this, and most of

the other effusions of Genet, as studied insults, net only to himself,

but to the country of which he was the chief magistrate. Yet, in no

single instance did the administration in its communications with Genet,

permit itself to be betrayed into the use of one intemperate expression.

The firmness with which his extravagant pretensions 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.

Genet's intemperate language and insolent conduct arose from a belief

that the people were ready to support his pretensions, in opposition to

their own government. This belief was strengthened by the proceedings

and publications of the party opposed to the administration. 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 Genet to indicate a temper extremely favorable

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.

Soon after the arrival of Genet, a democratic society was formed in

Philadelphia on the model of the Jacobin clubs 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 labors,

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, 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.

At this period Washington 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 Genet, 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 Hamilton communicated

her situation to Jefferson and Knox, 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 6th of

July, he reported her situation, and that she was to sail the next day.

In pursuance of the instructions which had been given by the President,

the governor immediately sent Secretary Dallas for the purpose of

prevailing on Genet to relieve him from the employment of force, by

detaining the vessel in port until the arrival of Washington, 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 aloose 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, Washington 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 defense of the honor of her flag,

would unquestionably repel force by force.

On receiving the report of Mr. Dallas, Governor Mifflin ordered out

120 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, Jefferson waited on

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 Jefferson than he had been

with 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, 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 Jefferson stated, that in reporting the

conversation between Genet and himself, Dallas had said that Genet

threatened, in express terms, "to appeal from the President to the

people."

Thus braved and insulted in the very heart of the country, Hamilton and

Knox were of opinion that it was expedient to take immediate 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

Washington and sailed on her cruise before the power of the government

could be interposed.

On the 11th of July (1793), Washington reached Philadelphia, and

requested that the Cabinet ministers would convene at his house the next

day at 9 in the morning.

Among the important papers placed in his hands, which required immediate

attention were those which related to the Little Democrat. On reading

them, a messenger was immediately dispatched for Jefferson, 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, Jefferson stated the assurances which had

on that day been given to him by 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 privateers which had been equipped by any of the

belligerent powers within the United States. Genet was informed of this

determination, but in contempt of it, the Little Democrat proceeded on

her cruise. This proceeding furnished a subject of exultation to the

opponents of the government, as did also the acquittal by a Charleston

jury of Gideon Henfield, who had been arrested for shipping on board a

French privateer, he being an American citizen.

While the correspondence between Genet and Jefferson concerning this

affair was still going on, the former obtained cause of complaint on

his part, and urged that the British were in the habit of taking French

property out of American vessels, in contravention of the principles

of neutrality avowed by the rest of Europe. His letters to Jefferson

on this subject were still more insulting than those which had preceded

them. On the 9th of July (1793), he wrote to Jefferson, demanding an

instant answer to the question--What measures the President had taken,

or would take, to cause the American flag to be respected? Receiving no

answer, toward the end of July he 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 endeavor, 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 honor

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 the 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 learned 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, Jefferson 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 President,

and the unceasing manifestations of his friendly dispositions toward 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 him from

adopting those measures respecting Genet which his conduct 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 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 favor to indulge the hope of succeeding in his endeavors,

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 to preserve that station in which the various

treaties in existence had placed the nation were incessantly calumniated

as infractions of those treaties, and ungrateful attempts to force the

United States into a war against France.

The judgment of Washington was never hastily formed, but, once made

up, it was seldom to be shaken. Before the last letter of Genet was

communicated to him he had decided to terminate future intercourse with

him.

In a Cabinet council the whole matter was carefully reviewed, and it

was unanimously agreed that Gouverneur Morris, the American minister

at Paris, should present the whole case to the French government and

request Genet's recall. The faction by whom he had been originally sent

out having passed out of power, this was easily effected.

At the same time the Cabinet, under Washington's direction, drew up a

system of rules to be observed by the belligerents in the ports of the

United States. These rules 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.

Neutrality between belligerents is a difficult and delicate part

to sustain. It was not France alone that advanced extraordinary

pretensions. The British government issued orders for stopping all

neutral ships, laden with provisions, bound for the ports of France,

thus declaring that country in a state of blockade. The National

Convention of France had, indeed, set the example of this by an act

of the same tendency, doubly rash, because impotent. But this, however

strong a plea for retaliating upon France, was none for making America

suffer. Corn, indeed, formed the chief export of the United States,

and to prohibit them from shipping it at all--for the new regulation

amounted in fact to this--was a grievance which the most pacific neutral

could scarcely submit to. Another continually recurring source of

complaint on the part of the United States against England was the

pressing of their seamen, which the difficulty of distinguishing between

natives of the two countries rendered of frequent occurrence and tardy

rectification. These causes came to swell the tide of faction in

America as the enemies of England and of authoritative institutions took

advantage of them to raise their cry, whilst the anti-gallican, on the

other hand, were as indignant against the arrogance of the French and of

their envoy.

Genet was in New York receiving all sorts of demonstrations of

approbation and attachment from his political friends when he received

notice of his recall (September, 1793). His rage was indescribable.

He wrote to Jefferson a letter full of the most atrocious abuse of

Washington and the administration generally, in which Jefferson himself

was not spared. But as his powers of mischief were now at an end very

slight notice was taken of his splenetic effusions. It appeared in the

sequel, however, that he had not confined 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 cooperate

in frustrating this improper application of the military resources of

his State.

While Genet was in New York 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 Washington 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.

Meantime events were transpiring in Europe which added not a little to

the excitement in the public mind against Great Britain. For many years

war had existed between Portugal and Algiers. In consequence of this

Algerian cruisers had been confined to the Mediterranean by a Portuguese

fleet, and the commerce of the United States, as well as that of

Portugal herself, had been protected in the Atlantic from piratical

depredations. In September, 1793, an unexpected truce for a year was

concluded between Portugal and Algiers. The Dey's cruisers, therefore,

immediately, and without previous notice, passed into the Atlantic,

and American vessels, while on their way to Portugal and other parts of

Europe, and without the smallest suspicion of danger, became a prey

to these lawless freebooters, and many American seamen were doomed to

slavery. There was no reasonable doubt that England had a great deal to

do with this matter and that, besides her determination to carry on war

against France, she was not very unwilling that the United States

should also suffer the evils incident to their commerce being entirely

unprotected by any naval force.

The causes of discontent which were furnished by Spain, as Marshall

states, though less the theme of public declamation, continued to be

considerable. That which related to the Mississippi was peculiarly

embarrassing. The opinion had been industriously circulated that an

opposition of interests existed between the eastern and the western

people, and that the endeavors of the executive to open this great river

were feeble and insincere. At a meeting of the Democratic Society in

Lexington, Kentucky, this sentiment was unanimously avowed in terms of

extreme disrespect to the government, and a committee was appointed to

open a correspondence with the inhabitants of the entire west for the

purpose of uniting them on this subject and of preparing 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 having thus long abstained from using the means they

possessed, for the assertion of "a natural and unalienable right,"

and indicated their opinion that this forbearance could not be long

continued. The probability that the public expression of these dangerous

dispositions would perpetuate the evil could not moderate them. This

restless temper gave additional importance to the expedition of Genet

projected against Louisiana.

Private communications strengthened the apprehensions entertained by

the President that hostilities with Spain were not far distant. 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, and Washington, writing to the Secretary of

War, in June, urged the importance of ascertaining the Spanish force in

the Floridas and such other matters as might be necessary in view of the

possible outbreak of a contest with Spain.

We must now return to Washington, who, the reader will have perceived,

surrounded by the urgent nature of his official duties and the disturbed

state of public affairs, had been detained at Philadelphia during a

great portion of the recess of Congress. He left that place for Mount

Vernon toward the end of September, after the ravages of the terrible

yellow fever of 1793 had already commenced in the city. He remained at

Mount Vernon till near the end of October. [4]

During this time he was in constant correspondence with the members of

the Cabinet, of whom Jefferson appears to have retired to Virginia and

the other heads of departments to other places to avoid the contagion of

the fever.

The principal topic discussed in this correspondence was the

constitutional power of the President to change the place in which

Congress were to reassemble in December--Philadelphia being considered

unsafe. Germantown, Wilmington, Trenton, Annapolis, Reading, and

Lancaster were suggested each in turn as suitable places, but the power

of the President to change the place was doubted on all hands. As the

fever subsided, however, the meeting actually took place in Philadelphia

on the day appointed by adjournment.

Among those whom Washington consulted on the subject of the

constitutional power to change the place for the meeting of Congress was

Mr. Madison. Washington's letter to him, dated Mount Vernon, October

14, 1793, evinces his anxiety to avoid a violation of the constitution,

while it presents a lively picture of the state of disorder in the

departments, occasioned by the pestilence at the seat of government.

"The calamitous situation of Philadelphia," he writes, "and the little

prospect, from the present appearance, of its eligibility to receive

Congress by the first Monday in December, involve a serious difficulty.

It has been intimated by some that the President ought, by proclamation,

to convene Congress a few days before the above-mentioned period, at

some other place, and by others that, although in extraordinary cases

he has the power to convene, he has none to change the place. Mr.

Jefferson, when here on his way home, was of the latter opinion, but the

laws were not fully examined, nor was the case at that time so serious

as it now is. From the Attorney-General (Randolph), to whom I have since

written on this subject, requesting an official opinion, I have received

no answer, nor is it likely I shall soon, as I believe he has no

communication with Philadelphia. Time presses and the malady at the

usual place of meeting is becoming more and more alarming. What then do

you think is the most advisable course for me to pursue in the present

exigency--summon Congress to meet at a certain time and place in their

legislative capacity? Simply state facts and say that I will meet the

members at the time and place just mentioned for ulterior arrangements?

Or leave matters as they are if there is no power in the executive to

alter the place legally? In the first and second cases, especially the

first, the delicacy of my naming a place will readily occur to you. My

wish would be that Congress could be assembled at Germantown to show

that I meant no partiality, leaving it to themselves, if there should be

no prospect of getting into Philadelphia soon, to decide what should

be done thereafter. But accounts say that some people have died in

Germantown also of the malignant fever. Every death, now, however, is

ascribed to that cause, be the disorder what it may. Wilmington and

Trenton are almost equidistant from Philadelphia in opposite directions,

but both are on the great thoroughfare and equally exposed to danger

from the multitude of travelers, and neither may have a chamber

sufficient for the House of Representatives. Annapolis and Lancaster

are more secure and both have good accommodations. But to name either

of them, especially the first, would be thought to favor the southern

convenience, and, perhaps, might be attributed to local views,

especially as New York is talked of for this purpose. Reading, if there

are proper conveniences there, would favor neither the southern nor

northern interest most, but would be alike to both.

"I have written to Mr. Jefferson on this subject. Notwithstanding

which, I would thank you for your opinion and that fully, as you see my

embarrassment. I even ask more. I would thank you, not being acquainted

with forms, to sketch some instrument for publication, adapted to the

course you may think it would be most expedient for me to pursue in the

present state of things, if the members are called together as before

mentioned.

"The difficulty of keeping clerks in the public offices had in a manner

put a stop to business before I left Philadelphia, and the heads of

departments having matters of their own, which called them away, has

prevented my return thither longer than I had intended. I have now

desired the different secretaries to meet me there, or in the vicinity,

the 1st of next month, for which I shall set out the 27th or the 28th of

the present.

"The accounts from the city are really affecting. Two gentlemen now here

from New York, Colonels Platt and Sergeant, say that they were told at

the Swede's ford of Schuylkill, by a person who had it from Governor

Mifflin, that, by an official report from the mayor of the city, upward

of 3,500 had died, and that the disorder was raging more violently than

ever. If cool weather, accompanied by rain, does not put a stop to the

malady, distressing indeed must be the case of that city, now almost

depopulated by removals and deaths." [5]

1. Footnote: The precise return was: For President George Washington,

132. For Vice-President--John Adams, 77; George Clinton, 50; Thomas

Jefferson, 4; Aaron Burr, 1.

2. Footnote: Published in Arthur's "Home Gazette."

3. Footnote: John Quincy Adams on Washington's Proclamation of

Neutrality.

4. Footnote: On the 8th of October John Hancock died at Boston.

5. Footnote: The whole number that died during the prevalence of the

yellow fever in Philadelphia was over 4,000.

CHAPTER VII.

WASHINGTON SENDS JAY TO ENGLAND. 1793-1794.

The time appointed for the reassembling of Congress was the first Monday

in December. Washington had arrived at Philadelphia, and the heads of

departments were at their posts before the end of November.

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 4th of December (1793), at 12, 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:

"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 honored 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 endeavors for the general happiness." Passing

to those measures which had been adopted by the executive for the

regulation of its conduct toward 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 cannot recommend to your notice measures for the fulfillment of our

duties to the rest of the world, without again pressing upon you the

necessity of placing ourselves in a condition of complete defense, and

of exacting from them the fulfillment of their duties toward 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 connection 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 cannot 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 candor, so shall not the public happiness

languish from the want of my strenuous and warmest cooperation."