FRENCH DESIGNS ON AMERICA
A few months before France declared war upon England, February 1, 1793,
Edmond Genet was appointed French Minister to the United States. He landed
at Charleston, April 8, and at once began activities so authoritative as
to amount to an erection of French sovereignty in the United States. The
subsequent failure of his efforts and the abrupt ending of his diplomatic
career have so reacted upon his reputation that associations of boastful
arrogance and reckless incompetency cling to his name. This estimate holds
him too lightly and underrates the peril to which the United States was
then exposed. Genet was no casual rhetorician raised to important office
by caprice of events, but a trained diplomatist of hereditary aptitude and
of long experience. His father was chief of the bureau of correspondence
in the Department of Foreign Affairs for the French monarchy, and it was
as an interpreter attached to that bureau that the son began his career in
1775. While still a youth, he gained literary distinction by his
translations of historical works from Swedish into French. Genet was
successively attached to the French Embassies at Berlin and Vienna, and in
1781 he succeeded his father in the Department of Foreign Affairs. In
1788, he was Secretary of the French Embassy at St. Petersburg, where his
zeal for French Revolutionary principles so irritated the Empress
Catherine that she characterized him as "a furious demagogue," and in 1792
he was forced to leave Russia. In the same year he was named Ambassador to
Holland, and thence was soon transferred to the United States.
It is obvious that a man of such experience could not be ignorant of
diplomatic forms and of international proprieties of behavior. If he
pursued a course that has since seemed to be a marvel of truculence, the
explanation should be sought in the circumstances of his mission more than
in the nature of his personality. When the matter is considered from this
standpoint, not only does one find that Genet's proceedings become
consistent and intelligible, but one becomes deeply impressed with the
magnitude of the peril then confronting the United States. Nothing less
than American independence was at stake.
It should be borne in mind that France, in aiding America against England,
had been pursuing her own ends. In August, 1787, the French government
advised its American representative that it had observed with indifference
the movements going on in the United States and would view the break-up of
the Confederation without regret. "We have never pretended to make of
America a useful ally; we have had no other object than to deprive Great
Britain of that vast continent." But, now that war with England had broken
out again, it was worth while making an effort to convert America into a
useful ally. Jefferson, while Minister to Paris, had been sympathetic with
the Revolutionary movement. In 1789, the English Ambassador reported to
his government that Jefferson was much consulted by the leaders of the
Third Estate. On the other hand, Gouverneur Morris, who was then living in
Paris, sympathized frankly with the King. Nevertheless he was chosen to
succeed Jefferson as the American Minister. In notifying him of the
appointment, Washington let him know that there had been objections. "It
was urged that in France you were considered as a favorer of the
aristocracy, and unfriendly to its Revolution." Washington's reminder that
it was his business to promote the interest of his own country did not
have any apparent effect on Morris's behavior. He became the personal
agent of Louis XVI, and he not only received and disbursed large sums on
the King's account, but he also entered into plans for the King's flight
from Paris. During the Reign of Terror which began in 1792, he behaved
with an energy and an intrepidity honorable to him as a man; in general,
however, his course tended to embroil and not to guard American interests.
In the face of the European coalition against revolutionary France, the
principle of action was that announced by Danton,--"to dare, and to dare,
and without end to dare." Genet therefore went on his mission to America
keyed to measures which were audacious but which can hardly be described
as reckless. By plunging heavily he might make a big winning; if he
failed, he was hardly worse off than if he had not made the attempt. To
draw the United States into the war as the ally of France was only one
part of his mission. He was also planning to reëstablish the
French colonial empire, the loss of which was still an unhealed wound.
Canada, Louisiana, and the Floridas were all in his mind. In Louisiana,
France regarded conditions as being so favorable that Genet was instructed
to make special efforts in that quarter. Spain, which had entered the
coalition against republican France, held the lower Mississippi. Spain was
therefore the common enemy of France and of the American settlements west
of the mountains. Ought not then those two republican interests to work
together to expel Spain and to seize Louisiana? Moreover, there was a
belief, not without grounds, that the older States which formed the
American union were indifferent to the needs and interests of the country
west of the Alleghenies and would be more relieved than afflicted if it
should take its destinies into its own hands. Such considerations animated
a group of Americans in Paris, among whose prominent members were Thomas
Paine, the pamphleteer, Joel Barlow, the poet, and Dr. James O'Fallon, a
Revolutionary soldier now interested in Western land speculation. All were
then ardent sympathizers with the French Revolution, and they entered
heartily into the design of stirring up the Western country against Spain.
The project attracted some frontier leaders, among them George Rogers
Clark, famous for his successful campaigns against the hostile Indians and
the British during the Revolutionary War. He was to lead a force of
Western riflemen against the Spanish posts in Louisiana, and Genet brought
with him blank brevets of officers up to the grade of captain for bestowal
on the Indian chiefs who would cooperate. The expenses of the expedition
were to be met by collections which Genet expected to make from the
treasury of the United States on account of sums due to France.
The project of using the United States as a French base could claim legal
rights under the treaties of 1778 between France and the United States.
There were two treaties, both concluded on the same day. One, entitled a
treaty of amity and commerce, was a mutual conveyance of privileges; it
provided that the ships of war of each country should defend the vessels
of the other country against all attacks that might occur while they were
in company. Besides this right of convoy, each country had the right to
use the ports of the other, either for ships of war or for privateers and
their prizes, "nor shall such prizes be arrested or seized when they come
to and enter the ports of either party; nor shall the searchers or other
officers of those places search the same, or make any examination
concerning the lawfulness of such prizes, but they may hoist sail at any
time, and depart." All vessels of either country had the right to take
refuge in the ports of the other, whether from stress of weather or
pursuit of enemies, "and they shall be permitted to refresh and provide
themselves at reasonable rates, with victuals and all things needful for
the sustenance of their persons or reparation of their ships, and
conveniency of their voyage; and they shall no ways be detained or
hindered from returning out of the said ports or roads, but may remove and
depart when and whither they please, without any let or hindrance." It was
expressly provided that such hospitality should not be extended to vessels
of an enemy of either country. The accompanying instrument, entitled a
treaty of alliance, was a mutual guarantee of territorial possessions,
"forever against all other powers." These broad rights and privileges were
supplemented by the convention of 1788 on consular functions, which
facilitated the organization of a consular jurisdiction competent to deal
with cases arising from the treaties. There was still due to France on
loans contracted during the Revolution a remainder of about $2,300,000
payable by instalments, subject to the proviso that "Congress and the
United States" had "the liberty of freeing themselves by anticipated
payments should the state of their finances admit." It was planned to get
the United States to reciprocate the past favors of France by favoring her
now, if not by direct payments of money, at least by acceptances which
Genet could use in purchasing supplies. The fact that whatever in the way
of money or accommodations was obtained in the United States would be
used in business in that country was counted upon to facilitate the
transaction.
These facts form the background against which Genet's activities should be
viewed. He came with deliberate intent to rush the situation, and armed
with all needful powers for that purpose, so far as the French government
could confer them. According to a dispatch from Morris to the State
Department, Genet "took with him three hundred blank commissions which he
is to distribute to such as will fit out cruisers in our ports to prey on
the British commerce."
At Charleston, Genet received an enthusiastic reception. The Revolutionary
commander, General Moultrie, who was then governor of South Carolina,
entered so cordially into Genet's plans that in his first dispatch home,
Genet was able to say to his government that Moultrie had permitted him to
arm privateers and had assisted the various branches of his mission in
every possible way. Such was Genet's energy that within five days after
his arrival he had opened a recruiting station at which American seamen
were taken into the French service; he had commissioned American vessels
as French privateers; and he had turned the French consul's office into an
admiralty court for which business was provided by the prizes that were
being brought in.
After seeing under way all matters that he could attend to in Charleston,
Genet moved on to Philadelphia, and received on his way thither such
greetings as to give to his journey the character of a triumphal progress.
Meanwhile, _L'Ambuscade_, the French frigate which had brought Genet to
Charleston, was proceeding to Philadelphia, taking prizes on her way and
sending them to American ports. In Delaware Bay she captured the _Grange_,
an English merchantman lying there at anchor, and took this vessel
with her to Philadelphia as a prize. As Genet neared Philadelphia on
May 16, _L'Ambuscade_ gave notice by firing three guns, at which signal a
procession was formed to meet Genet at Gray's Ferry and escort him to his
lodgings. He found awaiting him a letter from George Rogers Clark, which
gave an account of his plans for the invasion of Louisiana and the capture
of New Orleans, and which announced his readiness to start if he were
assisted by some frigates and provided with three thousand pounds sterling
to meet expenses. Genet received reports from other agents or friendly
correspondents in the Spanish territory, and so active was he in
forwarding the objects of his mission that on June 19 he was able to write
to his government, "I am provisioning the West Indies, I excite the
Canadians to break the British yoke, I arm the Kentukois and prepare a
naval expedition which will facilitate their descent on New Orleans."
These claims were well founded. Genet did, in fact, make an effective
start, and had he been able to command funds he might have opened a great
chapter of history. George Rogers Clark was the ablest and most successful
commander that the frontier had yet produced, and such was the weakness of
the Spanish defenses that had his expedition been actually launched as
planned, the conquest of Louisiana might indeed have been accomplished. It
was not any defect in Genet's arrangements that frustrated his plans, but
his inability to raise money and the uncertainty of his position as the
agent of a government which was undergoing rapid revolutionary change.
News that the French Republic had declared war against Great Britain
reached the United States early in April, 1793. Washington, who was then
at Mount Vernon, wrote to Jefferson that "it behooves the Government of
this country to use every means in its power to prevent the citizens
thereof from embroiling us with either of those Powers, by endeavoring to
maintain a strict neutrality," and he requested that the Secretary should
"give the subject mature consideration, that such measures as shall be
deemed most likely to effect this desirable purpose may be adopted without
delay." On arriving at Philadelphia a few days later, Washington was met
by a distracted Cabinet. The great difficulty was the conflict of
obligations. The United States had a treaty of alliance with France; it
had a treaty of peace with Great Britain. The situation had become such
that it could not sustain both relations at the same time. If the United
States remained neutral, it would have to deny to France privileges
conferred by the treaty which had been negotiated when both countries were
at war with Great Britain. How far was that treaty now binding? It had
been made with "the Most Christian king," whose head had been cut off. Did
not his engagements fall with his head? That was the very position taken
by the government of the French Republic, which had asserted the right to
decide what treaties of the old monarchy should be retained and what
rejected. As an incident of the present case, the question was to be
decided whether the ambassador of the French Republic should be received.
Such were the issues that Washington's Administration had to face, at a
time when the whole country was thrilling with enthusiasm in behalf of the
French Republic. Chief Justice Marshall left on record his opinion that
this feeling "was almost universal," and that "a great majority of the
American people deemed it criminal to remain unconcerned spectators of a
conflict between their ancient enemy and republican France."
Washington acted with his customary deliberation. On April 18, 1793, he
submitted to the members of his Cabinet thirteen questions. Jefferson, who
held that the French treaty was still operative, noted that the questions
reached him in Washington's own handwriting, "yet it was palpable from
the style, their ingenious tissue and suite, that they were not the
President's, that they were raised upon a prepared chain of argument, in
short, that the language was Hamilton's and the doubts his alone." In
Jefferson's opinion they were designed to lead "to a declaration of the
Executive that our treaty with France is void." Jefferson was right as to
Hamilton's authorship. At a time when Jefferson had no advice to give save
that it would be well to consider whether Congress ought not to be
summoned, Hamilton had ready a set of interrogatories which subjected the
whole situation to close analysis. The critical questions were these:
"Shall a proclamation issue for the purpose of preventing interferences of
the citizens of the United States in the war between France and Great
Britain, &c.? Shall it contain a declaration of neutrality or not? What
shall it contain?
"Are the United States obliged, by good faith, to consider the treaties
heretofore made with France as applying to the present situation of the
parties? May they either renounce them, or hold them suspended till the
government of France shall be established?"
To the interrogatories framed by Hamilton, Washington added one which
presented the point raised by Jefferson--"Is it necessary or advisable to
call together the two Houses of Congress, with a view to the present
posture of European affairs? If it is, what shall be the particular object
of such a call?"
The Cabinet met on April 19. On the question of a proclamation of
neutrality Jefferson argued that such a proclamation would be equivalent
to a declaration that the United States would not take part in the war,
and that this matter did not lie within the power of the Executive, since
it was the province of Congress to declare war. Congress ought therefore
to be called to consider the question. Hamilton, who held that it was both
the right and the duty of the President to proclaim neutrality, was
strongly opposed to summoning Congress. In a brief record of the
proceedings he remarked that "whether this advice proceeded from a secret
wish to involve us in a war, or from a constitutional timidity, certain it
is such a step would have been fatal to the peace and tranquillity of
America." The matter was finally compromised by an unanimous agreement
that a proclamation should be issued "forbidding our citizens taking any
part in any hostilities on the seas with or against any of the belligerent
powers; and warning them against carrying to any such powers any of those
articles deemed contraband, according to the modern usage of nations; and
enjoining them from all acts and proceedings inconsistent with the duties
of a friendly nation toward those at war." Jefferson's scruples having
been appeased by avoiding the use of the term "neutrality," it was now
unanimously decided that Congress should not be called. It was further
decided that the French Minister should be received. Jefferson and
Randolph, however, were of opinion that he should be received without
conditions, while Hamilton, supported by Knox, held that the Minister
ought to be apprised of the intention to reserve the question whether the
treaties were still operative, "lest silence on that point should occasion
misconstruction." The even division of the Cabinet on this point was in
practical effect a victory for Jefferson. The Cabinet was unable to reach
any decision in the matter of treaty obligations. Jefferson held that
they were still operative; Hamilton, that they were "temporarily and
provisionally suspended." Knox sided with Hamilton, and Randolph, although
he at first sided with Jefferson, was so shaken in his opinion by
Hamilton's argument that he asked further time for consideration.
Eventually written opinions were submitted by Hamilton, Jefferson, and
Randolph, confirming the views they had previously expressed, and, as Knox
concurred with Hamilton, the Cabinet was still evenly divided on that
fundamental question.
The proclamation, on the lines upon which all had agreed, was draughted by
Randolph who showed it to Jefferson in order to assure him that "there was
no such word as neutrality in it." Jefferson, whose own account this is,
did not mention that he raised any objection to the wording of the
proclamation at the time, though a few months later he referred to it in
his private correspondence as a piece of "pusillanimity," because it
omitted any expression of the affection of America for France. The
proclamation was issued on April 22, two weeks after the arrival of Genet
at Charleston. The procedure that had been adopted at Jefferson's instance
avoided none of the difficulties that a declaration of neutrality would
have encountered but rather increased them by putting the Government in a
false position. The mere omission of the term did not prevent it from
being known as a neutrality proclamation. It was at once so designated and
has always been so considered. Jefferson himself, in advising the American
foreign representatives of the policy of the Government, said that it
would be "a fair neutrality"; and, in writing to Madison a few days after
the proclamation had been issued, he remarked, "I fear a fair neutrality
will prove a disagreeable pill to our friends, though necessary to keep us
out of the calamities of war."
By its terms, however, the proclamation was simply an admonition to
American citizens to keep out of the war, with notice that, if they got
into trouble by engaging in contraband trade, they would not receive the
protection of the United States, and would be liable to prosecution for
the commission of acts of a nature to "violate the law of nations." It is
manifest that the question whether or not the French treaty was still in
operation was of great practical importance. If it was still in force, the
treaty formed part of the law of the land, and American citizens might
plead immunity for acts done in pursuance of its provisions. Hamilton was
for suspending the treaty since a situation had arisen which made its
provisions inconsistent with a policy of neutrality. His main contention
was that the obligations imposed by the treaty of '78 were no longer
binding on the United States, since they contemplated only defensive war.
By her declaration of war France had taken the offensive, thereby
relieving the United States of her reciprocal obligations. Jefferson held
that the treaty was still operative, for even if its provisions apparently
required the United States to engage in the war, it did not follow that
such action would be an actual consequence. The possibility was "not yet
certain enough to authorize us in sound morality to declare, at this
moment, the treaties null."
Meanwhile Genet was left in a position in which he had a perfect right to
claim all privileges conferred on France by the treaty. The result was a
curious chapter of diplomatic correspondence. Genet took an attitude of
indignant remonstrance at the duplicity of the American position. Did not
the United States have a treaty with France? By what authority then did
the Administration interfere with him in the enjoyment of his rights as
the representative of France, and interfere with American citizens in
their dealings with him? He shrewdly refrained from any attempt to defend
the capture of the _Grange_ by _L'Ambuscade_ in Delaware Bay. "The learned
conclusions of the Attorney-General of the United States, and the
declarations of the American Government, have been on this subject the
rule of my conduct. I have caused the prize to be given up." But he stood
firm on rights secured by the treaty. "As long as the States, assembled in
Congress, shall not have determined that this solemn engagement should not
be performed, no one has the right to shackle our operations, and to annul
their effect, by hindering those of our marines who may be in the American
ports, to take advantage of the commissions which the French Government
has charged me to give to them, authorizing them to defend themselves, and
fulfill, if they find an opportunity, all the duties of citizens against
the enemies of the State."
This was using an argument borrowed from Jefferson's abundant stock of
constitutional limitations. Genet was, of course, advised of the
dissensions in the Cabinet. He was on such confidential terms with
Jefferson that he talked freely about the projected raid on Louisiana.
Jefferson noted in his diary that "he communicated these things to me, not
as Secretary of State, but as Mr. Jefferson." Jefferson told Genet that he
"did not care what insurrections should be excited in Louisiana," but that
"enticing officers and soldiers from Kentucky to go against Spain was
really putting a halter about their necks, for that they would assuredly
be hung if they commenced hostilities against a nation at peace with the
United States." So great is the force of legal pedantry that Jefferson was
unable to agree that the President should proclaim neutrality in clear and
positive terms; but that same pedantry was effectively employed in
covering the legal flaws of Jefferson's position in his notes to Genet. He
attenuated the treaty obligations by strict construction and also by
reservations founded on the general principles of international law. "By
our treaties with several of the belligerent Powers," he told Genet, "we
have established a style of peace with them. But without appealing to
treaties, we are at peace with them all by the law of nature: for, by
nature's law, man is at peace with man." Hence the propriety of forbidding
acts within American jurisdiction that would cause disturbance of this
peace, a point on which he quoted copiously from Vattel. Genet manifested
some irritation at being referred to treatises on international law when
he was resting his case on a treaty the validity of which Jefferson
acknowledged. "Let us not lower ourselves," he wrote, "to the level
of ancient politics by diplomatic subtleties. Let us be frank in
our overtures, in our declarations, as our two nations are in their
affections, and, by this plain and sincere conduct, arrive at the object
by the shortest way."
Logically Jefferson's position was that of maintaining the validity of the
treaty while opposing the fulfillment of its obligations. At the same time
he had to carry on a correspondence with Hammond, the British Minister,
who was making complaints of the use of American ports for French
depredations on British commerce, and to him Jefferson pleaded entire
willingness to discharge in good faith the obligations of a neutral Power.
It may seem as if Jefferson was attempting the impossible feat of trying
to ride at one time two horses going in opposite directions, but such was
his dexterity that in appearance he was largely successful. Meanwhile he
contrived to throw on Hamilton and his adherents the blame for the
feebleness and inconsistency of national policy. In letters to his
Congressional lieutenants, Monroe in the Senate and Madison in the House,
he lamented "the anglophobia, secret antigallomany" that have "decided the
complexion of our dispositions." He spoke scornfully of Randolph, whom he
regarded as so irresolute that the votes in the Cabinet were "generally
two and a half against one and a half," by which he meant that Hamilton
and Knox stood together against Jefferson, while Randolph divided his
influence between the two actions.
So inflamed was the state of public opinion that a rising against the
Government seemed possible. In a letter written twenty years later, John
Adams described "the terrorism excited by Genet, in 1793, when ten
thousand people in the streets of Philadelphia, day after day, threatened
to drag Washington out of his house, and effect a revolution in the
Government, or compel it to declare war in favor of the French Revolution
and against England." Adams related that he "judged it prudent and
necessary to order chests of arms from the War Office" to be brought into
his house to defend it from attack, and he had it from "the coolest
and firmest minds" that nothing but the outbreak of yellow fever in
Philadelphia that summer "could have saved the United States from a fatal
revolution of government." On the other hand, letters written by Hamilton
during the time of all this excitement show that he thought little of it,
although he more than anyone else was its target. In May, 1793, he wrote
that the number of persons who went to meet Genet "would be stated high at
a hundred," and he did not believe that a tenth part of the city
participated in the meetings and addresses of Genet's sympathizers. "A
crowd will always draw a crowd, whatever be the purpose. Curiosity will
supply the place, of attachment to, or interest in, the object."
Washington's own letters at this period show no trace of concern about his
personal safety though he smarted under the attacks on his motives. An
entry of August 2, 1793, in Jefferson's private diary, forming the volume
since known as "The Anas," relates that at a cabinet meeting Knox
exhibited a print entitled the funeral of George W----n, in which the
President was placed on a guillotine. "The President was much inflamed;
got into one of those passions when he cannot command himself; ran much on
the personal abuse which had been bestowed upon him; defied any man on
earth to produce one single act of his since he had been in the Government
which was not done from the purest motives; that he had never repented but
once the having slipped the moment of resigning his office, and that was
every moment since; that by God he had rather be in his grave than in his
present situation; that he had rather be on his farm than to be made
emperor of the world; and that they were charging him with wanting to be
king; that that rascal Freneau sent him three of his papers every day, as
if he thought he would become the distributor of his papers; that he could
see in this nothing but an impudent design to insult him."
Freneau was one of Jefferson's subordinates in the State Department,
combining with his duties there the editorship of a newspaper engaged in
spreading the calumny that the Administration was leaning toward
monarchy through the influence of Hamilton and his friends, who despised
republicanism, hated France, and loved England. This journalistic campaign
went on under the protection of Jefferson to the disturbance of an
administration of which Jefferson himself formed a part. This circumstance
has given trouble to Jefferson's biographers, and it is now somewhat
difficult to make those allowances to which Jefferson is entitled from the
candid historian. Such behavior at the present day would be regarded as
treacherous, for it is now a settled doctrine that it is the duty of a
member of the President's Cabinet to give unreserved support to his
policy, or to resign. But at that period, neither in England nor in the
United States, did this view of cabinet solidarity prevail. It was not
considered against the rules of the game for a cabinet official to use any
opportunities within reach for promoting his aims or to boast such
behavior as patriotic zeal. Jefferson, who wanted to resign and stayed on
only at Washington's earnest desire, certainly rendered a service to the
Administration, which was then so unpopular that Jefferson's connection
with it was a political asset of great value.
Hamilton also made use of the services of journalism. When on June
29,1793, publication began of a series of eight articles signed
"Pacificus," it was well known that Hamilton was the author. The acute
analysis and cogent reasoning of these articles have given them classic
rank as an exposition of national rights and duties. Upon minds open to
reason their effect was marked. Jefferson wrote to Madison, "For God's
sake, my dear Sir, take up your pen, select the most striking heresies,
and cut him to pieces in the face of the public." Madison did take up his
pen, but he laid it down again without attempting to controvert Hamilton's
argument. The five articles which Madison wrote over the signature
"Helvidius" do not proceed farther into the subject than a preliminary
examination of executive authority, in which he laid down principles of
strict construction of the Constitution which have never been adopted in
practice and which are now interesting only as specimens of dialectic
subtlety.
Although as an electioneering tactician Jefferson had superior ability,
neither he nor any of his associates was a match for Hamilton in debate.
As the issues were discussed, the Jeffersonians lost ground, and for this
they put the blame on Genet. By July 7, Jefferson was writing to Madison
that Genet "renders my position immensely difficult," and thereafter in
the correspondence of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, Genet figures as a
rash man whose indiscretions embarrassed his friends and impeded his own
objects. This view has to a large extent passed over into history, but
when it is considered that Genet did not come to America for Jefferson's
comfort but to accomplish certain things for his own government, it must
be owned that he had considerable success. Although his means were small,
he managed to engage in the French service an active American fleet
including such vessels as _Le Cassius, L'Ami de le Point à Petre, L'Amour
de la Liberté, La Vengeance, La Montagne, Le Vainqueur de la Bastille, La
Carmagnole, L'Espérance, Le Citoyen Genet, Sans Pareil_, and _Le
Petit Démocrate._ The last-mentioned vessel was originally an English
merchantman, the brig _Little Sarah_, brought into Philadelphia harbor as
a French prize. When it was learned that this vessel had been armed and
equipped for service as a French man-of-war, Governor Mifflin of
Pennsylvania gave orders that the vessel should be detained. Genet
threatened forcible resistance, and a clash might have occurred, had
Jefferson not intervened. He went to Genet's house on Sunday to persuade
him not to move the vessel until the President could decide the case.
Genet refused to give any promise, but remarked that the vessel would
probably not be ready to depart for several days. Jefferson thereupon
exerted himself successfully to prevent the taking of any steps to detain
the vessel.
Washington, harassed and confused by the dissensions of his Cabinet, now
desired that the advice of the justices of the Supreme Court be taken.
Hamilton was opposed to a proceeding which involved prejudgment by the
Court on questions which might come before it in due course of law, and
which seemed to him also to be an avoidance of the proper responsibility
of the executive. Nevertheless he took part in preparing the case, and of
the twenty-nine questions submitted to the Supreme Court, Hamilton framed
twenty-one, Jefferson seven, and Washington himself the last. Jefferson
notified Genet of this consultation as an additional reason for patience,
"the object of it being to obtain the best advice possible on the sense of
the laws and treaties respecting the several cases. I am persuaded you
will think the delay well compensated." Genet did not think so, and _Le
Petit Démocrate_ put to sea in defiance of American authority.
The justices declined to answer the questions, and the Administration had
to face its responsibilities on its own judgment of its rights and duties.
At least one member of the Administration had clear and positive ideas on
that subject. Hamilton, who in his "Pacificus" letters had given a
masterly exposition of international obligations, now took up the
particular issues raised by Genet's claims, which at that time were
receiving ardent championship. Freneau's _National Gazette_ held that
Genet had really acted "too tamely," had been "too accommodating for the
peace of the United States." Hamilton now replied by a series of articles
in the _Daily Advertiser_ over the signature "No Jacobin," in which
Genet's behavior was reviewed. After five articles had appeared in rapid
succession, the series was abruptly terminated because Hamilton was taken
down by the yellow fever.
The journalistic war was almost in the nature of a duel between the State
and the Treasury Departments. Genet must have been amused. Lack of funds
hindered his activities more than anything else. Jefferson had advised
Washington that, "if the instalments falling due in this year could be
advanced without incurring more danger," it would be well to make the
payments, as he "thought it very material to keep alive the friendly
sentiments of France." But this was a matter which pertained to Hamilton's
own department, and in that field his advice controlled Washington. Genet
could do nothing in this direction, and before the affair of _Le Petit
Démocrate_ he had ceased to expect financial aid.
Jefferson was now so angry and indignant that he no longer opposed the
suggestions that had been made in cabinet meetings that Genet should be
dismissed, and the note on that subject which he drafted for transmission
to the French Government is an able document. The French Government, with
ample reason, conditioned the recall of Genet upon the recall of Morris,
who was succeeded by James Monroe. Meanwhile Genet's situation had become
perilous through revolution at home. On October 16, 1793, his Government
issued an order for his arrest. The United States now became his asylum.
He acquired citizenship, married a daughter of Governor Clinton of New
York, and settled down to a useful and respected career as a country
gentleman devoted to the improvement of agriculture. He died at his home,
Schodak, New York, in 1834, after having founded an American family.
At the time when Genet, favored by the exasperated state of Western
sentiment over the navigation of the lower Mississippi, was promoting an
attack upon the Spanish posts, the Administration had already been engaged
for a long time in efforts to secure "full enjoyment of that navigation,"
as well as a settlement of the southwestern boundary. In December, 1791,
Washington nominated William Carmichael, chargé d'affaires in Spain, and
William Short, then chargé d'affaires in France, commissioners to make a
treaty. Their efforts proved unsuccessful, and in 1794 the Spanish
commissioner in the United States gave notice that they were not
acceptable personally, and that it "was hoped that some other person would
be appointed, with full powers, to settle this treaty, and graced with
such a character as became the royalty to which he was accredited."
Washington then nominated Thomas Pinckney, at that time minister in
London, as minister plenipotentiary in Spain. When Pinckney arrived on the
scene he was met with the dilatory methods then characteristic of Spanish
diplomacy, and finally he had to bring matters to an issue by demanding
his passports. His determination so impressed the Spanish Government that
it finally consented to a treaty, October 27, 1795, which fixed the
southern boundary of the United States and opened the Mississippi River to
navigation. The boundary line was to run east along the thirty-first
parallel of latitude from the Mississippi to the Appalachicola, thence
along the latter river to its junction with the Flint, thence to the
headwaters of the St. Mary's, and along its course to the Atlantic Ocean.
The free navigation of the Mississippi was coupled with the privilege of
depositing merchandise at New Orleans "without paying any other duty than
a fair price for the hire of the stores." This privilege was to be
continued after three years, or "an equivalent establishment" on the banks
of the Mississippi was to be assigned to citizens of the United States--a
provision which was not free from ambiguities and which furnished fresh
material for controversy a few years later.