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AMERICAN STATESMEN
EDITED BY
JOHN T. MORSE, JR.
IN THIRTY-TWO VOLUMES VOL. XIII.
THE JEFFERSONIAN DEMOCRACY
ALBERT GALLATIN
[Illustration: Albert Gallatin]
American Statesmen
STANDARD LIBRARY EDITION
[Illustration: The Home of Albert Gallatin]
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO.
American Statesmen
ALBERT GALLATIN
BY
JOHN AUSTIN STEVENS
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
The Riverside Press, Cambridge
Copyright, 1883 and 1898,
BY HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO.
_All rights reserved._
PREFACE
Every generation demands that history shall be rewritten. This is not
alone because it requires that the work should be adapted to its own
point of view, but because it is instinctively seeking those lines which
connect the problems and lessons of the past with its own questions and
circumstances. If it were not for the existence of lines of this kind,
history might be entertaining, but would have little real value. The
more numerous they are between the present and any earlier period, the
more valuable is, for us, the history of that period. Such
considerations establish an especial interest just at present in the
life of Gallatin.
The Monroe Doctrine has recently been the pivot of American
statesmanship. With that doctrine Mr. Gallatin had much to do, both as
minister to France and envoy to Great Britain. Indeed, in 1818, some
years before the declaration of that doctrine, when the Spanish colonies
of South America were in revolt, he declared that the United States
would not even aid France in a mediation. Later, in May, 1823, six
months before the famous message of President Monroe, Mr. Gallatin had
already uttered its idea; when about leaving Paris, on his return from
the French mission, he said to Chateaubriand, the French minister of
foreign affairs (May 13, 1823): "The United States would undoubtedly
preserve their neutrality, provided it were respected, and avoid any
interference with the politics of Europe.... On the other hand, they
would not suffer others to interfere against the emancipation of
America." With characteristic vanity Canning said that it was he himself
who "called the new world into existence to redress the balance of the
old." Yet precisely this had already for a long while been a cardinal
point of the policy of the United States. So early as 1808, Jefferson,
alluding to the disturbed condition of the Spanish colonies, said: "We
consider their interest and ours as the same, and that the object of
both must be to exclude all European influence in this hemisphere."
Matters of equal interest are involved in the study of Mr. Gallatin's
actions and opinions in matters of finance. Every one knows that he
ranks among the distinguished financiers of the world, and problems
which he had to consider are still agitating the present generation. He
was opposed alike to a national debt and to paper money. Had the
metallic basis of the United States been adequate, he would have
accepted no other circulating medium, and would have consented to the
use of paper money only for purposes of exchange and remittance. In 1830
he urged the restriction of paper money to notes of one hundred dollars
each, which were to be issued by the government. Obviously these must be
used chiefly for transmitting funds, and would be of little use for the
daily transactions of the people. Yet even this concession was due to
the fact that the United States was then a debtor country, and so late
as 1839, as Mr. Gallatin said, "specie was a foreign product." For
subsidiary money he favored silver coins at eighty-five per cent. of the
dollar value, a sufficient alloy to hold them in the country. Silver was
then the circulating medium of the world, the people's pocket money, and
gold was the basis and the solvent of foreign exchanges.
Great interest attaches to the application of some other of Gallatin's
financial principles to more modern problems; and a careful study of his
papers may fairly enable us to form a few conclusions. It may be safely
said that he would not have favored a national bank currency based on
government bonds. This, however, would not have been because of any
objection to the currency itself, but because the scheme would insure
the continuance of a national debt. He was too practical, also, not to
see that the ultimate security is the faith of the government, and that
no filtering of that responsibility through private banks could do
otherwise than injure it. Further, it is reasonably safe to say that he
would favor the withdrawal both of national bank notes and of United
States notes, the greenbacks so-called; and that he would consent to the
use of paper only in the form of certificates directly representing the
precious metals, gold and silver; also that he would limit the use of
silver to its actual handling by the people in daily transactions. He
would feel safe to disregard the fluctuations of the intrinsic value of
silver, when used in this limited way as a subordinate currency, on the
ground that the stamp of the United States was sufficient for conferring
the needed value, when the obligation was only to maintain the parity,
not of the silver, but of the coin, with gold. He understood that, in
the case of a currency which is merely subordinate, parity arises from
the guaranty of the government, and not from the quality of the coin;
and that only such excess of any subordinate currency as is not needed
for use in daily affairs can be presented for redemption. This
principle, well understood by him, is recognized in European systems,
wherein the minimum of circulation is recognized as a maximum limit of
uncovered issues of paper. The circulation of silver, or of
certificates based upon it, comes within the same rule.
At the time of the publication of this volume objection was taken to the
author's statement that, until the publication of Gallatin's writings,
his fame as a statesman and political leader was a mere tradition. Yet
in point of fact, not only is his name hardly mentioned by the early
biographers of Jefferson, Madison, and J. Q. Adams, but even by the
later writers in this very Series, his work, varied and important as it
was, has been given but scant notice. The historians of the United
States, and those who have made a specialty of the study of political
parties, have been alike indifferent or derelict in their investigations
to such a degree that it required months of original research in the
annals of Congress to ascertain Gallatin's actual relations towards the
Federalist party which he helped to overthrow, and towards the
Republican party which he did so much to found, and of which he became
the ablest champion, in Congress by debate, and in the cabinet by
administration.
Invited by the publishers of the Statesmen Series to bring this study
"up to date," the author has found no important changes to make in his
work as he first prepared it. In the original investigation every source
of information was carefully explored, and no new sources have since
then been discovered. Mr. Gallatin's writings, carefully preserved in
originals and copies, and well arranged, supplied the details; while the
family traditions, with which the author was familiar, indicated the
objects to be obtained. But so wide was the general field of Mr.
Gallatin's career, so varied were his interests in all that pertained to
humanity, philanthropy, and science, and so extensive were his relations
with the leaders of European and American thought and action, that the
subject could only be treated on the broadest basis. With this apology
this study of one of the most interesting characters of American life is
again commended to the indulgence of the American people.
NEWPORT, April, 1898.
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
I. EARLY LIFE 1
II. PENNSYLVANIA Legislature 32
III. UNITED STATES SENATE 56
IV. THE WHISKEY INSURRECTION 67
V. MEMBER OF CONGRESS 97
VI. SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY 170
VII. IN THE CABINET 279
VIII. IN DIPLOMACY 301
IX. CANDIDATE FOR THE VICE-PRESIDENCY 355
X. SOCIETY--LITERATURE--SCIENCE 361
INDEX 391
ILLUSTRATIONS
ALBERT GALLATIN _Frontispiece_
From the original painting by Gilbert Stuart, in the
possession of Frederic W. Stevens, Esq., New York, N. Y.
Autograph from the Chamberlain collection, Boston
Public Library.
The vignette of "Friendship Hill," Mr. Gallatin's
home at New Geneva, Pa., is from a photograph.
Page
ROBERT GOODLOE HARPER _facing_ 98
From a painting by St. Mémin, in the possession of
Harper's granddaughter, Mrs. William C. Pennington,
Baltimore, Md.
Autograph from a MS. in the New York Public
Library, Lenox Building.
ALEXANDER J. DALLAS _facing_ 236
From the original painting by Gilbert Stuart, in the
possession of Mrs. W. H. Emory, Washington, D. C.
Autograph from the Chamberlain collection, Boston
Public Library.
JAMES A. BAYARD _facing_ 312
From a painting by Wertmüller, owned by the late
Thomas F. Bayard, Wilmington, Del.
Autograph from the Chamberlain collection, Boston
Public Library.
ALBERT GALLATIN
CHAPTER I
EARLY LIFE
Of all European-born citizens who have risen to fame in the political
service of the United States, Albert Gallatin is the most distinguished.
His merit in legislation, administration, and diplomacy is generally
recognized, and he is venerated by men of science on both continents.
Not, however, until the publication of his writings was the extent of
his influence upon the political life and growth of the country other
than a vague tradition. Independence and nationality were achieved by
the Revolution, in which he bore a slight and unimportant part; his
place in history is not, therefore, among the founders of the Republic,
but foremost in the rank of those early American statesmen, to whom it
fell to interpret and administer the organic laws which the founders
declared and the people ratified in the Constitution of the United
States. A study of his life shows that, from the time of the peace until
his death, his influence, either by direct action or indirect counsel,
may be traced through the history of the country.
The son of Jean Gallatin and his wife, Sophie Albertine Rollaz, he was
born in the city of Geneva on January 29, 1761, and was baptized by the
name of Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin. The name Abraham he received
from his grandfather, but it was early dropped, and he was always known
by his matronymic Albert. The Gallatin family held great influence in
the Swiss Republic, and from the organization of the State contributed
numerous members to its magistracy; others adopted the military
profession, and served after the manner of their country in the Swiss
contingents of foreign armies. The immediate relatives of Albert
Gallatin were concerned in trade. Abraham, his grandfather, and Jean,
his father, were partners. The latter dying in 1765, his widow assumed
his share in the business. She died in March, 1770, leaving two
children,--Albert, then nine years of age, and an invalid daughter who
died a few years later. The loss to the orphan boy was lessened, if not
compensated, by the care of a maiden lady--Mademoiselle Pictet--who had
taken him into her charge at his father's death. This lady, whose
affection never failed him, was the intimate friend of his mother as
well as a distant relative of his father. Young Gallatin remained in
this kind care until January, 1773, when he was sent to a
boarding-school, and in August, 1775, to the academy of Geneva, from
which he was graduated in May, 1779. The expenses of his education were
in great part met by the trustees of the Bourse Gallatin,--a sum left in
1699 by a member of the family, of which the income was to be applied to
its necessities. The course of study at the academy was confined to
Latin and Greek. These were taught, to use the words of Mr. Gallatin,
"Latin thoroughly, Greek much neglected." Fortunately his preliminary
home training had been careful, and he left the academy the first in his
class in mathematics, natural philosophy, and Latin translation. French,
a language in general use at Geneva, was of course familiar to him.
English he also studied. He is not credited with special proficiency in
history, but his teacher in this branch was Muller, the distinguished
historian, and the groundwork of his information was solid. No American
statesman has shown more accurate knowledge of the facts of history, or
a more profound insight into its philosophy, than Mr. Gallatin.
Education, however, is not confined to instruction, nor is the influence
of an academy to be measured by the extent of its curriculum, or the
proficiency of its students, but rather by its general tone, moral and
intellectual. The Calvinism of Geneva, narrow in its religious sense,
was friendly to the spread of knowledge; and had this not been the case,
the side influences of Roman Catholicism on the one hand, and the
liberal spirit of the age on the other, would have tempered its
exclusive tendency.
While the academy seems to have sent out few men of extraordinary
eminence, its influence upon society was happy. Geneva was the resort of
distinguished foreigners. Princes and nobles from Germany and the north
of Europe, lords and gentlemen from England, and numerous Americans went
thither to finish their education. Of these Mr. Gallatin has left
mention of Francis Kinloch and William Smith, who later represented
South Carolina in the Congress of the United States; Smith was
afterwards minister to Portugal; Colonel Laurens, son of the president
of Congress, and special envoy to France during the war of the American
Revolution; the two Penns, proprietors of Pennsylvania; Franklin Bache,
grandson of Dr. Franklin; and young Johannot, grandson of Dr. Cooper of
Boston. Yet no one of these followed the academic course. To use again
the words of Mr. Gallatin, "It was the Geneva society which they
cultivated, aided by private teachers in every branch, with whom Geneva
was abundantly supplied." "By that influence," he says, he was himself
"surrounded, and derived more benefit from that source than from
attendance on academical lectures." Considered in its broader sense,
education is quite as much a matter of association as of scholarly
acquirement. The influence of the companion is as strong and enduring as
that of the master. Of this truth the career of young Gallatin is a
notable example. During his academic course he formed ties of intimate
friendship with three of his associates. These were Henri Serre, Jean
Badollet, and Etienne Dumont. This attachment was maintained unimpaired
throughout their lives, notwithstanding the widely different stations
which they subsequently filled. Serre and Badollet are only remembered
from their connection with Gallatin. Dumont was of different mould. He
was the friend of Mirabeau, the disciple and translator of Bentham,--a
man of elegant acquirement, but, in the judgment of Gallatin, "without
original genius." De Lolme was in the class above Gallatin. He had such
facility in the acquisition of languages that he was able to write his
famous work on the English Constitution after the residence of a single
year in England. Pictet, Gallatin's relative, afterwards celebrated as a
naturalist, excelled all his fellows in physical science.
During his last year at the academy Gallatin was engaged in the tuition
of a nephew of Mademoiselle Pictet, but the time soon arrived when he
felt called upon to choose a career. His state was one of comparative
dependence, and the small patrimony which he inherited would not pass to
his control until he should reach his twenty-fifth year,--the period
assigned for his majority. It would be hardly just to say that he was
ambitious. Personal distinction was never an active motor in his life.
Even his later honors, thick and fast though they fell, were rather
thrust upon than sought by him. But his nature was proud and sensitive,
and he chafed under personal control. The age was restless. The spirit
of philosophic inquiry, no longer confined within scholastic limits, was
spreading far and wide. From the banks of the Neva to the shores of the
Mediterranean, the people of Europe were uneasy and expectant. Men
everywhere felt that the social system was threatened with a cataclysm.
What would emerge from the general deluge none could foresee. Certainly,
the last remains of the old feudality would be engulfed forever. Nowhere
was this more thoroughly believed than at the home of Rousseau. Under
the shadow of the Alps, every breeze from which was free, the Genevese
philosopher had written his "Contrat social," and invited the rulers and
the ruled to a reorganization of their relations to each other and to
the world. But nowhere, also, was the conservative opposition to the new
theories more intense than here.
The mind of young Gallatin was essentially philosophic. The studies in
which he excelled in early life were in this direction, and at no time
in his career did he display any emotional enthusiasm on subjects of
general concern. But, on the other hand, he was unflinching in his
adherence to abstract principle. Though not carried away by the
extravagance of Rousseau, he was thoroughly discontented with the
political state of Geneva. He was by early conviction a Democrat in the
broadest sense of the term. Indeed, it would be difficult to find a more
perfect example of what it was then the fashion to call a _citoyen du
monde_. His family seem, on the contrary, to have been always
conservative, and attached to the aristocratic and oligarchic system to
which they had, for centuries, owed their position and advancement.
Abraham Gallatin, his grandfather, lived at Pregny on the northern shore
of the lake, in close neighborhood to Ferney, the retreat of Voltaire.
Susanne Vaudenet Gallatin, his grandmother, was a woman of the world, a
lady of strong character, and the period was one when the influence of
women was paramount in the affairs of men; among her friends she counted
Voltaire, with whom her husband and herself were on intimate relations,
and Frederick, Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, with whom she corresponded. So
sincere was this latter attachment that the sovereign sent his portrait
to her in 1776, an honor which, at her instance, Voltaire acknowledged
in a verse characteristic of himself and of the time:--
"J'ai baisé ce portrait charmant,
Je vous l'avoûrai sans mystère,
Mes filles en out fait autant,
Mais c'est un secret qu'il faut taire.
Vous trouverez bon qu'une mère
Vous parle un peu plus hardiment,
Et vous verrez qu'également,
En tous les temps vous savez plaire."
At Pregny young Gallatin was the constant guest of his nearest relatives
on his father's side, and he was a frequent visitor at Ferney. Those
whose fortune it has been to sit at the feet of Mr. Gallatin himself,
in the serene atmosphere of his study, after his retirement from active
participation in public concerns, may well imagine the influence which
the rays of the prismatic character of Voltaire must have had upon the
philosophic and receptive mind of the young student.
There was and still is a solidarity in European families which can
scarcely be said to have ever had a counterpart in those of England, and
of which hardly a vestige remains in American social life. The fate of
each member was a matter of interest to all, and the honor of the name
was of common concern. Among the Gallatins, the grandmother, Madame
Gallatin-Vaudenet, as she was called, appears to have been the
controlling spirit. To her the profession of the youthful scion of the
stock was a matter of family consequence, and she had already marked out
his future course. The Gallatins, as has been already stated, had
acquired honor in the military service of foreign princes. Her friend,
the Landgrave of Hesse, was engaged in supporting the uncertain fortunes
of the British army in America with a large military contingent, and she
had only to ask to obtain for her grandson the high commission of
lieutenant-colonel of one of the regiments of Hessian mercenaries. To
the offer made to young Gallatin, and urged with due authority, he
replied, that "he would never serve a tyrant;" a want of respect which
was answered by a cuff on the ear. This incident determined his career.
Whether it crystallized long-cherished fancies into sudden action, or
whether it was of itself the initial cause of his resolve, is now mere
matter of conjecture; probably the former. The three friends, Gallatin,
Badollet, and Serre seem to have amused their leisure in planning an
ideal existence in some wilderness. America offered a boundless field
for the realization of such dreams, and the spice of adventure could be
had for the seeking. Here was the forest primeval in its original
grandeur. Here the Indian roamed undisputed master; not the tutored
Huron of Voltaire's tale, but the savage of torch and tomahawk. The
continent was as yet unexplored. In uncertainty as to motives for man's
action the French magistrate always searches for the woman,--"cherchez
la femme!" One single allusion in a letter written to Badollet, in 1783,
shows that there was a woman in Gallatin's horoscope. Who she was, what
her relation to him, or what influence she had upon his actions, nowhere
appears. He only says that besides Mademoiselle Pictet there was one
friend, "une amie," at Geneva, from whom a permanent separation would be
hard.
Confiding his purpose to his friend Serre, Gallatin easily persuaded
this ardent youth to join him in his venturesome journey, and on April
1, 1780, the two secretly left Geneva. It certainly was no burning
desire to aid the Americans in their struggle for independence, such as
had stirred the generous soul of Lafayette, that prompted this act. In
later life he repeatedly disclaimed any such motive. It was rather a
longing for personal independence, for freedom from the trammels of a
society in which he had little faith or interest. Nor were his political
opinions at this time matured. He had a just pride in the Swiss Republic
as a free State (Etat libre), and his personal bias was towards the
"Négatif" party, as those were called who maintained the authority of
the Upper Council (Petit Conseil) to reject the demands of the people.
To this oligarchic party his family belonged. In a letter written three
years later, he confesses that he was "Négatif" when he abandoned his
home, and conveys the idea that his emigration was an experiment, a
search for a system of government in accordance with his abstract
notions of natural justice and political right. To use his own words, he
came to America to "drink in a love for independence in the freest
country of the universe." But there was some method in this madness. The
rash scheme of emigration had a practical side; land speculation and
commerce were to be the foundation and support of the settlement in the
wilderness where they would realize their political Utopia.
From Geneva the young adventurers hurried to Nantes, on the coast of
France, where Gallatin soon received letters from his family, who seem
to have neglected nothing that could contribute to their comfort or
advantage. Monsieur P. M. Gallatin, the guardian of Albert, a distant
relative in an elder branch of the family, addressed him a letter
which, in its moderation, dignity, and kindness, is a model of
well-tempered severity and reproach. It expressed the pain Mademoiselle
Pictet had felt at his unceremonious departure, and his own affliction
at the ingratitude of one to whom he had never refused a request.
Finally, as the trustee of his estate till his majority, the guardian
assures the errant youth that he will aid him with pecuniary resources
as far as possible, without infringing upon the capital, and within the
sworn obligation of his trust. Letters of recommendation to
distinguished Americans were also forwarded, and in these it is found,
to the high credit of the family, that no distinction was made between
the two young men, although Serre seems to have been considered as the
originator of the bold move. The intervention of the Duke de la
Rochefoucauld d'Enville was solicited, and a letter was obtained by him
from Benjamin Franklin--then American minister at the Court of
Versailles--to his son-in-law, Richard Bache. Lady Juliana Penn wrote in
their behalf to John Penn at Philadelphia, and Mademoiselle Pictet to
Colonel Kinloch, member of the Continental Congress from South Carolina.
Thus supported in their undertaking the youthful travelers sailed from
L'Orient on May 27, in an American vessel, the Kattie, Captain Loring.
Of the sum which Gallatin, who supplied the capital for the expedition,
brought from Geneva, one half had been expended in their land journey
and the payment of the passages to Boston; one half, eighty louis
d'or--the equivalent of four hundred silver dollars--remained, part of
which they invested in tea. Reaching the American coast in a fog, or bad
weather, they were landed at Cape Ann on July 14. From Gloucester they
rode the next day to Boston on horseback, a distance of thirty miles.
Here they put up at a French café, "The Sign of the Alliance," in Fore
Street, kept by one Tahon, and began to consider what step they should
next take in the new world.
The prospects were not encouraging; the military fortunes of the
struggling nation were never at a lower ebb than during the summer which
intervened between the disaster of Camden and the discovery of Arnold's
treason. Washington's army lay at New Windsor in enforced inactivity;
enlistments were few, and the currency was almost worthless. Such was
the stagnation in trade, that the young strangers found it extremely
difficult to dispose of their little venture in tea. Two months were
passed at the café, in waiting for an opportunity to go to Philadelphia,
where Congress was in session, and where they expected to find the
influential persons to whom they were accredited; also letters from
Geneva. But this journey was no easy matter. The usual routes of travel
were interrupted. New York was the fortified headquarters of the British
army, and the Middle States were only to be reached by a détour through
the American lines above the Highlands and behind the Jersey Hills.
The homesick youths found little to amuse or interest them in Boston,
and grew very weary of its monotonous life and Puritanic tone. They
missed the public amusements to which they were accustomed in their own
country, and complained of the superstitious observance of Sunday, when
"singing, fiddling, card-playing and bowling were forbidden." Foreigners
were not welcome guests in this town of prejudice. The sailors of the
French fleet had already been the cause of one riot. Gallatin's letters
show that this aversion was fully reciprocated by him.
The neighboring country had some points of interest. No Swiss ever saw a
hill without an intense desire to get to its top. They soon felt the
magnetic attraction of the Blue Hills of Milton, and, descrying from
their summit the distant mountains north of Worcester, made a pedestrian
excursion thither the following day. Mr. Gallatin was wont to relate
with glee an incident of this trip, which Mr. John Russell Bartlett
repeats in his "Reminiscences."
"The tavern at which he stopped on his journey was kept by a man
who partook in a considerable degree of the curiosity even
now-a-days manifested by some landlords in the back parts of New
England to know the whole history of their guests. Noticing Mr.
Gallatin's French accent he said, 'Just from France, eh! You are a
Frenchman, I suppose.' 'No!' said Mr. Gallatin, 'I am not from
France.' 'You can't be from England, I am sure?' 'No!' was the
reply. 'From Spain?' 'No!' 'From Germany?' 'No!' 'Well, where on
earth are you from then, or what are you?' eagerly asked the
inquisitive landlord. 'I am a Swiss,' replied Mr. Gallatin. 'Swiss,
Swiss, Swiss!' exclaimed the landlord, in astonishment. 'Which of
the ten tribes are the Swiss?'"
Nor was this an unnatural remark. At this time Mr. Gallatin did not
speak English with facility, and indeed was never free from a foreign
accent.
At the little café they met a Swiss woman, the wife of a Genevan, one De
Lesdernier, who had been for thirty years established in Nova Scotia,
but, becoming compromised in the attempt to revolutionize the colony,
was compelled to fly to New England, and had settled at Machias, on the
northeastern extremity of the Maine frontier. Tempted by her account of
this region, and perhaps making a virtue of necessity, Gallatin and
Serre bartered their tea for rum, sugar, and tobacco, and, investing the
remainder of their petty capital in similar merchandise, they embarked
October 1, 1780, upon a small coasting vessel, which, after a long and
somewhat perilous passage, reached the mouth of the Machias River on the
15th of the same month. Machias was then a little settlement five miles
from the mouth of the stream of the same name. It consisted of about
twenty houses and a small fortification, mounting seven guns and
garrisoned by fifteen or twenty men. The young travelers were warmly
received by the son of Lesdernier, and made their home under his roof.
This seems to have been one of the four or five log houses in a large
clearing near the fort. Gallatin attempted to settle a lot of land, and
the meadow where he cut the hay with his own hands is still pointed out.
This is Frost's meadow in Perry, not far from the site of the Indian
village. A single cow was the beginning of a farm, but the main
occupation of the young men was woodcutting. No record remains of the
result of the merchandise venture. The trade of Machias was wholly in
fish, lumber, and furs, which, there being no money, the settlers were
ready enough to barter for West India goods. But the outlet for the
product of the country was, in its unsettled condition, uncertain and
precarious, and the young traders were no better off than before. One
transaction only is remembered, the advance by Gallatin to the garrison
of supplies to the value of four hundred dollars; for this he took a
draft on the state treasury of Massachusetts, which, there being no
funds for its payment, he sold at one fourth of its face value.
The life, rude as it was, was not without its charms. Serre seems to
have abandoned himself to its fascination without a regret. His
descriptive letters to Badollet read like the "Idylls of a Faun." Those
of Gallatin, though more tempered in tone, reveal quiet content with the
simple life and a thorough enjoyment of nature in its original wildness.
In the summer they followed the tracks of the moose and deer through the
primitive forests, and explored the streams and lakes in the light
birch canoe, with a woodsman or savage for their guide. In the winter
they made long journeys over land and water on snowshoes or on skates,
occasionally visiting the villages of the Indians, with whom the
Lesderniers were on the best of terms, studying their habits and
witnessing their feasts. Occasional expeditions of a different nature
gave zest and excitement to this rustic life. These occurred when alarms
of English invasion reached the settlement, and volunteers marched to
the defence of the frontier. Twice Gallatin accompanied such parties to
Passamaquoddy, and once, in November, 1780, was left for a time in
command of a small earthwork and a temporary garrison of whites and
Indians at that place. At Machias Gallatin made one acquaintance which
greatly interested him, that of La Pérouse, the famous navigator. He was
then in command of the Amazone frigate, one of the French squadron on
the American coast, and had in convoy a fleet of fishing vessels on
their way to the Newfoundland banks. Gallatin had an intense fondness
for geography, and was delighted with La Pérouse's narrative of his
visit to Hudson's Bay, and of his discovery there (at Fort Albany, which
he captured) of the manuscript journal of Samuel Hearne, who some years
before had made a voyage to the Arctic regions in search of a northwest
passage. Gallatin and La Pérouse met subsequently in Boston.
The winter of 1780-81 was passed in the cabin of the Lesderniers. The
excessive cold does not seem to have chilled Serre's enthusiasm. Like
the faun of Hawthorne's mythical tale, he loved Nature in all her moods;
but Gallatin appears to have wearied of the confinement and of his
uncongenial companions. The trading experiment was abandoned in the
autumn, and with some experience, but a reduced purse, the friends
returned in October to Boston, where Gallatin set to work to support
himself by giving lessons in the French language. What success he met
with at first is not known, though the visits of the French fleet and
the presence of its officers may have awakened some interest in their
language. However this may be, in December Gallatin wrote to his good
friend, Mademoiselle Pictet, a frank account of his embarrassments.
Before it reached her, she had already, with her wonted forethought,
anticipated his difficulties by providing for a payment of money to him
wherever he might be, and had also secured for him the interest of Dr.
Samuel Cooper, whose grandson, young Johannot, was then at school in
Geneva. Dr. Cooper was one of the most distinguished of the patriots in
Boston, and no better influence could have been invoked than his. In
July, 1782, by a formal vote of the President and Fellows of Harvard
College, Mr. Gallatin was permitted to teach the French language. About
seventy of the students availed themselves of the privilege. Mr.
Gallatin received about three hundred dollars in compensation. In this
occupation he remained at Cambridge for about a year, at the expiration
of which he took advantage of the close of the academic course to
withdraw from his charge, receiving at his departure a certificate from
the Faculty that he had acquitted himself in his department with great
reputation.
The war was over, the army of the United States was disbanded, and the
country was preparing for the new order which the peace would introduce
into the habits and occupations of the people. The long-sought
opportunity at last presented itself, and Mr. Gallatin at once embraced
it. He left Boston without regret. He had done his duty faithfully, and
secured the approbation and esteem of all with whom he had come in
contact, but there is no evidence that he cared for or sought social
relations either in the city or at the college. Journeying southward he
passed through Providence, where he took sail for New York. Stopping for
an hour at Newport for dinner, he reached New York on July 21, 1783. The
same day the frigate Mercury arrived from England with news of the
signature of the definitive treaty of peace. He was delighted with the
beauty of the country-seats above the city, the vast port with its
abundant shipping, and with the prospect of a theatrical entertainment.
The British soldiers and sailors, who were still in possession, he found
rude and insolent, but the returning refugees civil and honest people.
At Boston Gallatin made the acquaintance of a French gentleman, one
Savary de Valcoulon, who had crossed the Atlantic to prosecute in person
certain claims against the State of Virginia for advances made by his
house in Lyons during the war. He accompanied Gallatin to New York, and
together they traveled to Philadelphia; Savary, who spoke no English,
gladly attaching to himself as his companion a young man of the ability
and character of Gallatin.
At Philadelphia Gallatin was soon after joined by Serre, who had
remained behind, engaged also in giving instruction. The meeting at
Philadelphia seems to have been the occasion for the dissolution of a
partnership in which Gallatin had placed his money, and Serre his
enthusiasm and personal charm. A settlement was made; Serre giving his
note to Gallatin for the sum of six hundred dollars,--one half of their
joint expenses for three years,--an obligation which was repaid more
than half a century later by his sister. Serre then joined a
fellow-countryman and went to Jamaica, where he died in 1784. At
Philadelphia Gallatin and Savary lodged in a house kept by one Mary
Lynn. Pelatiah Webster, the political economist, who owned the house,
was also a boarder. Later he said of his fellow-lodgers that "they were
well-bred gentlemen who passed their time conversing in French."
Gallatin, at the end of his resources, gladly acceded to Savary's
request to accompany him to Richmond.
Whatever hesitation Gallatin may have entertained as to his definitive
expatriation was entirely set at rest by the news of strife between the
rival factions in Geneva and the interposition of armed force by the
neighboring governments. This interference turned the scale against the
liberal party. Mademoiselle Pictet was the only link which bound him to
his family. For his ingratitude to her he constantly reproached himself.
He still styled himself a citizen of Geneva, but this was only as a
matter of convenience and security to his correspondence. His
determination to make America his home was now fixed. The lands on the
banks of the Ohio were then considered the most fertile in America,--the
best for farming purposes, the cultivation of grain, and the raising of
cattle. The first settlement in this region was made by the Ohio
Company, an association formed in Virginia and London, about the middle
of the century, by Thomas Lee, together with Lawrence and Augustine,
brothers of George Washington. The lands lay on the south side of the
Ohio, between the Monongahela and Kanawha rivers. These lands were known
as "Washington's bottom lands." In this neighborhood Gallatin determined
to purchase two or three thousand acres, and prepare for that ideal
country home which had been the dream of his college days. Land here was
worth from thirty cents to four dollars an acre. His first purchase was
about one thousand acres, for which he paid one hundred pounds,
Virginia currency. Land speculation was the fever of the time. Savary
was early affected by it, and before the new friends left Philadelphia
for Richmond he bought warrants for one hundred and twenty thousand
acres in Virginia, in Monongalia County, between the Great and Little
Kanawha rivers, and interested Gallatin to the extent of one quarter in
the purchase. Soon after the completion of this transaction the sale of
some small portions reimbursed them for three fourths of the original
cost. This was the first time when, and Savary was the first person to
whom, Gallatin was willing to incur a pecuniary obligation. Throughout
his life he had an aversion to debt; small or large, private or public.
It was arranged that Gallatin's part of the purchase money was not to be
paid until his majority,--January 29, 1786,--but in the meanwhile he
was, in lieu of interest money, to give his services in personal
superintendence. Later Savary increased Gallatin's interest to one half.
Soon after these plans were completed, Savary and Gallatin moved to
Richmond, where they made their residence.
In February, 1784, Gallatin returned to Philadelphia, perfected the
arrangements for his expedition, and in March crossed the mountains,
and, with his exploring party, passed down the Ohio River to Monongalia
County in Virginia. The superior advantages of the country north of the
Virginia line determined him to establish his headquarters there. He
selected the farm of Thomas Clare, at the junction of the Monongahela
River and George's Creek. This was in Fayette County, Pennsylvania,
about four miles north of the Virginia line. Here he built a log hut,
opened a country store, and remained till the close of the year. It was
while thus engaged at George's Creek, in September of the year 1784,
that Gallatin first met General Washington, who was examining the
country, in which he had large landed interests, to select a route for a
road across the Alleghanies. The story of the interview was first made
public by Mr. John Russell Bartlett, who had it from the lips of Mr.
Gallatin. The version of the late Hon. William Beach Lawrence, in a
paper prepared for the New York Historical Society, differs slightly in
immaterial points. Mr. Lawrence says:--
"Among the incidents connected with his (Mr. Gallatin's) earliest
explorations was an interview with General Washington, which he
repeatedly recounted to me. He had previously observed that of all
the inaccessible men he had ever seen, General Washington was the
most so. And this remark he made late in life, after having been
conversant with most of the sovereigns of Europe and their prime
ministers. He said, in connection with his office, he had a cot-bed
in the office of the surveyor of the district when Washington, who
had lands in the neighborhood, and was desirous of effecting
communication between the rivers, came there. Mr. Gallatin's bed
was given up to him,--Gallatin lying on the floor, immediately
below the table at which Washington was writing. Washington was
endeavoring to reduce to paper the calculations of the day.
Gallatin, hearing the statement, came at once to the conclusion,
and, after waiting some time, he himself gave the answer, which
drew from Washington such a look as he never experienced before or
since. On arriving by a slow process at his conclusion, Washington
turned to Gallatin and said, 'You are right, young man.'"
The points of difference between the two accounts of this interview are
of little importance. The look which Washington is said to have given
Mr. Gallatin has its counterpart in that with which he is also said to
have turned upon Gouverneur Morris, when accosted by him familiarly with
a touch on the shoulder. Bartlett, in his recollection of the anecdote,
adds that Washington, about this period, inquired after the forward
young man, and urged him to become his land agent,--an offer which
Gallatin declined.
The winter of 1784-85 was passed in Richmond, in the society of which
town Mr. Gallatin began to find a relief and pleasure he had not yet
experienced in America. At this period the Virginia capital was the
gayest city in the Union, and famous for its abundant hospitality,
rather facile manners, and the liberal tendency of its religious
thought. Gallatin brought no prudishness and no orthodoxy in his
Genevese baggage. One of the last acts of his life was to recognize in
graceful and touching words the kindness he then met with:--
"I was received with that old proverbial Virginia hospitality to
which I know no parallel anywhere within the circle of my travels.
It was not hospitality only that was shown to me. I do not know how
it came to pass, but every one with whom I became acquainted
appeared to take an interest in the young stranger. I was only the
interpreter of a gentleman, the agent of a foreign house, that had
a large claim for advances to the State, and this made me known to
all the officers of government, and some of the most prominent
members of the Legislature. It gave me the first opportunity of
showing some symptoms of talent, even as a speaker, of which I was
not myself aware. Every one encouraged me, and was disposed to
promote my success in life. To name all those from whom I received
offers of service would be to name all the most distinguished
residents at that time in Richmond."
In the spring of 1785, fortified with a certificate from Governor
Patrick Henry, commending him to the county surveyor, and intrusted by
Henry with the duty of locating two thousand acres of lands in the
western country for a third party, he set out from Richmond, on March
31, alone, on horseback. Following the course of the James River he
crossed the Blue Ridge at the Peaks of Otter, and reached Greenbrier
Court House on April 18. On the 29th he arrived at Clare's, on George's
Creek, where he was joined by Savary. Their surveying operations were
soon begun, each taking a separate course. An Indian rising broke up the
operations of Savary, and both parties returned to Clare's. Gallatin
appeared before the court of Monongalia County, at its October term, and
took the "oath of allegiance and fidelity to the Commonwealth of
Virginia." Clare's, his actual residence, was north of the Virginia
line, but his affections were with the old Dominion. In November the
partners hired from Clare a house at George's Creek, in Springfield
township, and established their residence, after which they returned to
Richmond by way of Cumberland and the Potomac. In February, 1786,
Gallatin made his permanent abode at his new home.
Mention has been made of the intimacy of the young emigrants with Jean
Badollet, a college companion. When they left Geneva he was engaged in
the study of theology, and was now a teacher. He was included in the
original plan of emigration, and the first letters of both Gallatin and
Serre, who had for him an equal attachment, were to him, and year by
year, through all the vicissitudes of their fortune, they kept him
carefully informed of their movements and projects. For two years after
their departure no word was received from him. At last, spurred by the
sharp reproaches of Serre, he broke silence. In a letter written in
March, 1783, informing Gallatin of the troubles in Switzerland, he
excused himself on the plea that their common friend, Dumont, retained
him at Geneva. In answer, Gallatin opened his plans of western
settlement, which included the employment of his fortune in the
establishment of a number of families upon his lands. He suggested to
Badollet to bring with him the little money he had, to which enough
would be added to establish him independently. Dumont was invited to
accompany him. But with a prudence which shows that his previous
experience had not been thrown away upon him, Gallatin recommends his
friend not to start at once, but to hold himself ready for the next, or,
at the latest, the year succeeding, at the same time suggesting the idea
of a general emigration of such Swiss malcontents as were small
capitalists and farmers; that of manufacturers and workmen he
discouraged. It was not, however, until the spring of 1785, on the eve
of leaving Richmond with some families which he had engaged to establish
on his lands, that he felt justified in asking his old friend to cross
the seas and share his lot. This invitation was accepted, and Badollet
joined him at George's Creek.
The settlement beginning to spread, Gallatin bought another farm higher
up the river, to which he gave the name of Friendship Hill. Here he
later made his home.
The western part of Pennsylvania, embracing the area which stretches
from the Alleghany Mountains to Lake Erie, is celebrated for the wild,
picturesque beauty of its scenery. Among its wooded hills the head
waters of the Ohio have their source. At Fort Duquesne, or Pittsburgh,
where the river takes a sudden northerly bend before finally settling in
swelling volume on its southwesterly course to the Mississippi, the
Monongahela adds its mountain current, which separates in its entire
course from the Virginia line the two counties of Fayette and
Washington. The Monongahela takes its rise in Monongalia County,
Virginia, and flows to the northward. Friendship Hill is one of the
bluffs on the right bank of the river, and faces the Laurel Ridge to the
eastward. Braddock's Road, now the National Road, crosses the mountains,
passing through Uniontown and Red Stone Old Fort (Brownsville), on its
course to Pittsburgh. The county seat of Fayette is the borough of Union
or Uniontown. Gallatin's log cabin, the beginning of New Geneva, was on
the right bank of the Monongahela, about twelve miles to the westward of
the county seat. Opposite, on the other side of the river, in Washington
County, was Greensburg, where his friend Badollet was later established.
Again for a long period Gallatin left his family without any word
whatever. His most indulgent friend, Mademoiselle Pictet, could hardly
excuse his silence, and did not hesitate to charge that it was due to
misfortunes which his pride prompted him to conceal. In the early days
of 1786 a rumor of his death reached Geneva, and greatly alarmed his
family. Mr. Jefferson, then minister at Paris, wrote to Mr. Jay for
information. This was Jefferson's first knowledge of the existence of
the young man who was to become his political associate, his philosophic
companion, and his truest friend. Meanwhile Gallatin had attained his
twenty-fifth year and his majority. His family were no longer left in
doubt as to his existence, and in response to his letters drafts were at
once remitted to him for the sum of five thousand dollars, through the
banking-house of Robert Morris. This was, of course, immediately applied
to his western experiment. The business of the partnership now called
for his constant attention. It required the exercise of a great variety
of mental powers, a cool and discriminating judgment, combined with an
incessant attention to details. Nature, under such circumstances, is not
so attractive as she appears in youthful dreams; admirable in her
original garb, she is annoying and obstinate when disturbed. The view of
country which Friendship Hill commands is said to rival Switzerland in
its picturesque beauty, but years later, when the romance of the
Monongahela hills had faded in the actualities of life, Gallatin wrote
of it that "he did not know in the United States any spot which afforded
less means to earn a bare subsistence for those who could not live by
manual labor."
Gallatin has been blamed for "taking life awry and throwing away the
advantages of education, social position, and natural intelligence," by
his removal to the frontier, and his career compared with that of
Hamilton and Dallas, who, like him, foreign born, rose to eminence in
politics, and became secretaries of the treasury of the United States.
But both of these were of English-speaking races. No foreigner of any
other race ever obtained such distinction in American politics as Mr.
Gallatin, and he only because he was the choice of a constituency, to
every member of which he was personally known. It is questionable
whether in any other condition of society he could have secured
advancement by election--the true source of political power in all
democracies. John Marshall, afterwards Chief Justice, recognized
Gallatin's talent soon after his arrival in Richmond, offered him a
place in his office without a fee, and assured him of future distinction
in the profession of the law; but Patrick Henry was the more sagacious
counselor; he advised Gallatin to go to the West, and predicted his
success as a statesman. Modest as the beginning seemed in the country he
had chosen, it was nevertheless a start in the right direction, as the
future showed. It was in no sense a mistake.
Neither did the affairs of the wilderness wholly debar intercourse with
the civilized world. Visiting Richmond every winter, he gradually
extended the circle of his acquaintance, and increased his personal
influence; he also occasionally passed a few weeks at Philadelphia. Two
visits to Maine are recorded in his diary, but whether they were of
pleasure merely does not appear. One was in 1788, in midwinter, by stage
and sleigh. On this excursion he descended the Androscoggin and crossed
Merrymeeting Bay on the ice, returning by the same route in a snowstorm,
which concealed the banks on either side of the river, so that he
governed his course by the direction of the wind. With the intellect of
a prime minister he had the constitution of a pioneer. On one of these
occasions he intended to visit his old friends and hosts, the
Lesderniers, but the difficulty of finding a conveyance, and the rumor
that the old gentleman was away from home, interfered with his purpose.
He remembered their kindness, and later attempted to obtain pensions for
them from the United States government.
But the time now arrived when the current of his domestic life was
permanently diverted, and set in other channels. In May, 1789, he
married Sophie Allègre, the daughter of William Allègre of a French
Protestant family living at Richmond. The father was dead, and the
mother took lodgers, of whom Gallatin was one. For more than a year he
had addressed her and secured her affections. Her mother now refused her
consent, and no choice was left to the young lovers but to marry without
it. Little is known of this short but touching episode in Mr. Gallatin's
life. The young lady was warmly attached to him, and the letter written
to her mother asking forgiveness for her marriage is charmingly
expressed and full of feeling. They passed a few happy months at
Friendship Hill, when suddenly she died. From this time Mr. Gallatin
lost all heart in the western venture, and his most earnest wish was to
turn his back forever upon Fayette County. In his suffering he would
have returned to Geneva to Mademoiselle Pictet, could he have sold his
Virginia lands. But this had become impossible at any price, and he had
no other pecuniary resource but the generosity of his family.
Meanwhile the revolution had broken out in France. The rights of man had
been proclaimed on the Champ de Mars. All Europe was uneasy and alarmed,
and nowhere offered a propitious field for peaceful labor. But Gallatin
did not long need other distraction than he was to find at home.