A GREAT DEBATE
They "of the western dome, whose weighty sense
Flows in fit words and heavenly eloquence."
I had been so abashed by my wretched mistake that I had not so much as
told the President who I was (though, truth to tell, he had not asked
me, and it would have been only another impertinence on my part to
have volunteered the information). Yet as I sat waiting for young Mr.
Lewis, and reviewing in my mind the miserable events through which I
had just passed, it suddenly occurred to me as very remarkable that
Mr. Jefferson should have known I was from Philadelphia, when I
thought I had been so particularly skilful in betraying no fact
concerning myself. Moreover, he had not only guessed I was from
Philadelphia; he must have guessed my identity also, for he had
"communications of interest" for me.
My curiosity was now so thoroughly aroused, both as to how the
President knew me and what his communications might be, that it began
to efface the keenness of my mortification. In the midst of my
wondering surmises, Mr. Lewis appeared and greeted me most affably;
and when I had presented Captain Clarke's letter of introduction, he
was, if possible, more affable still. He was an older-looking man than
I had expected to see, and with so much of seriousness in his
countenance, and yet of such frankness and earnestness in his manner,
that it drew my interest and liking at once.
He was the bearer of a very polite message from the President,
inviting me to dinner at the White House at four o'clock that
afternoon; and then he proposed that we should set out at once for the
Capitol, where, as he said, a debate of special interest was on the
calendar.
I was much touched at the generosity of Mr. Jefferson in returning my
discourtesy to himself by so courteously placing his secretary at my
disposal for my entertainment, and nothing could have pleased me
better than Mr. Lewis's proposal. It had been my intention to visit
the Capitol as soon as this visit of ceremony should be performed, but
to visit it with a guide so much at home as the President's secretary
was good luck indeed.
I thought it still better luck when I found that, by Mr. Jefferson's
special invitation, we were to sit in a small gallery set aside for
the President and his friends, and to which a guard in uniform
admitted us with a key. I was much impressed by the exterior of the
Capitol (though in such an unfinished state), but when I found myself
seated in the seclusion of the President's own private gallery,
looking down upon the horseshoe of grave and distinguished senators, I
could have wished that one of the ladies (of whom there were a number
in the gallery opposite, and who cast many inquisitive glances at the
two young men in the President's box) might have been Mademoiselle
Pelagie, for I felt sure she would never again think of me as a boy,
could she but see me in my present dignified surroundings.
But it was only for a moment that my attention was distracted by the
ladies and by thoughts of mademoiselle. A gentleman was speaking (Mr.
Lewis told me it was Mr. Ross of Pennsylvania) in a most impassioned
manner, and the magic word "Mississippi" caught my ear and charmed my
attention. Mr. Ross was saying:
"To the free navigation of the Mississippi we have undoubted right,
from nature and also from the position of our Western country. This
right and the right of deposit in the Island of New Orleans were
solemnly acknowledged and fixed by treaty in 1795. That treaty has
been in actual operation and execution for many years, and now,
without any pretense of abuse or violation on our part, the officers
of the Spanish government deny that right, refuse the place of
deposit, and add the most offensive of all insults by forbidding us
from landing on any part of their territory and shutting us out as a
common nuisance. I declare it, therefore, to be my firm and mature
opinion that so important a right will never be secure while the mouth
of the Mississippi is exclusively in the hands of the Spanish. From
the very position of our country, from its geographical shape, from
motives of complete independence, the command of the navigation of
the river ought to be in our hands.
"We are now wantonly provoked to take it. Hostility in its most
offensive shape has been offered us, and hostility fatal to the
happiness of the Western World. Why not seize, then, what is so
essential to us as a nation? Why not expel the wrong-doers? Paper
treaties have proved too feeble. Plant yourselves on the river;
fortify the banks; invite those who have an interest at stake to
defend it. Do justice to yourselves when your adversaries deny it, and
leave the event to Him who controls the fate of nations!"
Ah, how his words burnt my brain! I was for leaving Mr. Lewis in the
President's gallery, running down to the great entrance where I had
left Fatima in charge of a negro boy, mounting her, and riding
straight back to Kentucky. Once there, I was sure it would be an easy
matter to raise a company of eager patriots and march at their head
down the Great River to the hostile city. But Mr. Ross had not
finished, and I could not lose a word of his impassioned speech:
"Why submit to a tardy and uncertain negotiation--a negotiation with
those who have wronged you? When in possession you will negotiate with
more advantage. You will then be in the position to keep others out.
The present possessors have no pretense to complain, for they have no
right to the country, by their own confession.
"The Western people will discover that you are making every effort
they could desire for their protection. They will ardently support you
in the contest, if a contest becomes necessary. Their all will be at
stake, and neither their zeal nor their courage need be doubted.
"But after negotiations shall have failed; after a powerful, ambitious
nation shall have taken possession of the key of their Western country
and fortified it; after the garrisons are filled by the veterans who
have conquered the East: will you have it in your power to waken the
generous spirit of the West and dispossess them? No, no; their
confidence in you as their rulers will be gone; they will be
disheartened, divided, and will place no further dependence upon you."
At this moment two officers in uniform entered the Senate, preceding a
gentleman who carried on a cushion a document. Immediately the
President of the Senate, Mr. Burr (a man whom I had been reared to
dislike and distrust above all men, and whose enmity for Mr. Hamilton
was sufficient cause to make me his foe, yet whose attractive
personality, seeing him for the first time, I could not deny), called
the house to order, and requested Mr. Ross to defer the completion of
his speech until a message from the House of Representatives should
have been read.
I was all curiosity, for it seemed to me an imposing ceremony and one
that must be of great moment. But I was doomed to disappointment. The
gentleman bearing the document said something in a low tone to the
clerk, who repeated it to Mr. Burr. Whereupon Mr. Burr rose in his
seat.
"Gentlemen of the Senate," he said, "the House of Representatives
sends you a confidential message. Sergeant-at-arms, clear the house!"
Mr. Lewis rose at once, and signaled to me to follow, which I did,
very unwillingly. Outside in the corridors he said:
"I think this will be but a brief secret conference--most like we can
return in a few minutes; and I will employ the interim in showing you
the building."
From his manner I thought he must know the subject of the secret
conference, as, indeed, being the President's private secretary, he
would have every means of knowing. But he gave me no hint of it, and
it was not until long afterward that I learned that in the half-hour
we were shut out the Senate had confirmed the House bill to place two
million dollars at the President's disposal to commence with more
effect a negotiation with France and Spain for the purchase of the
Isle of New Orleans and the East and West Floridas.
When the doors were opened again, and we were back in our seats in the
President's gallery, we found Mr. Ross already on his feet, continuing
his interrupted speech, and evidently the sentences I first heard were
in reference to the bill just passed.
"I know," he said, "that some gentlemen think there is a mode of
accomplishing our object, of which, by a most extraordinary procedure,
I am forbidden to speak on this occasion. I will not, therefore, touch
it. But I will ask honorable gentlemen, especially those from the
Western country, what they will say, on their return home, to a people
pressed by the heavy hand of this calamity, when they inquire: What
has been done? What are our hopes? How long will this obstruction
continue? You answer: We have provided a remedy, but it is a secret!
We are not allowed to speak of it there, much less here. It was only
communicated to us confidentially, in whispers, with closed doors. But
by and by you will see it operate like enchantment. It is a sovereign
balsam which will heal your wounded honor; it is a potent spell, or a
kind of patent medicine, which will extinguish and forever put at rest
the devouring spirit which has desolated so many nations of Europe.
You never can know exactly what it is; nor can we tell you precisely
the time it will begin to operate: but operate it certainly will, and
effectually, too! You will see strange things by and by; wait
patiently, and place full faith in us, for we cannot be mistaken!
"This idle tale may amuse children, but the men of the West will not
be satisfied. They will tell you that they expected better things of
you, that their confidence has been misplaced, and that they will not
wait the operation of your newly invented drug; they will go and
redress themselves!"
Then Mr. Ross proceeded to read a series of resolutions he had drawn
up, the most important part of them being to authorize the President
to take immediate possession of the Isle of New Orleans, and to raise
a militia army not exceeding fifty thousand men in the Western States,
to cooperate with the army and navy of the Union; and that the sum of
five millions of dollars should be appropriated to carry out these
resolutions.
They took my breath away. "What would I not give to be back in
Kentucky!" I whispered to Mr. Lewis, in irrepressible excitement.
"Calm yourself, my young friend," he whispered back. "War is not
declared yet. Listen to this next speech; it is Mr. White from
Delaware. See whether he supports or opposes the resolutions."
His opening sentence answered the question:
"As to the closing of the port of New Orleans against our citizens,
the man who can now doubt that it was a deliberate act of the Spanish
or French government must have locked up his mind against truth and
conviction, and be determined to discredit even the evidence of his
own senses. But, sir, it is not only the depriving us of our right of
deposit by which we have been grieved: it is by a system of measures
pursued antecedent and subsequent to that event, equally hostile and
even more insulting. I have in my hand a paper signed by a Spanish
officer, which, with the indulgence of the chair, I will read to the
Senate."
Then he read a paper signed by Carlos de Grandpré, warning the
subjects of his Majesty of Spain that they were to have no
communications with America, and couched in the most insulting terms.
My blood boiled as I listened!
"These," said Mr. White, "are the measures that have been adopted by
the Spaniard, excluding us from their shores for a distance of two
hundred and seventy miles, treating us like a nation of pirates and
banditti. Would the great Washington have permitted such an insult had
he still been with us? Spain has dared us to the trial, and now bids
us defiance. She is yet in possession of that country; it is at this
moment within your reach and within your power. It offers a sure and
easy conquest. We should have to encounter there only a weak,
inactive, and unenterprising people. But how may a few months vary the
scene and darken our prospects! Though not officially informed, we
know that the Spanish provinces on the Mississippi have been ceded to
the French, and that they will, as soon as possible, take possession
of them. What may we then expect? When, in the last extremity, we
shall be drawn to arms in defense of our indisputable rights, where
now slumbers on his post the sluggish Spaniard we shall be hailed by
the vigilant and alert French grenadier; and in the defenseless
garrison that would now surrender at our approach we shall see
unfurled the standards that have waved triumphant in Italy, surrounded
by impregnable ramparts and defended by the disciplined veterans of
Europe. I am willing to attribute to honorable gentlemen the best of
motives; I am sure they do not wish to involve this country in a
war--and, God knows, I deprecate its horrors as much as any man. But
this business can never be adjusted abroad; it will ultimately have to
be settled upon the banks of the Mississippi; the war is inevitable
unless honorable gentlemen opposed to us are prepared to yield up the
best interest and honor of the nation. I believe the only question now
in our power to decide is, whether it shall be the bloodless war of a
few months or the carnage of years.
"These observations are urged upon the supposition that it is in the
power of the government to restrain the impetuosity of the Western
people and to prevent their doing justice to themselves, which, by the
by, I beg to be understood as not believing. They know their own
strength; they know the feebleness of the enemy; they know the
infinite importance of the stake, and they feel--permit me to say,
sir, with more than mere sensibility--the insults and injuries they
have received. You had as well pretend to dam up the mouth of the
Mississippi, and say to its restless waves, 'Ye shall cease here and
never mingle with the ocean,' as to expect they will be prevented from
descending it.
"Without the free use of the river and the necessary advantage of
deposit below our line, their fertile country is not worth possession;
their produce must be wasted in the field or rot in the granary. These
are rights not only guaranteed to them by treaty, but also given to
them by the God of nature, and they will enforce them, with or without
the authority of government!"
This long speech (and I have not remembered half of it) was
interrupted by frequent bursts of applause, and when Mr. White sat
down, it was amid such enthusiasm of cheering as quite carried me off
my feet.
"Was there ever such a speech?" I shouted into Mr. Lewis's ear, for
the noise was deafening. "That will surely win the day."
"Wait," he shouted back, "until you hear the other side. That is Mr.
Jackson of Georgia trying to get the floor, and, if I mistake not, he
will be in opposition, and he is a strong speaker, with plenty of
caustic wit."
Mr. Jackson began to speak with so slow a drawl and in such low tones
that at first I hardly thought him an adversary to be dreaded. But as
he warmed to his work I changed my mind.
"What is the course," he began, "which we have to pursue? Is it to go
immediately to war without asking for redress? By the law of nations
and the doctrines of all writers on such law, you are not justified
until you have tried every possible method of obtaining redress in a
peaceable manner. It is only in the last extremity, when you have no
other expedient left, that a recourse to arms is lawful and just, and
I hope the United States will never forfeit their character for
justice by any hasty or rash steps which they may, too late, have to
repent of.
"Sir, we have been told much, by the gentleman from Delaware, of
Bonaparte: that he is the hero of France, the conqueror of Italy, the
tyrant of Germany, and that his legions are invincible. We have been
told that we must hasten to take possession of New Orleans whilst in
the hands of the sluggish Spaniards, and not wait until it is in the
iron grip of the Cæsar of modern times. But much as I respect the fame
and exploits of that extraordinary man, I believe we should have
little more to fear from him, should it be necessary in the end to
contend with him for the possession of New Orleans, than from the
sluggish Spaniards. Bonaparte, sir, in our Southern country would be
lost with all his martial talents. His hollow squares and horse
artillery would be of little service to him in the midst of our
morasses and woods, where he would meet, not with the champaign
country of Italy,--with the little rivulets commanded by his cannon
which he could pass at leisure,--not with the fortified cities which
command surrounding districts, but with rivers miles wide, and swamps
mortal or impenetrable to Europeans. With a body of only ten thousand
of our expert riflemen around him, his laurels would be torn from his
brow, and he would heartily wish himself once more on the plains of
Italy.
"The sacred name of Washington has been unnecessarily appealed to on
this as on many other occasions, and we have been boastingly told that
in his time no nation dared insult us. Much, sir, as I revere his
memory, acknowledging him among the fathers of his country, was this
the fact? Was he not insulted?--was not the nation insulted under his
administration? How came the posts to be detained after the definitive
treaty with Great Britain? What dictated that inhuman deed to stir up
horror and destruction among us--Lord Dorchester's insolent and savage
speech to the hordes of Indians on our frontiers to massacre our
inhabitants without distinction? Were those not insults? Or have we
tamely forgotten them? Yet, sir, did Washington go to war? He did not;
he preferred negotiation, and sent an envoy to Great Britain. Peace
was obtained by a treaty with that nation. Shall we, then, not
negotiate? Shall we not follow the leading feature of our nation's
policy? We are all actuated, I hope, by one view, but we differ in the
means. Let us show the nations of the earth we are not anxious for
war, that scourge of mankind; that we bear patiently our injuries, in
hope of redress.
"But, sir, if forced to war, contrary to our policy and wish, let us
unsheathe the sword and fling away the scabbard until our enemies be
brought to a sense of justice and our wrongs be redressed."
Now to every word of this speech I had listened breathlessly. There
was a ring in Mr. Jackson's voice as he warmed to his theme, and his
long body swayed in the power of his own eloquence, that moved me
mightily, though I wished not to be moved.
I scarcely listened to the gentleman that followed (a Mr. Cocke from
Tennessee), so intently was I reviewing Mr. Jackson's ringing
sentences, and wondering if, after all, he was right, and all the
brave Kentuckians who had been so loud in their demands for war were
wrong. But one or two sentences of Mr. Cocke caught my ear; I heard
him say:
"We were told by Mr. Ross that we were bound to go to war for this
right which God and nature had given to the Western people. What are
we to understand by this right given by God and nature? Surely not the
right of deposit, for that was given by treaty, and as to the right of
navigation, that has been neither suspended nor brought into question.
But we are told by the same gentleman that the possession of New
Orleans is necessary to our complete security. Leaving to the
gentleman's own conscience to settle the question as to the morality
of taking that place because it would be convenient, I beg to inform
him that the possession of it would not give us complete security."
What further Mr. Cocke said I do not know, for at that moment Mr.
Lewis whispered to me:
"Do you know the lady in the gallery opposite? She has been for some
time covertly regarding one of us, and I think it must be you. Do not
look at her just now; look at the right-hand gallery, and then
gradually let your glance come around to the lady wearing a black lace
veil beside the pillar in the front row opposite."
I did as Mr. Lewis instructed--letting my glance finally fall in the
most casual manner where he indicated. But as I did so my heart gave a
great bound. Could that be Mademoiselle Pelagie? The pose of the head,
the dark eyes seen dimly through the lace veil, the little ringlets in
the neck, were hers; but after a moment I convinced myself that it was
only a chance resemblance. I had left Mademoiselle Pelagie in Kentucky
not three weeks before, with no intention of coming to Washington, but
of going direct to New York as soon as suitable escort could be found.
It would hardly be within the bounds of possibility that she should be
in Washington as soon as I. It was true I had been detained somewhat
on the route, once by losing my way, and once by Fatima laming her
foot and causing me to spend two days with a Virginia planter while
she recovered sufficiently to permit our resuming our journey. But
still I could not believe mademoiselle could have accomplished such a
journey so quickly, and when I had left her there had been a small
prospect of an escort to New York, but none at all to Washington.
So I told Mr. Meriwether Lewis that the lady did indeed remind me of
one I knew, but as she was at that moment (I had every reason to
believe) safe with Mrs. O'Fallon at Mulberry Hill, it was impossible
that it could be she. Then, though much disturbed by this chance
resemblance and the thronging memories it awakened, I addressed myself
once more to the debate.
I was just in time to see rising to his feet the handsomest man in the
Senate, as I had long before decided. Mr. Gouverneur Morris, with his
clean-cut, aristocratic features, his carefully curled peruke, his
fine lace ruffles falling over his long white hands, and his
immaculate stockings and pumps with their glittering buckles, was, to
my mind, every inch the gentleman, and quite worthy to have called
himself a blue-blooded Philadelphian, but that an unkind fate had
given him New York for a birthplace. I was more than curious to know
on which side he would be, and his opening sentence filled me with the
assurance he was on the right side and every word was weighted.
Clear-cut, each sentence dropped from his lips like a string of
burnished jewels.
"Had Spain the right to make this cession to France without our
consent? Gentlemen have taken it for granted that she had. But I deny
the position. No nation has a right to give to another a dangerous
neighbor without her consent. He who renders me insecure, he who
hazards my peace and exposes me to imminent danger, commits an act of
hostility against me and gives me the rights consequent on that act.
Suppose Great Britain should give to Algiers one of the Bahamas, and
contribute thereby to establish a nest of pirates near your coast.
Would you not consider it as an aggression? It is among the first
limitations to the exercise of the rights of property that we must so
use our own as not to injure another, and it is under the immediate
sense of this restriction that nations are bound to act toward each
other.
"The possession of Louisiana by the ambitious ruler of France would
give him in the New World the preponderance he has already obtained in
the Old. It becomes the United States to show that they do not fear
him who is the ruler of all; and it specially behooves the young and
growing republic to interpose, in order to revive the energy and
resistance of the half-conquered nations of Europe, and to save the
expiring liberties of mankind!"
No one can imagine the fire, the grace, the inspiring tones and
gestures, with which this last sentence was uttered. In my enthusiasm
I looked across to my fair neighbor in the opposite gallery for
sympathy. Through the veil I thought I caught her eye; but by the
slightest turn of her head and an almost imperceptible movement of her
hand she conveyed to me (whether intentionally or not, I was not sure)
that she was not at all in sympathy with the speaker--indeed, that she
disagreed with him wholly.
I looked down again into the arena below me. Slowly rising from his
seat was a figure as ungainly as the other had been elegant. Red of
face, with features almost coarse, and unwieldy from too great a
burden of flesh, I recognized at once Mr. Morris's colleague, the
famous Mr. Clinton of New York. What he said pleased me no more than
his appearance, yet I could but own that no speaker had spoken with
more force, more caustic satire, or more fluent eloquence. I had to
admit, also, that there was a flavor of good sense and practicability
about much that he said, though I was loath to admit it. He began
ponderously, with pompous tones; but as he went on his voice changed
until it became at times high and even rasping.
"Sublime, sir, as these speculations may appear to the eyes of some,
and high-sounding as they may strike the ears of many, they do not
affect me with any force. In the first place, I do not perceive how
they bear upon the question before me; it merely refers to the seizure
of New Orleans, not to the maintenance of the balance of power. Again,
of all characters, I think that of a conquering nation least becomes
the American people. What, sir! Shall America go forth, like another
Don Quixote, to relieve distressed nations and to rescue from the
fangs of tyranny the powerful states of Britain, Spain, Austria,
Italy, the Netherlands? Shall she, like another Phaëthon, madly ascend
the chariot of Empire, and spread desolation and horror over the
world? Shall she attempt to restrain the career of a nation, which my
honorable colleague represents to have been irresistible, and which he
declares has appalled the British lion and the imperial eagle of the
house of Austria? Shall we wantonly court destruction and violate all
the maxims of policy which ought to govern infant and free republics?
Let us, sir, never carry our arms into the territory of other nations,
unless we are compelled to take them up in self-defense. A pacific
character is of all others most important for us to maintain. With a
sea-coast of two thousand miles, indented with harbors and lined with
cities, with an extended commerce, and with a population of only six
millions, how are we to set up for the avenger of nations? Can gravity
itself refrain itself from laughter at the figure which my honorable
colleague would wish us to make on the theater of the world? He would
put a fool's cap on our head and dress us up in the parti-colored
robes of a harlequin for the nations of the world to laugh at. And
after all the puissant knights of the times have been worsted in the
tournament by the Orlando Furioso of France, we must then, forsooth,
come forward and console them for their defeat by an exhibition of our
follies!
"I look, sir, upon all the dangers we heard about the French
possession of Louisiana as visionary and idle. Twenty years must roll
over our heads before France can establish in that country a
population of two hundred thousand souls. What, in the meantime, will
become of your Southern and Western States? Are they not advancing to
greatness with a giant's stride? The Western States will then contain
on their borders millions of free and hardy republicans, able to crush
every daring invader of their rights!"
There was a slight stir in the gallery opposite. I looked up to see
the figure in black rising from her seat. But even as I looked I
thought I caught a direct glance from the dark eyes, and I could
almost have sworn there was a slight wave of the hand as if in parting
salute to me. Her companion, an older lady, rose with her, and
together they turned and left the gallery. Once more I was struck by
the startling resemblance to Mademoiselle Pelagie in every movement,
and in the outlines of the graceful figure. I heard nothing more Mr.
Clinton had to say; I was lost in an abstracted reverie as to the
possibility of its being mademoiselle in the flesh. I would have liked
to propose to Mr. Lewis that we go out and follow the mysterious
figure, but cold reason assured me that mademoiselle was many miles
away, and it was but a fond fancy that pictured her image in every
dark-eyed maiden, and so shamed me from such a foolish pursuit.
"Shall we go?" said Mr. Lewis. "There will be no vote--probably none
for a week at least."
I started from my reverie to find the debate over, the Senate
adjourned, floor and gallery rapidly clearing. I answered with
alacrity, hoping he had not discovered my abstraction:
"By all means. It has been a grand occasion, and I am much indebted to
you, sir, for giving me the opportunity of hearing so great a debate."
Through the long corridors I hurried Mr. Lewis, eagerly scanning the
throng for a glimpse of that figure, which I hoped we might overtake;
but it had utterly vanished. Outside we found our horses waiting, and
together we picked a rough and broken path down Capitol Hill, and
then a smoother road where we could put our horses to a canter up the
avenue; a gay throng in coaches, in saddle, and on foot accompanying
us, and Mr. Meriwether Lewis saluting to right and left as we passed
the more leisurely ones, or were passed by those riding or driving in
reckless haste. And so on to my inn, where Bandy Jim, still
industriously polishing boots on the sidewalk, ducked his white head
with a joyous "Howdy, marsa!" and I felt as if an old friend was
welcoming me home.